Fernandina Beach, Part Two

"Part One" post was essentially Day One, so this post picks up Friday morning. It was an insanely packed day, our only full day on the island, and we had LOTS to do with not enough time to fit it all in. After a delicious breakfast, we headed out to Bosque Bello Cemetery. This place really lives up to its name, "Beautiful Woods". Though I was eager to explore the old gravesites (dating back to 1798) the main goal was to see my baby cousin Seth's grave. We had left Florida for Germany when my aunt was pregnant so I never got to meet him in person. He passed away at just 4 months old of SIDS.

These are the trees overlooking Seth's gravesite.

 There were several angel statues which, as a Doctor Who fan, I had to document.

I love this creepy shot - definitely looks like a Weeping Angel!

Our next stop was a boat tour out to Cumberland Island - something I'd never done in Fernandina. Amelia River Cruises turned out to be a great choice.

I was thrilled when we cruised by this house in Old Town - it took me only a split second to recognize it ... Villa Villekula from "The New Adventures of Pippi Longstocking"! The movie was filmed in Fernandina back in the late 80's and featured several locations like this house and my mom's junior high school. We had a friend whose antique cars were used during filming.

Again with the shrimp boats ... though the shrimping industry is far from what it used to be in its heyday, including my childhood, they're still a symbol of Fernandina! I hated that our timing was off and we couldn't be there for the annual Shrimp Festival. Great memories there. 

Okay, this guy is Pajama Dave. He was our captain. My first thought was, "Beard, tie-dye t-shirt, Beatles pajama pants ... It's gotta be a fun tour with this character!" And I was right. Dave was super-informative about the history of our surroundings, but he also kept everyone laughing. This is a guy who genuinely loves what he does and where he lives.

Fort Clinch

Cumberland Island - I learned TONS of information I had never known about the island. My pictures don't do them justice, but you can juuuust barely see the wild horses. It's better in person, naturally.

We even got to see dolphins! Which again, my pictures fail to do justice. There were several out playing in the water. This is a mother and baby.

So that gets us to lunchtime. Ha! I'll save the rest of the day for another post.