Fernandina Beach and Amelia Island

The pirate ship attacks the castle!

We left St. Augustine knowing we would be back and headed north to Fernandina Beach. During this leg we passed through Jacksonville Beach and adjacent suburbs and subdivisions. While this section contained some very nice homes, we found it to be rather unattractive as all of the homes were sandwiched into postage-stamp sized lots. Most of this development was along a man made ditch that was not very wide. We encountered signs in the waterway warning that this was a congested area for the next several miles, and while we did not encounter very many boats on this weekday, one can only imagine the traffic and congestion on the weekends and holidays.

Shipyard on the St. John's River

As we got close to Fernandina Beach we knew that we would have to cross the St. John's River which is a major shipping lane. We were monitoring the radio and just as we started to cross the river we received a securite' call that one of the big ships was approaching the ICW. The distance across the river to Sister's Creek seemed so far, and even though we didn't see any large ships, Capt. Larry put Bavarian Cream up on plane and we scooted across. As we approached Fernandina Beach the channel narrowed and it was low tide. We came up on a sailboat and was looking for her name to hail her for a pass when she started to move to port. Assuming she wanted us to pass on the starboard side, we slowed and started around.

No kidding! An ICW warning for the little boats

As we got even with her we realized that she had suddenly stopped, and the skipper had reversed the engines and was stirring up mud. She had gone aground. We felt badly about the situation but also knew it was low tide and she should be able to free herself with a rising tide. That's part of traveling on the ICW. We got secured at the marina, cleaned up, and had dinner on the boat. We watched a magnificent sunset and turned in for the night.

Sunset on the AIWW

FB railway station

Arrrgh! Give me your booty!

The next morning we got Cream Puff down to patch her up in the cockpit of the boat. Since we had to wait for the patch to cure, we got the bikes down and took a ride. Fernandina Beach and Amelia Island is very quaint and even more charming than St. Augustine. There were several shops calling Jane's name, so we parked the bikes and Jane shopped while Capt. Larry went to Florida's oldest continuously operating saloon- the Palace Saloon.

Carousel porch columns

This was like a step back in time with a wooden bar and brass foot rails, wooden carvings and reliefs, and painted murals promoting defunct brands of beer.

Beer and history at the Palace

We returned to the boat and got the dinghy back on the davits and went to a mexican restaurant for dinner (we were tired of seafood!).