TOUR AMERICA, 2021: SUNNY OAKS RV PARK, JACKSONVILLE, FLORIDA

Wednesday, August 10, 2021

Abundant Sunshine, Temperature 92 Degrees

Blame It All On Wayne Carini

If you are a gearhead you will probably recognize the TV series Chasing Classical Cars featuring Wayne Carini. Part of the series features the Amelia Concours d’Elegance Vintage car show which is held on Amelia Island. Well, Amelia Island is less than an hour from our current location so we just had to go check the island out.

OK, maybe it wasn’t just because of him. The truth is we were beginning to go stir crazy. Thus, we figured we’d go somewhere out in the open with the best chance of finding no crowds of people. Did it work out as we planned? Sort of. More about that later.

But first, treatment time. We’ve been fortunate that they’ve continued to give us the same time every day at 7:05 am. It makes for a really unretirement time of the morning to be getting up. However, we’re getting used to it and actually liking it since it leaves us with the whole day to do what we want. After this morning, I’ve got just 25 treatments more to go. Yipee!

Treatment over we were on the road.

We headed to Amelia Island, specifically Fernandian Beach and the Visitor Center. Guess what? It would not open until 10 am and we were there at 8:30 am. However, we scored a Visitor’s Guide from an outside kiosk from which we learned the following about the island: it is 18 square miles in size. . .it has 13 miles of beachfront. . .and it has been occupied by 8 different countries.

Since we couldn’t enter the Visitor Center we wandered around outside. Outside, we discovered the following. . .

there was this delightful garden. And then,

a statue of Peg Leg the Pirate.

We also discovered that the Visitor Center occupied an old train depot.

We learned who was behind the creation of the railroad – David L. Yulee – and when it was begun and finished.

Speaking of David L. Yulee, here he is waiting for his train to come in. Again from the Visitor’s Guide we learned the following about him: he helped write the original Florida State Constitution. . .he became the first Jewish Senator appointed to the United States Congress. . .and in 1853 he chose Fernandina as the beginning point of the first trans-peninsular railroad in Florida.

After spending some time at the Visitor Center we walked across the street to

the Fernandina Harbor Marina.

Looking out over the anchorage on the Amelia River it was obvious that there was no crowding here. Imagine an RV park with this amount of space between sites!

OK, that was the first part of our morning. So far so good no people or crowds at all. We had one more stop we wanted to make and I’ll share that with you tomorrow. That’s where, unfortunately, our plan for no crowds sort of went sideways!

That was our day on The Road of Retirement. It felt absolutely great to be able to get out and stretch our legs. Don’t get me wrong, we’re still being extremely careful where we go. Come right down to it, we’re still for the most part staying in and away from crowds and people in general. However, some times you just have to get out and roam. If only for a little bit.

Thanks for taking the time to read our blog.  We always appreciate your company, your comments, and your suggestions. Remember, take time to stop and smell the roses and live each day that God gives you to the fullest.

 Our continuing mission remains: Departing from our base as often as possible to explore as many new states as possible, to seek out new acquaintances and make new friends, to boldly go where we have never been before.

See you on down the road!