St. Mary's GA to Fernandina Beach

Day 59, Friday, November 25, 2016

You can monitor my trip at the link: Second Winds Progress Live

Salvaged boats collected after the hurricane

We started this day with a wonderful pancake breakfast provided by the folks of St. Mary’s.  We cast off from out raft with Valentine at about 7:30 and motored over to the town dock.  We walked to the hotel where all of the activities of the past two days had taken place where we enjoyed pancakes with either blueberry, cherry or apple topping. 

Fernandina Beach

We pulled away from the dock at around 8:30 in route for Fernandina Beach.  The trip is was only about 7 miles and we arrived by about 10:30.  We dropped anchor and headed for this interesting little town.

 

The municipal marina was badly damaged by hurricane Matthew so the only docking that they offered was for dinghies.  The guy in charge of the dock told us that since it is black Friday, we would likely see many folks wandering around the

Frank, Frank's Mom Jackie and Mary Grace

business district in their pajamas.  The local merchants give discounts to customers who are dressed in their bedtime apparel. 

 

We walked into the town stopping first at an ice cream shop where in rewarded myself with one dip of bourbon caramel fudge. From there we wandered about looking into various

A poster shot of Fort Clinch

shops until ran into our friends, Frank, Mary Grace, and Franks’ mom, Jackie.  They had rented a car and offered that we could ride out to see the beach and other sights.  We quickly accepted.

We found a parking place amongst the beach front homes and walked out onto the fine white sand.  I took my shoes off and enjoyed the feel of the sand and the cool waters that were breaking onto the beach. 

Back in the car, we headed for Fort Clinch State Park.  The Fort, on which

The sally port at Fort Clinch

construction was begun in 1847, is shaped like an irregular pentagon with 5 tower bastions.  It was built out of brick and earth and was designed to house 500 soldiers and 78 pieces of artillery.  By 1860, it was only about 2/3 of the way complete and

not a single cannon was in place.  When the war started, the Confederate soldiers took control and decided not to complete the facility.  In 1862, General Lee authorized the evacuation of the fort and it again came under control of the Union forces.  

The fort was never completed but was used in various ways until the end of

View of the Atlantic from one of the tower bastions

WWII.  During that war, the government approved the use of horses housed at the fort for beach patrol.  Restorations have taken place over the years and today, it “stands as one of the finest examples of a Third System Fortification in existence…”

Back in the car, we traveled into the heart of town and headed for the Salty Pelican for Dinner.  We enjoyed a nice dinner. 

The Salty Pelican restaurant

 

As we were finishing eating, I became concerned about getting back to our boat before total darkness.  The dinghy ride was about ½ long across a wide open bay and finding the boat in the dark would be a real problem.  However, we got onto the water at late dusk and were able to just make out anchorage location as the light disappeared.

I read for about an hour before I fell asleep at around 8:00.  It was a great day.