Photo Album–Ft. Clinch SP and Fernandina

 

Here are a few more photos of this beautiful park and historic town.

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Ft. Clinch SP–Fernandina Beach

 

We entered Fort Clinch State Park through a tunnel of live oak trees draped in moss – a similar biome to Jekyll Island.  We stayed at Atlantic Beach Campground which was indeed on the Atlantic with a boardwalk to the beach.  It’s open and sunny with a few palm trees.  The other campground in the park is Amelia River CG which is very wooded and shaded – a good spot in the summer. 

             

This park offered great bicycling on the paved roads through the “oak tunnel,” and we rode to the old Civil War fort whose cannons still overlook the Atlantic, now guarding the pass through which nuclear submarines enter Kings Bay Submarine Base.  We had hoped to see a submarine there, and the ranger advised us to look for helicopters and navy patrol boats, but none came while we were there. 

             

Tuesday was a warm sunny day and we had a great bike ride into Fernandina.  We enjoyed exploring the historic district which consists of 50 blocks of historic buildings. 

                           

The area was prosperous in the 1800’s and many Victorian homes and businesses were built.  When Flagler’s railroad bypassed Fernandina, the town became less prosperous and the buildings were repaired instead of being replaced.  So they were saved from “progress” and that’s why there’s such a large historic district.  We biked along several streets of huge old homes which were well maintained and beautiful with Christmas decorations still up. 

              

We ate lunch at the Marina Restaurant, a family-owned restaurant located in a historic building downtown since 1960.  Irene ordered the shrimp basket with fries and slaw, and George ordered from the day’s specials menu choosing two broiled crab cakes and three sides:  butternut squash with honey and walnuts, navy beans with rice and onion, and carrot and raisin salad – all for $9.95.  The walls were lined with framed “Best of” awards from the local newspaper.  The restaurant appeared to be the locals’ choice, and the service was welcoming and friendly.

On returning to the park, we’d ridden 17 miles.  We took the short boardwalk to the beach and enjoyed the view there and visiting with other campers – a good conclusion to a good day.

             

35th Annual New Year’s Bluegrass Festival

 

Counting this year, we’ve attended 5 Jekyll Island bluegrass festivals.  We love coming here, both for the music and for the bicycling on Jekyll’s excellent bike trails – when the weather’s nice enough.  And this year, the weather’s been great.  The festival is held Thur., Fri., and Sat. with a different slate of performers each day running from 12:00 noon until 10:00 p.m.  We generally see all the groups once.

              

                                   

              

              

We also enjoy seeing the Historic District decorated for Christmas and the beautiful old oaks surrounding the area.  The temporary convention center is located there while the new center is being constructed.  It was quite adequate for the festival which will be held in the temporary facility again next year.  It’s a  bit more than a tent with walls of 2 thin metal panels with foam insulation sandwiched between and has heat and ac.  The manufacturer is De Boer of the Netherlands.   

             

             

We’ve had a great time at Jekyll Island and look forward to next year’s bluegrass festival.  We’ll head south tomorrow.

Arrival at Jekyll Island

 

After an early morning departure from the Baxley, GA Walmart, we arrived at Jekyll Island for the 35th New Year’s Bluegrass Festival.  Not only the convention center but also the shops across the street from it have been razed for construction of a new convention center and park. The shops and post office have been moved up the beach and are now housed in trailers. Zachery’s restaurant has moved to Brunswick.The airport is closed to provide motor coach parking for the festival, and we are parked on the edge of the runway facing the intercoastal waterway.  The We saw a few boats travel up the waterway and the sun set over it.  The Sidney Lanier Bridge is visible on our right side. 

                

After repairing a flat tire on George’s bicycle, we biked to the historic district to see the temporary facilities for the bluegrass festival, and we were pleased with the size and quality of the facility.  We checked out a couple of restaurants in the historic area and just enjoyed bicycling.  We ate dinner at a restaurant on the Atlantic side, Driftwood Bistro, which was praised on web reviews for its vegetables, and we thought the squash casserole and fired okra (cut like french fries) were exceptional.

