Perfect Day to Sail to Our Next Adventure: Sailing to Fernandina | Ep4 |

Many years ago we never would have thought that we would be traveling as a family by sailboat. Days like today makes us realize why we chose this lifestyle. The peace and tranquility that sailing can bring is like no other. In that moment when you see land and realize that you successfully made it to your destination. Not knowing what this place will be like but excited to explore and learn the surroundings. I'm just fascinated how pretty is this place that we just arrived right now. It is called Fernandina Beach. We're here by the Lesson's house and it's amazing how in every corner you turn around there's a piece of history. This classical revival style house was built by John Lesson around 1860 which makes it the oldest house here in Fernandina Beach. John Lesson actually left for the Civil War and never came back. So in 1868 this house became the property of a judge named John Friend. To this day the descendants of John Friend still occupy this gorgeous home. Let's go explore some more come on. This 1891 Nassau County Courthouse is one of the only three remaining courthouses in Florida which makes it pretty incredible. I'm sitting here and it really brings me back into time. This is a statue of David Levi Yulee who was the president of the Florida Railroad Company. The Florida Railroad Company was incorporated in 1853. The last piece was built in 1861 making the first cross-state railroad located in Florida. This marker is talking about an invasion that happened at the north end of Amelia Island in May 1777. In this invasion an officer was killed, two soldiers were wounded, and many houses were burned down. We are now in Fort Clinch State Park. We're going to explore the fort which is something that we were looking forward to seeing. There's a lot of history here so I'm fascinated and learning all about it. Let's go ahead and check it out. Whenever I go to museums I really enjoy looking at artifacts that belong to those back in the time. So this belonged to a man who served in the American Civil War and stayed in Fort Clinch starting in 1862 and these were donated by somebody in the family. It's really amazing how these items from such a long time ago are still available for us to see today. This is a model of 1895 Gatlin gun. This was actually invented by Dr. Gatlin in 1861 and it cost the U.S. military one thousand dollars and it weighs 70 pounds. This was mounted on the fort during the Spanish-American War. So just like the sign says let's go ahead Fort Clinch is a 19th century coastal fortification built as part of the third system of seacoast defense conceived by the United States. It is located on a peninsula near the northernmost part of a million island. This fort has both inner and outer walls and consists of almost five million bricks. From 1736 the site was used to protect the entrance to the St. Mary's River and Cumberland Sound. After the end of the Second Seminole War the United States started construction of a fort later named Fort Clinch in 1847. The fort was named in honor of General Clinch after his death in 1849. General Clinch fought in the war of 1812 and was an important figure in the First and Second Seminole War. In 1861 it was used as a safe haven for Confederate blockade runners during the first year of the Civil War. Changes in technology like the development of rifled cannon had improved weaponry to the point that the fort's bricks walls were vulnerable to attacks. This led to General Lee ordering abandonment of the fort in order to use scarce troops in other areas. Federal troops reoccupied the fort in early 1862 using the fort as the base of union operations in the area throughout the Civil War. Much different from what we're used to no floods just direct deposit. What do you think about this place so far? It's really interesting I mean this area seems like it used to be the place where they used to store the cannon powder and I just love all the brick you know a bit of brick but I mean imagine how much work it took for them to construct this especially the heat it's amazing and it's really neat if you look up close these birds look like they're carving something I don't know if they're from back then but it says something like Wayneston I'm not sure what this one says truth stay away from the light at the end of the tunnel found a secret exit follow me let's go explore what it is I'm on two steps I like how it twists and turns feels like a castle. In 1935 the state of Florida bought 256 acres that included the then abandoned fort and the surrounding area. In 1938 Fort Clinch State Park opened to the public. We started this morning with the sunrise and now we're ending with the sunset. What a great way to finish the day nothing better than this with a sunset in the back in our boat awesome exploring and learning more history of Florida has been wonderful it really makes you feel like you're back in time watching the sunset reflecting on our time here and excited on what adventures tomorrow will bring. Join us next week where we do an overnight passage making our way towards Charleston, South Carolina. Along the way something unexpected happens there's something in the water heading straight towards our boat and we find ourselves in a surprising situation after we arrive and they sent us a picture of our boat saying that our anchor was dragging heading towards the bridge. Want to find out why? Click that bell to be notified as soon as it's up so you can be a part of our next adventure.