When I take you out in the surrey with the fringe on top.....

Well, since I am trying to blog AND watch the CMA awards (they are SO good this year)....I am getting my pictures all mixed up. I guess I'll just blog a little out of order tonight.

Emma, Grandma knew you would like this....we took a walk on the beach and here was this jelly fish....urgh! I stayed away from this guy!!

We took a walk around the town of Amelia before heading out to the Fort Clinch State Park.

Of course we had to check out this shop.....

Hmmm, my hair is the exact color as this cutout....come to think of it so is the figure. Well, maybe not quite...LOL

After lunch we headed out to the fort....I loved it! All of the "soldiers" were living in the year 1864 and everything they said was as if they were in fact there. It was SO interesting and informative!!

Here are the prices for a funeral in that year.....I particularly like the professional "mourner" for 30 cents!!

This was the tool room for coffin making and grave digging.

This made everyone cringe. This was the dental office....check out the drill. The dentist worked the drill while the patient pumped the pedal to power it. Ouch!

Among the many instruments on display was this bottle of "cowpox scabs". Edward Jenner while researching a vaccine for "smallpox" found that in all the communities he visited, the only ones that never got smallpox were the milkmaids. He then figured out how to vaccinate, let the scabs grow remove them and make a serum. Of course it's much more complex than that but that's the general idea. I do plan to read more on this because I remember the ugly scars my mom, dad had on their arms and I never really thought much about it.

And here is the pharmacist, doctor's assistant. I couldn't believe how much info we absorbed in such a short period of time.

He also locked the hospital and took us on a guided tour of the rest of the fort, including, jail, bakery, kitchen, sleeping quarters, etc.

This guy was the "best" he was a very angry soldier who hated the "scumbag" democrats and went on to inform us why the war wasn't over 2 years before it actually ended. All political, of course! I have always loved Civil War history, but now realize how much more there always is to learn.

He gave Ruth and me "hell" for being dressed the way we were....said we should have a bonnet and long dress. After all, these men had been away from their women for over 2 years and it wasn't a good idea to parade around the way we were dressed. Lots of laughs!

The fort...... After leaving the fort we went back downtown to grab some dinner and take a carriage tour and learn a little more history about the town (and of course a few ghost stories).

This fish pond was right on the street; there was one on each side of one of the stores.

This is Rita and her beautiful draft horse "Dixon". We had the most enjoyable trip around the town, learning so much about the history of this very old FL town. I can see why Jill said this was the town she wanted to live in if they decided to stay in FL.

The homes are beautiful, and many of them have been in the family for years and years! This particular one is one of the "haunted" ones.

After the tour, we journeyed back to the hotel for a good night's sleep before leaving the next day for St. Marys, the Submarine Museum, and the Okefenokee Swamp.