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

Posts Tagged ‘Amelia Island Activities’

Williams House Tea Party

Wednesday, December 28th, 2011

Tis the season to be jolly…and have tea at the Williams House. A group of ladies joined us for a festive start to the Holiday season with a tea prepared by Deborah with finger sandwiches, scones, chicken salad pastry, cheese pastry, and sesame sticks. Dessert included chocolate covered strawberries, cookies of several varieties, and filled pastries! It was a great way to get into the Christmas spirit and enjoy the Williams House.

Williams House set for Tea

Ready for Tea

Enjoying Tea

Tags: Amelia Island Activities, Guest Experiences, tea party
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Black Friday PJ Shopping Party in Historic Fernandina Beach

Friday, November 25th, 2011

Williams House guests in PJ's depart for shopping

Black Friday is famous for its shopping opportunities and great bargains. It’s no different in historic Fernandina Beach except……. you have to wear pajamas to get store discounts from local merchants. There is also a contest for best dressed patron weraing pajamas as well as admiring stares from fellow shoppers and on-lookers. We had one couple staying at the Williams House that got into the program and donned their best pj’s and headed for downtown. Other guests felt they brought the wrong set of pj’s for such an excursion and just headed out to see the event in action. It was fun for all and based on packages shopping was also in full gear. We took a stroll and captured some of the more interesting and artsy efforts, many of whom will no doubt be in the running for “best dressed”. It is a fun event and a great way to recover from the overeating on Thanksgiving with a healthy walk.

Photography in pj's

Mr and Mrs santa on scooter

Ready for bargains

And you wear this for sleeping?

Unique sleepwear

Crowds seeking bargains at Twisted Sisters store

Twins or just friends?

Christmas tradition for salvation army

More contenders for best dressed

How does that work on a pillow?

Family pjing together

Live music

A warm day for pj wearers

Fernandina Beach Christmas Tree

Tags: Amelia Island Activities, Guest Experiences, Holidays
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Thanksgiving Tea and Carriage Rides at Amelia Island Williams House

Friday, November 25th, 2011

Tea set for Williams House guests

This Thanksgiving holiday we provided an afternoon tea and carriage rides for guests of the Williams House as well as an evening dinner at a local restaurant. Deborah prepared tasty finger foods served with hot tea, iced tea, punch and several nice dessert options. Either before or after tea, guests could ride with Amelia Island Carriages for a tour of several historic homes and learn about the rich history of Amelia Island. We try to change our packages each year and this is the first time we have had carriage rides on Thanksgiving. Served from 2-4 pm the Tea was the perfect bridge between our full and delicious breakfast and the 6 pm timing for the main Thanksgiving meal. As the official taste tester at the Williams House, Byron sampled all the offerings and deemed them satisfyingly tasty! Meanwhile, Cinnamon enjoyed a long afternoon nap on the porch and multiple visits from guests willing to provide love and petting. Seems he has little evidence to judge holidays as being different from his usual day at the Inn.

Fireplace and Christmas decorations add to ambiance of Tea

Deborah describes food choices to guests

Guests prepare to enjoy carriage ride

Cinnamon relaxes

Checking out the carriage

Tags: Amelia Island Activities, Carriage Rides, Guest Experiences, Holidays
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Christmas Comes Early on Amelia Island with Bed and Breakfast Cookie Tour

Monday, November 21st, 2011

Deborah by Williams House decorations

Saturday was a big day on Amelia Island as all eight B&B’s decorated for Christmas, baked their favorite cookies and opened their doors to over 500 visitors for the Amelia Island Bed and Breakfast Cookie Tour. The tour is held the Saturday before Thanksgiving each year, and this time visitors enjoyed a warm and mostly sunny day. Trolleys, taxi’s and horsedrawn carriages carried visitors between Inns and fresh cookies and refreshments were ready at each stop. At Williams House we began decorating Nov. 1 and finished a day or two before the tour. We had six rooms plus the common area open for touring and everything was decorated to the max. Our cookie was a peanut butter, oatmeal variety with both regular and dark chocolate M&M’s. Thanks to our slight over-cooking, I am still enjoying a few. Carriage horses Boomer and Jazz moved between Hoyt, Williams House and Fairbanks and the trolley moved visitors from Hoyt to Elizabeth Pointe. Taxi’s took them the final leg to Amelia Ocean Front. We had an excellent turn-out that was 70% higher than last year. Apparently lot’s of folks wanted to get into the Christmas spirit or they are really serious cookie fans! A portion of the revenue will be given to Barnabus Center, our charity for 2011, and the added crowd versus last year will help us give them a larger donation. We want to thank Barabus for their volunteers who helped each B&B with stageing their rooms and guiding visitors. Our thanks from the Williams House and all the other B&B’s for public support of this tour and our charity and we look forward to even bigger results next year! We hope you enjoy some pictures from the event and the Williams House.

