On Tuesday, we headed to the beach again...this time to North Beach Park. We hadn't done any swimming this far north on the island before and decided to give it a try.
We found lots of things on the beach. This was probably the most shelly beach I've ever played on. There were so many shells, as a matter of fact, that it was kind of painful on the feet...until you got out a bit into the surf. We found a sea sponge which was pretty cool.
Scotty tried his boogie board. Steven was the one who was into the boarding, though. Once I got sandy, I put the camera away in fear of hurting it. Here's an image for you, even without pictures...Maya and I both got owned by a big wave. (It was the same wave, actually.) I'm thinking it was probably the biggest wave in all the history of waves...but I could be wrong. It felt like the biggest one. I must have done at least four cartwheels while under the surf, came up spluttering with salt water draining from my nose and sand in places I'd rather not talk about. Mylee was much the same. Steven, who was in the water with us, but who, somehow, didn't have a problem with this particularly tricky wave, said that he heard a lot of hollering from both of us, then absolute silence as we were underwater for a time. Soon, though, he said the hollering resumed as Maya and I recovered from our swamping. Surprisingly enough, I kept both my contacts in my eyes and my sunglasses on my face. Go figure. It was just the ocean putting me in my place...You shall respect the sea! I happily went back for more.
On Wednesday, we rode around Fernandina Beach and did a bit of exploration on foot as well.
Most of these old, historical houses have names. Some I know...some I don't. I do know that most of them were built in the late 1800's to early 1900's...and that they are all incredibly beautiful.
Go, Fernandina Beach Pirates!
Central Park.
St. Peter's Episcopal Church.
We saw Bumblebee parked in front of a very yummy Mexican restaurant on Centre Street called Peppers where we had lunch. Okay...it wasn't really Bumblebee...but it was still a pretty cool car.
Steven and I waiting for our lunches. My hair is curly, but I was told by the other three members of my family that I never went 'full poodle'. I guess that means it never got too terribly out of control.
The Lesesne House, circa 1861.
The patriotic Fernandina Beach shrimp!!!! I don't know...I just like him. There are three other shrimp in the city that we located. We're not sure why they're there, but somehow they seem to belong.
"Arrr, mateys!"
Fernandina Beach Marina. We walked around here a lot. There were so many beautiful boats to see and people to watch.
I caught a seagull chorus line in action. Well, okay...not action so much. They were all apparently taking a bit of a rest. I suppose fishing gets a bit tiring hour after hour, day after day.
We didn't see any manatees, although I will admit that I looked for them...
...and, fortunately, we didn't see any sharks, either, except for this guy...and he wasn't real, so I guess he doesn't really count.
Ham bones. Both of 'em.
We saw several of these guys, though. Egrets. They're pretty cool, and it's funny to see their long, dark legs trailing after their body as they glide over the water.
We found another shrimp, and, of course, I had to take pictures of it.
Scotty decided that this crustacean made a great lounge chair.
Mylee thought we were all nuts.
I watched this egret fish from the back of this...fishing boat.
We walked up the opposite side of Centre Street on our way back to the car and took a peek at more of the shops.
The Nassau County Courthouse, circa 1891.
Back in the car and on our way back to the hotel, we saw the Amelia Island Lighthouse.
This lighthouse was actually built on Cumberland Island in Georgia in 1820. In 1839, it was moved brick by brick to Amelia Island where it sits in a residential district. It is the oldest still functional lighthouse in the state of Florida.
Self portrait of the photographer? Naw...I'm not that artistic. I had been taking tons of pictures out of my window and saw my reflection. Have I mentioned how much I LOVE my new Nikon????
Back at the hotel again. Whew! This boy needed a break...
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