We look forward to the first day of bluegrass tomorrow. 

               

Warmer Weather–Music to our Ears

 

It’s time to begin our annual migration south in search of warmer weather. In fact we’re a little late as the really cold weather has come early this year. We will depart December 28 for our fourth visit to the Jekyll Island New Year’s bluegrass festival. This year the concert will be held in quite impressive temporary quarters in the historic district while a new convention center is being built on the site of the old one. RV’s will park at the airport this year. We’ll miss the Atlantic views, but look forward to views of the intercoastal water way, the “Marshes of Glynn,” and the Sidney Lanier Bridge in Brunswick. As always, biking around Jekyll’s bike paths will be keenly anticipated as will the local seafood.

After Jekyll, we’ll travel a short distance to St. Mary’s, Georgia, home of the Kings Bay Nuclear Submarine Base, where we will visit the submarine museum. Next, we’ll visit Fort Clinch State Park near Fernandina Beach, Florida, which will be the first in a string of Florida state and county parks we’ll visit as we travel down the east coast of Florida, eventually reaching our old haunt, Key West.

We’re in Maine!

 

We arrived in Boothbay, Maine, Sunday afternoon and are staying at the same campground where  we stayed on our first trip to Maine – also with Jim and Hope – in 1988. Boothbay is a charming town on the water with shops and restaurants to explore with boats in view.  We enjoyed it in spite of rainy weather the first day.  One of the places we visited was Edgecomb Pottery, an outstanding shop which also has branches in 2 other Maine towns. 

We drove a short ways south to Wiscasset and ate at Reds Eats, voted the No. 1 place in Maine for lobster rolls.  It was also included in 10,000 Places to See before You Die, a book Jim downloaded prior to our trip.  We all agreed Red’s is a winner – great lobster and good onion rings too.

 

Our next stop was just a short way north to Camden, Maine, a delightful town on the water.  Naturally we ate at a restaurant with views of boats at dock.  And it was a pleasant, sunny day which we especially enjoyed knowing the forecast is for wind, rain, and much cooler weather.

Driving a Big Rig through the Big Dig

We saw Boston as an obstacle in our Sunday route from Cape Cod to Boothbay, Maine. The best option seemed to be I-495 that skirts Boston to the west, but it’s 45 minutes longer than going straight through downtown Boston. However, the thought never occurred to us that we might consider going through downtown through the tunnel.

Then slowly George began to recall a documentary he had seen on the “Big Dig” as Boston’s downtown highway construction project was called. Curiosity and intrigue set in. George began to research the big dig and also posted a message on the Country Coach forum asking if anyone had driven a coach on I-93 through downtown Boston. A local Country Coach owner responded and said he drives his coach through there when he is going to New Hampshire. That news capped the plan. The Busbloggers would drive through the big dig in a big rig.

 

The big dig is the largest highway construction project in the history of the United States and cost 14.6 billion dollars. It was completed in 2004 after the first planning stages began in 1982. The project involves the 3.5 mile Thomas P. “Tip” O’Neil, Jr. tunnel underneath downtown, and the spectacular Zakim cable-stayed bridge connected to the tunnel on the north side.

One side benefit of the project is that the space above the tunnel that formerly was underneath the elevated expressway has now been turned into a beautiful linear park for the people of Boston called the Rose Kennedy Greenway.

The controversial project has incurred criminal arrests, cost over-runs, death, and tunnel leaks. Readers may recall that a couple of years ago a woman was killed when a piece of the tunnel ceiling fell on her car as she passed through through. Charges of poor execution and use of substandard materials and fraud on the part of contractors resulted in for their having to make reimbursements to the construction authority.

Significant engineering challenges were encountered in building the tunnel including glacial debris, foundations of old buried buildings, subway lines, and even several sunken ships. Special supports had to be built to support the commuter rail lines above and also supports to hold up the overhead expressway while the tunnel was being excavated. A technique to freeze some unstable earth to make it safe to excavate even had to be employed.

Our trip through the famous (or infamous) big dig went well and we will long remember it.

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