Florida - Day 29 - to Florida's farthest northeast point

Ft. Clinch State Park, Fernandina Beach

Tuesday, 14 February 2023

At breakfast this morning, I finished the last of the maple syrup I bought in Minnesota - the Hamel family brand.  It was good syrup and I was sorry to see it end.

today's route
(plus other days' routes)

These route maps were already getting a little confusing because I've been traveling more than once in various parts of the state (like in the Panhandle).  But for the next few days they might be even more confusing, because I've only just realized that, though I usually take a photo each evening of the route I'd traveled that day, I didn't do that for the next 4 days.  So now I'm having to backtrack a little bit.

So today's route started at the Mike Roess Gold Head Branch State Park in the lower left of the photo, jogged east, then went almost due north right through Jacksonville, then heading east again not far before the Georgia border. 

Driving north from the Gold Head Branch, I passed through several state forests.  And a warning sign for bears.

I passed that (J. C.) Penney Farms Retirement Community again, heading toward Green Cove Springs.  There I turned north, again passed the NAS JAX with its Blue Angels plane at the entrance.  Main Street, which I took through town, runs through the Springfield neighborhood (a sign told me that's where I was), and it looks like what it is: Jacksonville's oldest neighborhood.  At noon, we took a break in the parking lot of a megachurch, figuring it was so big we were unlikely to bother them on a Tuesday.

We continued north and were only 7 miles from Georgia when we turned east toward the ocean.  I had a hard time figuring out where we were, geographically, because I didn't realize then that the town of Fernandina Beach is on Amelia Island.  It was especially confusing because after we crossed the Amelia River, I saw a sign pointing me to turn for Amelia Island.  Now that I know I was already on it, that sign makes no sense to me.  Amelia River cuts Amelia Island off from the mainland, and Fernandina Beach is the only town on the island. 

I also didn't realize at first that the word "beach" is part of the town's name and not a sandy area separate from the town.  But the town is Fernandina Beach, and we got there early enough in the day that I drove around a bit to take a look.  It's a charming place, clearly oriented to beach-type living, though in a more old-fashioned way than I saw in the beach towns near Daytona Beach, for instance, or the Panama City Beach area.  The town faces west and mostly sits on the river, rather than on the ocean.

The town has gone to a lot of trouble to preserve its historic appearance and now has more than 400 structures on the National Historic Register.  If you'd like to get a feel for what this place looks like, I found one of their websites that's both accurate and makes you want to go there (which of course is their goal).   https://ameliaislandliving.com/fernandina-beach-historic-district

The state park sits at the northern tip of Amelia Island, and I had to drive along a narrow road to get to the campground where I had a reservation.  This is a popular state park and I was surprised I was able to get even one night here.  Partly I think it's because my RV is so small, it fits into campsites that most campers are too big for.  And my campsite was perfect: almost right on the beach - sand dunes were all that stood between the RV and the Atlantic Ocean.

Next to our site was a boardwalk crossing the dunes to get to the beach.  Sadly, they didn't allow dogs on the beach, so we didn't go.  Actually, I'm certain I went part way across the boardwalk to take a photo of the beach, but I've just spent 20 minutes trying to find it somewhere in my computer's storage and had no luck.  So, take my word for it - nice beach.

My next door neighbor was a single woman traveling alone, and we talked for a little bit.  She said she lives in The Villages and volunteered the information that she has a hard time with the politics of most of the residents (sturdy Republicans, mostly) but is living there because her mom is living there and is getting older.  Happens to a lot of us, if we're lucky.

This was a nice campground, though really tiny.  Almost nowhere for Dext and me to walk, other than back down that really narrow road and that seemed too dangerous to try.  But we were only here one night.  It was nice to hear the ocean again.