Southbound and Back
By John W. Vander Velden
Having returned from our
excursion, I take some time to share our adventure. Florida seems to call us. Perhaps it’s because we take our trip in mid
to late March, and we have winter “up to here” and seek warmer environs that
the state comes to our minds. In any
case an episode of “Island Living”, on the travel channel, introduced us to
Amelia Island and we were off. For the unfamiliar
Amelia Island is north of Jacksonville on the western most portion of the east
coast. Does that make sense? Get a map and you will see what I mean. Cross the St. Mary’s River and you find
yourself in Georgia.
 |
| Fernandina, FL |
Jackie and I love the sea
shore, and Florida has grand beaches, and of Florida’s grand wonderful beaches
thirteen miles reside on Amelia Island.
No we did not walk every inch, but several miles of white sand passed
beneath our feet the week there. We find
something in the wind and waves, the thundering breakers that vibrate our ribs
and lift our spirits. We laugh at the
antics of the sanderlings, those tiny birds carried on racing legs toward the
retreating water only to dash before the next foaming surf. We gather shells and talk as we walked on the
seashore. But most of all we feel
connected to something much larger, seeing, hearing, feeling, and smelling a
power that drives wind and water. God’s
hand visible, and to us obvious.
In the craziness of our
everyday the time spent away returns us to our middle. Seems strange doesn’t it? That you need to
travel a thousand miles to reach your center.
But it was not the distance that mattered, but rather the purposeful separation
and through that separation the joining.
It reminds us that we both work too hard, have accepted too many
obligations, and try to keep too many people happy. And after three hundred and fifty some days
of juggling all these things an escape is not only deserved, but necessary.
We were fortunate in the
weather department. Some sprinkles on
our driving days but the skies were clear throughout our stay on Amelia. One morning broke cold and windy…I mean cold
and windy…I mean like Indiana cold and windy.
And of course we took a river cruise that morning. We were not alone for I was told they carried
a capacity crowd. For all those that cancelled…wimps…left
openings for those like us that chose that ride on a whim. We sat inside and they supplied blankets…thin…I
mean very thin…blankets. But it made it
all the more fun, and Captain Pajama Life Jack kept us in stitches as he
described the island and former inhabitants.
A great time and I recommend it to anyone…cold or not.
Now Amelia Island has a
lighthouse…of course or why would we have come.
OK it was not the only reason…maybe not the top reason…but you know us
and lighthouses. BUT…and it’s a big BUT…the lighthouse is operated by the
coast guard and the grounds are off limits, except on days when they offer a
tour, not the Wednesday we were in town.
Now I must mention that the site is in a residential district for Amelia
Island Lighthouse is the furthest inland of any Atlantic coast lighthouse. It is hidden by a thick grove of live oak
trees. We searched for it for more than
an hour and drove passed it twice. You
can catch a glimpse of it from the highway or from Fort Clinch State Park, but
both keep you a mile away. At last I
found an alley that led to the gate only to be foiled by trees that prevented
even a fair view. Hmmmmm. Maybe next time we will be on the island on
the right Wednesday, a body never knows.
Speaking of Fort Clinch…well
I mentioned the park…we spent an afternoon wandering around the fort and
another walking on the fishing pier. The
pier, we were told, at a half mile in length, is the longest in North America. Why did we walk it, you may ask? Because it was there…and so were we. It seems reason enough when you’re on
vacation. And it should be reason enough
anyway. The water of Amelia Island seems
to draw fisherman…and fisherwomen. For
every bridge, every pier, every breakwater seems covered with them. We spoke to many. Most are locals open and friendly.
We ate in courtyard cafés,
like “The Happy Tomato” and “Ï€ pizza” and other places with great food…too much
usually. Jackie loved all the quaint
shops in Fernandina and continually wondered, how she could get that neat stuff home, so most of it remained in
Florida. We played two rounds of “Adventure”
golf. That’s what they call put-put
these days. We tied on the first and I got
slaughtered on the second. But it was
fun and that’s all that mattered. I
mentioned the beaches, but the best was in Amelia Island State Park on the
southern tip of the island. Miles and
miles of undeveloped coast. We nearly
had the beach to ourselves. It seemed to
draw us on and on and took great effort to turn around to walk the miles back
to our car.
It would have been easy
to lose track of the days, but Friday morning came and packed we left the hotel
that had been our home base for the week, and taking A1A south we slipped out of
that little place that seemed so near paradise, and began our way home.
Our trip to Amelia Island
with stops in St Augustine…a great place too…and side trips to St Mary’s,
Georgia and Kingsley Plantation on St. George Island will be one we shall always
remember. We look forward to our return.
(974 Words) 4-1-2016
