Last Week in Yulee - Fort Clinch

Since the "Bite is Gone", yesterday I decided to take advantage of the beautiful weather down here and in the morning headed over to Fort Clinch and wanted to avoid the weekend crowds -- maybe a little more fishing over the weekend instead.  Shorts and sandals weather with lots of sunshine is great right now and is expected to continue through half of the week (highs in the 70s).

I thought it would be nice to compare this fort with Fort Macon in Atlantic Beach, North Carolina where I had project managed the installation of exhibits there.  They only had one little room of exhibits in their museum here and that was next to the visitor center so, I went through it first before heading through the entry door to the fort.  The museum was a little "cheesy" in my opinion and it made me think of something a kid might do with some cut-n-paste in a photo album.  Some color combinations were very hard to read as well (something that would not meet NPS guidelines).  I didn't take the time to stay and view the video in the second half of the room -- the narrator was dressed as a soldier and I could hear him describe the life of a Union Soldier as I looked over the exhibit and artifacts.

It was a short, fairly level walk from the visitor center to the fort entrance and the great weather made it even more enjoyable with glimpses of Cumberland Sound (to the north) occasionally being visible.  The entrance wasn't really very impressive and as I crossed the little draw bridge, I had hoped to see a moat somewhere below but, it must have been filled in over the years (alligators probably left some time ago too).

I didn't see any other visitors as I walked around the fort but, I did hear someone talking inside one of the buildings at the north end of the fort -- later found that to be three men dressed as Union Soldiers working in the kitchen (said they were from New York and New Hampshire just waiting for the end of the war).

Guess you're in there.

Guard's Quarters

 

Guns to the left.

Guns to the right.

 

As I started to head back, two other visitors (a couple) were coming into the fort and the three soldiers emerged from the kitchen and began to play some tunes on their drum and flutes.  When I made it back to the visitor center I noticed that two bus loads of school kids had just arrived and their energy and noise began to overcome the peace and quiet I had enjoyed -- Good Timing!

I drove back from the parking lot and stopped to check out one of the campgrounds in the park (the one nearest to Cumberland Sound and a short walking distance over the dunes to the water).  The boardwalk over the dunes was closed (on Oct. 1st) and won't reopen until May 2014 so, I drove back towards the fort and drove to the east inlet parking area to check it out.  I brought some leftover Mullet and decided to fish a little while before heading back to the RV park -- did get some bites but, didn't catch a thing.  However, I learned from a guy on the beach (with his wife) that there are plenty of shark's teeth to be found there and lots of nice shells -- he showed me a few of the teeth he had found that day.  Nice!

Today, I will fish the southern tip of Amelia Island State Park later in the afternoon and will be taking one of my neighbors along (Daniel) who wants to try catching a big shark (hopefully, he won't become the bait).