Road Trip - Amelia Island - Part 2

I'm glad you enjoyed our photos so far as I have quite a few more to share with you. For this next part of our trip, we actually left Amelia Island and drove to Timucuan Ecological and Historical Preserve,

located northeast of Jacksonville. I think we saw only a small part of it as it covers a big expanse. We visited Fort Caroline, of which not much is left, we walked on some of the trails and at the end stopped at Kingsley Plantation.

I think our favorite part though was the hike through the beautiful nature,

along sandy paths,

with beautiful views of the marshes at times.

Along the way, we took lots of photos of lichen,

more lichen,

cacti that were perfectly camouflaged,

berries,

holes in trees and more lichen,

well...you get the idea!

A little rest along the way - we were surprised how much we had to climb at times, but I guess the sand dunes can get quite steep.

Oh, and tree fungus - had to photograph that as well!

And of course the Spanish moss - one of the main ingredients in a Southern landscape.

On the drive to Kingsley plantation, we took the car ferry across the St. John river. What fun!!

Can you see all the Pelicans soaking up the sun?

At the Kinsley Plantation, we didn't linger very long. By then, we were a little tired and ready for a coffee...

But the building was beautiful and quite nicely maintained.

Tomorrow, I'll take you with us to Fort Clinch on Amelia Island and the beaches around there. You'll love it!!

And soon...soon...I'll have some art to share with you again...

I wish you a lovely, most wonderful and creative Wednesday.

❧❧❧❧❧❧❧❧❧❧❧❧❧❧❧❧❧❧

Some things I am grateful for:

* I got the beautiful little vase from the talented Annie of BlissfulArts (click here to see some of her other gorgeous creations!)
* you can find the most excellent pumpkin muffin recipe here. 

Road Trip - Part 1 - Amelia Island

I hope you are all doing well and enjoyed your weekend!! We just got back from three days on Amelia Island in Florida. Remember we had spent the day there with Winslow recently (click here for more pictures - especially of some of the beautiful victorian homes)?

Well, we decided to go back without dog this weekend and really explore the area. The longer we live here, the more we are starting to appreciate southern Georgia and northern Florida. And Amelia Island is turning out to be a true treasure.

Fernandina Beach is a quaint little historic town right on the water and filled with little shops, cafes and excellent restaurants.

We tried all two cafes we found, visited both bookstores (what a treat!) and found a wonderful restaurant, Cafe Karibo, we'd eat at again anytime!

This picture made ma laugh - doesn't it look like I was trying to abscond with my tea and pastry? Maybe I was...

Or not! Just a little quiet time for a few minutes...

It was good to have some indoor places to warm up once in a while - it was cold while we were down there. Cold and windy!

That's why we are so bundled up in most photos.

This time around, we spent lots of time at the marina during the spectacular sunsets!

We both love looking at boats and working harbors.

And this one was really beautiful.

Shark anyone?

Beautiful colors!

Even the industrial look of this factory somehow fit into the overall scene.

What am I so fascinated by?

The sunset, of course.

Had it not been so cold, we would have stayed out there for hours!

But even a glass of red wine didn't heat us up sufficiently.

So, we made our way back to the hotel - across the train tracks.

We stayed at the Hampton Inn because of the excellent location (right in Fernandino Beach and on the water) and it was one one of the nicest Hampton Inns we've stayed at.

I especially enjoyed warming up by the fireplace in the lobby!

And this was the view from our hotel room. I think Daniel was a little afraid I might just want to sit by the window and stare at the water instead of going out to explore... :-)

Yesterday, before we left, we went to visit the house below. As a kid (and even now if I'm honest) I was a big fan of the original Pippi Langstrumpf (Pippi Longstocking). I saw them all dubbed in German. The last time just recently with my nephews when I was staying at my sister's...

In 1988 an American/Swedish remake of the original movie was filmed and this was Pippi Longstocking's house, the Villa Villekulla, right in historic Fernandina. So, of course we had to find it and take a picture... Even though I've never seen the remake. I think I like the original too much.

I've had to divvy up the photos of our trip into probably three blog posts. I can't believe how many beautiful things we found to take pictures of in just three days and I want to share some of them with you. I think you'd enjoy them.

So, in my next blog post, I'll take you with us to Timucuan Ecological and Historical Preserve, which includes Fort Caroline and Kingsley Plantation and beautiful hiking trails.

Until then, I wish you a beautiful start to the week...