Amelia Island Activities | Amelia Island Williams House, Fernandina Beach, FL

Archive for the ‘Amelia Island Activities’ Category

Fun Scrapbooking Retreat at Williams House

Wednesday, August 18th, 2010

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Conference room is set for start of scrapbooking retreat

The Williams House hosted its first Scrapbooking Retreat. Deborah’s daughter, Jaime is a Consultant for Close To My Heart scrapbooking & stamping supplies and leads Scrapbooking workshops and shows in Virginia (jaime_llewellyn@yaoo.com). Our meeting room located in the Carriage House is the perfect space. Each Scrapper gets their own table to set out their supplies and tools which they can leave in place for the duration of the Retreat. The cost of the retreat included some free “goodies” and lot of prizes were awarded throughout the weekend for various projects completed. Jaime also offered classes during the retreat. There was lots of laughter and fun. Close To My Heart has a complete range of tools, papers and stamps to make any scrapper happy and lots of projects were completed by the end of the weekend. The male half of the family enjoyed some golf and dinners out with the scrappin’ ladies. It was a great weekend and Jaime is already planning for the next retreat. Come join in and have a great scrappin’ time!

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Jaime, Elena, Kathy and Shannon are all to get scrappin'

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Close To My Heart has lots of supplies for great scrappin'

Ladies enjoy making a recipe box from one of the CTMH kits

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Hard work scrappin' yields good results

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Picnic Lunch was provided each day for the scrappers

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Recipe boxes that each scrapper made were a big hit

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Deborah shows off her first photo pages made from a CTMH kit

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More great scrappin' results from retreat

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Ladies show how great scrappin' projects can be done

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Jaime provided great prizes at the retreat for completed projects

Scrappin' ladies enjoy lunch in Williams House courtyard

Tags: Amelia Island Activities, Guest Experiences, scrapbook retreat
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Sailing Adventure at Williams House-Amelia Island

Sunday, August 8th, 2010

williams house owners try out windward sunset sail

Deborah’s daughters were staying at the Williams House this week and her older daughter, Jaime led a scrapbooking retreat. While they were here, we took the group out on a sailing adventure with Windward Sailing for a sunset cruise in the Amelia River. It was a beautiful evening with a nice sunset, calm seas and warm temps. We took along some subs from our local Fernandina Deli on 8th street and a few beers and wine. We enjoyed seeing fort clinch from the river side, shrimp boats at the docks, Cumberland Island, porpoises( or dolphins ) and learning a bit from our experienced captain about sailing. He even let Deborah steer the boat for a while as he rigged the sails. We’ve had several guests take this private sail and all have enjoyed it. We can now add our own reccommendation for a fun experience and a great calming end to a day.

all-aboard for sailing in Fernandina Beach

shrimp boats rest in Amelia harbour

fort clinch guards river entrance

deborah and daughters relaxing on sailboat

deborah and daughters relax as we sail

deborah's daughters hang on in a turn

Beautiful view of Cumberland Island from sailboat

Deborah takes a turn steering

Sunset on the harbour near fernandina beach

The sailboat's american flag highlighted by sunset

Beautiful sunset nears end on amelia island

Tags: Amelia Island Activities, amelia island attractions, Guest Experiences
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Magical Firefly Paddles

Friday, March 26th, 2010

People who have never experienced the night aglow with fireflies are amazed once they do. It is ethereal to stand among them and watch their glowing dance.

Like stars dancing among us.

Guests of our Fernadina beach inn next month may walk among the fireflies thanks to magical Firefly Paddles through Kayak Amelia. These special trips will take place April 9, 10, 16, 17, and 23, 2010. (more…)

Tags: Firefly Paddle, Kayak Amelia, specials
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Concours D' Elegance on Amelia Island

