Fun in Fernandina

Today's destination:  Fernandina.

But, before we departed from the River Park Inn, Pat, the proprietor, insisted on taking our photo.

Didn't she do a great job?

Once we made it to Amelia Island, the grey clouds and soggy weather were behind us, and we were greeted with lovely sunshine and much warmer temps.

What a relief!

This town is really quite fascinating, brimming with a lot of history.

And then there's the story that Fernandina is actually the oldest city in America, not St. Augustine.  It was discovered by the French a few years prior to St. Augustine, but no plat map was made up to confirm its existence.

Does it really make a difference?  I think not.

Since it was such a lovely day, we used it to our advantage and decided to take the walking tour around this historic town.

There were so many beautiful buildings to admire:

The court house built in 1891

the Episcopal church built in 1891

The Bailey house from 1895

I found the carousel on the porch to be rather interesting

The Hirth house from 1886

the post office built in 1910.

and the Waas house.

There were 40 different places of interest scattered all over the historic town, and it took us a couple of hours to make the walk, stopping to admire some of the interesting details of many of these preserved buildings. 

We popped into St. Michael's Catholic church which was built in 1872.  The interior was quite simple with its only ornateness being the altar

and the strikingly different window above the altar.  Here is a closeup where you can see the brilliant colors and detail.

We're staying at the Florida House Hotel, on the historic tour list, built in 1857

It is certainly a unique place

They have an abundance of mermaids here:  hanging off walls, painted onto mirrors, adorning mantles and shelves.  They are in their "natural" form, so I decided to refrain from photographing them. (Mermaids don't wear clothes…..only tails. You get the point, right?)  I don't need blogger flagging my posts for indecent content!

The place even has its own "famous" drink:  The Mermaid Slap

and an entertaining banner to lure one in:

" I'd rather be slapped by a Mermaid

than punched by a Pirate." 

Now, with that kind of incentive, how could we resist trying one?

They were fabulous!