TRAVEL: Florida's First Coast - St. Augustine & Amelia Island/Fernandina Beach |
Written by Ray Cyrgalis | ||||
Monday, 10 October 2011 20:37 | ||||
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That afternoon we took an enjoyable Old Town sightseeing Trolley Tour of the historic area which gave us a terrific overview of the place. The historic district is full of narrow, brick streets, best explored by foot, that lead to historic churches, living history museums, art galleries, antique stores, touristy shops, charming restaurants and pubs. Horse-drawn carriages clip-clop through the area, and ghost tours promise to show you the area's secrets. The most famous landmarks in the city include Castillo de San Marcos, Ponce de Leon's Fountain of Youth, Flagler College, The Lightner Museum and other historic sites such as the Oldest House Museum and the Oldest Wooden Schoolhouse. There is much to see in the city and depending on how deeply you want to immerse yourself in its history, you could easily spend 3 or 4 days taking in most of the sights and absorbing as much of the history as you like. We enjoyed the historic areas and sights but are not real history buffs. One and a half days was all we needed here...we're glad we came, glad we saw it, and were now looking forward to a few days of real R & R, along with some serious golf, up at Amelia Island.
Fernindina Beach is a quaint historic seaport town on the northern part of Amelia Island . . . the birthplace of the modern shrimping industry with a 50-block downtown district that's on the National Registry of Historic Places. It's a mix of residential and commercial late-Victorian architecture, reflecting the city's great prosperity in the late 1880's. When the north-south railroad line bypassed the island in the early 1900s, tourism shifted south and shipping declined. Thus, old buildings were repaired rather than replaced, and the architectural heritage was preserved. Centre Street is at the heart of downtown. It's a charming eight-block corridor with pedestrian-friendly streets, an eclectic mix of cafes and fine restaurants, antique shops and chic galleries, that can be traversed in a few hours. Centre Street itself leads down to the intracoastal waterway and the Fernandina Harbor Marina, where shrimp boats unload catches and charter boats depart for sightseeing and fishing. |
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Last Updated on Tuesday, 22 June 2021 19:03 |