Thursday, March 18th, 2010

A williams House guest, Jan, has her eye on this beauty

If you like cars, at least older well preserved cars, the Amelia Island Concours De Elegance was the place to be this past weekend. With record cars present and around 18,000 visitors to the show it was a grand event. The Williams House was filled with car enthusiasts including one from Puerto Rico who was showing his car. Discussions at breakfast, wine hour and in betweeen was pretty much non-stop car talk with some showing pictures of their prized cars and others taking in every minute of the activity linked to the show. It was I believe the first time we have ever had a Rolls Royce parked in our driveway courtesy of a guest from Charleston. With all rooms filled we weren’t able to see the show but guests happily shared their pictures as you will see below. It continues to be widely enjoyed by everyone who attends and the weather finally cooperated with sunny but slightly cool days on Saturday and Sunday for the events. On Sunday, all of the cars registered for the show are displayed on the Golf Club of Amelia fairways, a great golf course near the middle of the Island. Some called it a field of dreams for car enthusiasts. As the name says in French, this is a “parade of elegance” when it comes to rare automobiles. If you are in to cars come join us next year at the Williams House for this great show….but book early, the show is very popular!

Tags: Amelia Island Activities, Guest Experiences, local attractions
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First Annual Amelia Island Garden Show

Saturday, March 6th, 2010

The Garden Show welcomes visitors to Amelia Island

We are always looking forward to new and growing events on the Island and this weekend is the start of the Garden Show for the Island. It is a Saturday/Sunday event held at central park and was very crowded as we visited this morning. Cars are parked all along the streets and lots making it look like a typical Shrimp Festival day. A large variety of vendors were on hand with quite a diversity of flowers, herbs, bushes and even small trees. Food vendors were set up with some interesting choices, and live music appeared to be getting started as we left. It appeared a lot of people need new plants after the chilly winter we have had, and we are among those getting some replacements.

We have a weekly Saturday morning farmer’s market in downtown Fernandina Beach, and some of the same vendors were at the Garden Show, but also a lot of new ones. We hope this becomes at least an annual event and grows in scope as vendors find willing customers for spring flowers.

Visitors survey the food booths

One booth had birds on display

Beautiful flowers abound

Brilliant colors catch your eye

Herbs of all types

Bonsai also were represented

A tent full of live butterflies was impressive

Lot's of booths = lot's of choices

Tags: Amelia Island Activities, Fernandina Beach, flowers, Guest Experiences
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Favorite Amelia Island Attractions – Fort Clinch Park

Thursday, March 4th, 2010

Fort Clinch Aerial view from their website

There are many unique attractions for guests of the Williams House to enjoy while visiting Amelia Island. One of the favorites is Fort Clinch State Park. It is named for General Duncan Lamont Clinch, a prominent figure in the Second Seminole war that began in 1847. The fort was built at the mouth of the St. Mary’s river to protect the natural deep-water port of Fernandina Beach, the eastern most link in Florida’s cross state railroad that connected with Cedar Key on the western shore. It was one of many masonry forts built between 1816 and 1867 called the Third System Fortifications. It was never fully completed but served as a military post during the Civil War, Spanish- American War and World War II and became one of the earliest Florida state parks in 1935. The Civilian Conservation Corps started restorations and building of roads and campgrounds in 1936-1937.

Today, visitors see life as it might have been in 1864 via restored barracks, blacksmith shop, points of defense including cannon, headquarters and jail. Soldiers are present in uniform of the period and explain to visitors the rules of life in that time and the hardships and challenges before electricity and indoor plumbing. Reinactments occur monthly with troops overnighting at the fort.

Live Oaks shade the drive from entrance to fort

Access to the beach, beautiful views of Cumberland Island, picnic and camping facilities, hiking trails, wildlife, visitors center and gift shop are all available through the fort site. Many of our guests that elect a picnic take it to Fort clinch and enjoy both a tasty meal and a fascinating look back into history. It is also a nice bike ride of about four miles from the Inn to the actual fort. Visitors also visit the beach in search of Sharks teeth from this northern point of the island.

View of the headquarters building from the tunnel entrance

Beach view from near the fort

Tags: amelia island attractions, favorite things to do
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Christmas Tree Lighting

Thursday, December 3rd, 2009

Fernandina Beach Christmas tree before lighting

The Christmas season is always enjoyable for the traditions and excitement that seems to draw everyone into the joy and unique feeling of these holidays. The annual tree lighting downtown is one of those fun and exciting events. Though not quite as large as the tree at Rockefeller center, ours is attractive and of good size. A nice crowd of about 100 to 150 folks gathered for the event including many kids that were likely thinking of Christmas gift giving just around the corner. The event included some local musicians followed by the traditional count down from ten before the lights were turned on. We are looking forward to the upcoming holidays and our Christmas special where Deborah prepares a wonderful Christmas buffet. (more…)

