AN ELDERHOSTEL AND A VISIT IN FLORIDA

 

During this Elderhostel we stayed at a hotel on Amelia Island. An interesting day was spent on Cumberland Island off the coast of Southern Georgia. On another day we visited Fernandina Beach and nearby Fort Clinch. As a special treat we were taken on a "behind the scenes" tour of the elegant Ritz Carlton Hotel. During the 5 days of the Elderhostel the weather was cold and rainy, particularly during a visit to the Okefenokee Swamp, but we later drove south in Florida for a pleasant stay at the Fort Pierce Inlet.

 

Cumberland Island can only be reached by boat. At one time most of the island was the winter playground for the Carnegie family. The Carnegie mansion was destroyed by fire but  the ruins were most interesting to observe and photograph.

 

 

The Live Oak trees on the grounds of the Carnegie mansion and throughout the island are truly magnificent.

 

We were able to photograph an armadillo and some of the wild horses that roam freely on Cumberland Island.

 

While Cumberland Island is in Southern Georgia and is accessible only by boat, Amelia Island is in Northern Florida and can be reached easily via a bridge to the mainland. We toured the Victorian section of Fernandina Beach on Amelia Island as well as Fort Clinch, which was never completed. It was captured by northern troops during the Civil War,

 
Most of the beautiful old Victorian houses are now used as Bed and Breakfast tourist facilities. St. Peter's Church was most impressive, both the exterior and the interior.

  

     

The elegant lobbies of the Ritz Carlton Hotel, on Amelia Island were impressive. as well as the spotless, well equipped kitchens. Following our tour we enjoyed a lunch at one of the hotel restaurants and sampled the dessert that we had seen being prepared.

 

    

It was a cold and rainy day when we were taken by bus to the Okefenokee Swamp in Southern Georgia. We both shivered a bit but enjoyed the boat ride along one of the canals and into the beautiful prairie area. The visit to a homestead that had been lived in by "swampers" until the 1930's was also most interesting.  Eli joined the major group of Elderhostelers on a two mile walk on a slippery boardwalk to an observation tower while I napped in the comfortably warm bus with a few of the other "dropouts".

 

We rode along the canal in a covered launch when we passed another group paddling independently.

 

The beautiful prairie views almost made us forget how cold it was.

 

The swamper's house and a view from the boardwalk

 

We enjoyed a restful few days at the Fort Pierce Inlet, and walked along the beach to take a few pictures. We were dismayed at the damage in the area due to the hurricanes but did not photograph any of the damaged buildings.

 

 

Reluctantly we left our hotel room overlooking the Fort Pierce Inlet to return home for a few more weeks of winter weather. To return to the main page click on the bird.