At the Beach--February 18

We take a walk to check out Fort Clinch. Didn’t occur to us that there was an admission charge, but the woman in charge lets us in on a promise to return later to pay. We are the only ones in the fort for much of the time. The first weekend of the month there are Civil War reenacters at the fort so it is pretty well ‘furnished’—kerosene lanterns, straw mattresses, etc. The fort was sold to the stay in 1926 and the CCC’s constructed the park and reconstructed the fort. It was built to protect the coast and inland waterways.

We bike into Fernandina Beach for lunch. Charming town. We eat at Café Karibo, one of the slowest service places ever. Good food but we thought perhaps we had been forgotten. We ride up and down streets, admiring the Victorian homes. We try to find a less busy route home, but to no avail. We check out the pier in the park, 2,500 feet long. Surf is up and surfers are out. Fishermen are out, too, but nobody seems to be catching anything. We also check out the beachside campground and rejoice in ours—this campground is wide open and palm trees are the only shade. Another fire and then rain.