Amelia Island

12/5/07 Amelia Island to Jacksonville, Florida
Mile 761

Amelia Island Yacht Basin assigned us a new dock this morning with a depth of nine feet. When we told them we hit bottom at 4’7” four times in their channel coming in, the manager said it was dredged six months ago to eight feet. We saw an interestiing ad in their marina newsletter, “TowBoat U.S. -- Coming Soon to Amelia Island Yacht Basin.” I can see why – to tow boats out of their channel entrance!!

A cold front came through this week, so temperatures have been in the 40’s in the morning and the high 60’s to low 70’s with the afternoon sun. Stephanie sent a picture of Gavin and his snowman taken earlier this week. A real difference between the weather here and the weather in Maine! I’m looking forward to the snow when we fly home. Hopefully it will stay on the mountains, rather than in the driveways, so Bob and I can ski with Amie and the boys over Christmas vacation at Willard Mountain.

We took a cab to Fernandina yesterday and spent a nice day walking the town. It’s an upscale touristy area with lots of interesting shops. The sidewalks are brick. Trees line both sides of the street. Fernandina is one of the shrimp centers in the south. Taking advantage of local food, we enjoyed a great shrimp lunch at “Bret’s,” which is right on the harbor overlooking the ICW. We started with a ½ pound of peel and eat shrimp for an appetizer. I had a great shrimp salad sandwich and Bob had their shrimp pasta special.

The history of Amelia Island goes back to the Timucuan Indians, 4,000 years ago. In the 1500’s it was occupied by French settlers. Beginning in the 1500’s Spanish troops occupied the island for 200 years. In 1736 the British Governor of Georgia named the island Amelia after King George II’s daughter. After the Revolutionary War President Jefferson, in 1807, signed the Embargo Act closing U.S. ports to foreign shipping -- Fernandina become a center for smuggling and piracy. In the late 1800’s many wealthy Americans built Victorian homes in Fernandina, many are on the historic register. Today tourism, shrimp, and paper mills reign.

We’re now enroute to Jacksonville Naval Air Station where we will leave the boat to fly home for the holidays. During the next few days we’ll be getting the boat ready to leave for a month and renting a car to tour Jacksonville.