Tags: Amelia Island Activities, Fernandina Beach, Guest Experiences
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New Bikes for Williams House Guests

Thursday, October 22nd, 2009

New Bikes await first "Guest" riders

Bike riding on Amelia Island is enjoyable for guests and locals alike. With flat terrain, short distances, and generally sunny and mild conditions, it is a great way to see the Island. Like many B&B’s we inherited a set of bikes when we bought the Inn and have nursed them along so they at least were useable. But a recent failure in one of the older units induced us to update and we now have four brand new Atlas bikes for guest use. We utilized our local bike dealer (one block away) who convinced us that you get what you pay for and a $99 bike at the Big retailer is worth just about what you pay for it, and lasts in tandem with that price. These aren’t fancy with gears and hand brakes, just the old fashioned mens/womens versions of the bike we had as kids. With the flat terrrain on the Island it is all one needs, and the less parts on a bike the longer they seem to last. So, book a room and know that your local transportation needs are covered. By the way, they are all safety yellow in color so you won’t be missed in the crowd and other vehicles can more easily see you! We also include a basket so you can at least get a start on bringing back all your wonderful finds at local stores.

Tags: Amelia Island Activities, Guest Experiences
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Peg Leg the Pirate – Welcome Center

Thursday, August 27th, 2009

Peg Leg the pirate awaits visitors near welcome center

One of the must have pictures when you visit Fernandina Beach is with Peg Leg the pirate standing near the downtown visitors center. He was created by a local artist to honore the Iland’s pirate history and was restored about a year ago after the Florida sun worked him over. He stands just before the railroad tracks that run along side the marina and city docks and is honored to welcome all guests to our historic town. The visitor/welcome center has all the information one could need regarding lodging, attractions, events, restaurants, maps, etc. that any visitor can find useful. It’s also the first place you can meet the very friendly folks who live on our Island and volunteer at the center. In addition to the quaint town, great restaurants, beautiful historic homes, and unique shops, the vast majority of our guests comment on how friendly people are on this Island and in the historic town. We definitely agree and believe its because they have all found a little slice of heaven by living here, are enjoying the “Island Time” pace of the area, realize how fortunate we are to not have traffic jams and the busy-ness of many locales or perhaps just naturally friendly people find this place! Regardless we know from experience with thousands of guests each year that you will find this unique place one that you won’t soon forget and will plan to return whenever you can.

Peg Leg gueards the Marina

Fernandina Beach Visitor Center

Historic fountain in front of visitors center

Placard on historic fountain

Tags: Amelia Island Activities, Fernandina Beach, Guest Experiences
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Friendly Ghosts Like Fernandina Beach

Saturday, July 25th, 2009

Polly the Ghost Tour Trolley

Ghost tours and stories of ghosts are abundant in many older towns and cities, especially in old homes and buildings. Fernandina Beach has its share of stories and several ways for guests to experience the phenomenon. One way pictured at left is Polly the Trolley which takes visitors on a motorized tour of the old homes with ghost stories and adds a touch of history. They depart at 7:30 and 8:30 pm Friday and Saturday. Another option is the Museum of History walking ghost tour that runs each Friday evening at 6 pm. They begin at the Episcopal Church and wind through the historic district, stopping in front of homes that have experienced the unusal and unexplained. Another option is the Amelia Island Ghost Tours run by Daine Blanton. These tours operate Friday and Saturday evenings at 8:00 pm and have been happening for 10 years. Again these are walking tours through all of the old homes with ghost experiences as well as the local cemetery. She has photos she has captured on tours showing orbs, angels and strange occurances.

Musem of History

Diane awaits visitors for Ghost Touring

All of the ghosts on the Island appear to be friendly, more like Casper. Some are playful and mischievious but none I have heard of appear scary or do anything bad. We have had a few interesting experiences at the Williams House that we share with interested guests, but the vast majority of visitors never experience anything other than relaxing nights, great breakfasts and lots of social interaction. If you are interested, there are plenty of options in the local area to fulfill all of your paranormal leanings and most are a fun and thought provoking experience.

Tags: Amelia Island Activities, Guest Experiences
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Amelia Island Williams House, Florida Bed and Breakfast