December already!? Things are zipping by!
We headed out from Fernandina Beach around 9am and continued down the waterway. We passed many saltwater marshes as we had seen in Georgia and started to see more land with trees. Everything is very flat here as it has been for many miles. Not much elevation at in through most of Florida. By early afternoon we reached the Fort George River where we would anchor for the night. After settling the boat in its spot, you can see it in the picture, and having lunch we were visited by the crews of the boats Mary Lee and Tropical Breeze who told us of the interesting spot to visit ashore. We loaded into the dinghy and headed towards the state park dock just a couple of hundred meters away. As part of the Fort George Island Cultural State Park we landed at the Kingsley Plantation National Park. This was a really interesting place to walk around. It is the site of an old plantation, first Indigo for the blue dye and then cotton. Much of the interpretive information was on the use of slaves during that time period. What a different world that was when people owned the rights to other people and totally controlled what they could and could not do. Working 14-16 hours a day for someone else with no benefit to yourself. And that was the way fortunes were made. What would they think of the newly elected President of the USA? What a change!
I saw cotton and I saw black
Tall white mansions and little shacks
Southern man when will you pay them back?
Neil Young - from the song Southern Man
This more southerly environment was also evident on this island. Our wanderings found us face to face with a couple of armadillos! Cool! I always thought they were slow moving but these things bounded off like mini armoured kangaroos! Hard to get a good picture but here is the best one we could get.
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