Fernandina Beach Florida is only 45 minutes from our house, but other than Fort Clinch, we’ve never really spent any time there. So...John and I took a mini-vacation and stayed in a hotel for a couple nights. We spent the days seeing historical places, weird places, hiking trails, and beaches. We took several walks on the beach.
For historical places, we visited a museum in a building that used to be a jail.
We walked around downtown seeing old homes. Many were converted to B&B’s.
The Palace Saloon is considered the oldest bar in Florida.
There was a hiking trail near our hotel. I hiked it both mornings while John and I hiked a portion while geocaching.
Lots of rabbits along the path.
Of course I dragged John to a couple of old cemeteries. Bosque Bello was established in 1798 by the Spanish.
This picture is taken at Fernandina Plaza Historic State Park which has all sorts of history. The home in back is where Pippi Longstocking lived in a movie. In front is a girl running from a drone set to follow her. What a great way to tire out the kids!
As far as weird, there’s a story about the grave of Wiccademous. This was a young girl convicted of witchcraft in the 1600s. Different haunting stories abound including that the ghost will follow you home but there is no supporting documentation of a witch in town so it’s probably a completely made-up story to scare kids. I went back on the path where there was supposed to be a stone marker under an “ancient” oak tree. This was the oldest I could find but I didn’t see a marker. So far the ghost of Wiccademous hasn’t shown up at my house.
My favorite part was walking at Boneyard Beach. Weathered trees lay along the beach.
Nearby was Black Rock Beach.
We finished with a visit to Kingsley Plantation. Various buildings still exist including the main house, a kitchen, and a row of cabins for the enslaved people. Sad stories here.