Jaime,Deborah,Byron&Jami on WH porch before tour began

Williams House front porch

Williams House dining room

Williams House stairwell

Williams House grand hall

Williams House parlor

Williams House hall tree

Top porch tree

Dining room table

Flamingo Christmas tree

Candy pole sign

Williams House decorations

Decorations with a candy theme

Deborah tells visitors our history

Visitors prepare to tour Williams House

Visitors size up Boomer

Jazz also treats guests to ride

Tags: Amelia Island Activities, B&B Cookie Tour, Christmas
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Williams House 11/11/11 Wedding

Saturday, November 12th, 2011

Some numbers are important, others unusual and occasionally they come together to form unique combinations. Such was this special day for Natalie and Michael when they were wed at the Williams House on Amelia Island on the special date of 11/11/11. Joined by 30 family and friends they were married on the Williams House front porch with Byron officiating on a cool but beautiful Friday afternoon. A reception followed in the back courtyard with lot’s of nice goodies prepared by Deborah, the Williams House chef and wedding coordinator. Georgeous seasonal flowers added fall color to the proceedings and a champagne toast to bride and groom was followed by traditional cake cutting. As usual Cinnamon was all around the Williams House entertaining children and seeking out crab cakes or other tasty morsels. Our best wishes to the bride and groom as they begin their new life together!

Natalie and Dad enter the wedding

Byron leads Natalie and Michael through their vows

Fall color in centerpieces

Natalie and Michael in rose garden

Wedding cake

Deborah and Jami prepare the food

Wedding guests arrive at reception

A toast for the bride and groom

Cinnamon entertains

Family portrait

Tags: Amelia Island Activities, williams house weddings
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Great Southern Tailgate Cook-Off Amelia Island

Tuesday, August 30th, 2011

Yes, that title is a mouthful, but so was the barbecue at the last weekend’s Great Southern Tailgate Cook-Off. Held on Amelia Island for the second year, it featured expert barbecue teams from all around the south. Having tasted several, I have to say they were great at their chosen profession or hobby! Crowds were good and every where you looked people were enjoying their favorite version of barbecue. Pulled pork, ribs, chicken were all available and the smell of wood fired cookers filled the air. Visitors could also get smoothies, funnel cakes, fries, onion rings and beverages. Held at main beach with ocean backdrops, it was a fun event with great views.

cooking up close

Crowds sniff out favorite barbecue

Unique vehicles add flair

Music added to the fun

Deborah with friends Bob & Sue order up

Welcome to great barbecue

Tags: Amelia Island Activities, Guest Experiences, local attractions
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July 4th Special on Amelia Island

Wednesday, August 3rd, 2011

July 4 parade – Fernandina Beach

The July 4th holiday yielded lots of activity on Fernandina Beach including an event with specialty vehicles, games and live band at Central Park during the early hours. In the evening, a traditional parade with police, fireman, military and citizens was held. Later the same day, a free concert was held down by the waterfront and fireworks followed at 9:30 pm. It was fairly crowded on the Island with lot’s of folks enjoying the shops, restaurants, Fort Clinch (with reenac tments) and lot’s of local activities. We were full at the Williams House and in fact July in total was one of our busier months this year. We also had a small wedding on the Holiday weekend which we will cover later in another blog.

military vehicles at central park

Band entertains at central park

Color guard begins parade

Cool cars in the parade

Motor scooter mama's

Pirate ship ends the parade with a bang

Tags: Amelia Island Activities, local attractions
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Exploring Fort Clinch with Family

Monday, July 4th, 2011

Byron's brother Gary at entrance to Fort Clinch

Byron’s brother Gary visited recently from Raleigh, NC and we had the opportunity to introduce him to one of our favorite local attractions, Fort Clinch, an historical Florida State Park. Started as part of the United States coastal defense system before the civil war, it never really saw action although Union soldiers occupied the fort during the war. It was worked on again as part of the 1930′s WPA projects as were many of these early forts. Since then it has been worked on with volunteers and donations and is largely intact and complete. It is usually manned by at least one soldier in period uniform who will gladly enlighten you on what life was like in the fort during the 1860′s. On the first weekend of each month in the summer, reenactments are staged with larger numbers of soldiers joining the historic setting. There are numerous tunnel like alley ways to and from various parts of the fort, cannons atop the walls, gun turrets, a dry moat, powder rooms, officer and enlisted quarters, jail, kitchen and blacksmith shop. The fort is about four miles from the current Fernandina Beach historic district and sits at the northern most point of Amelia Island. There is beach access and a fishing pier within the park as well. Views north to the south end of Cumberland Island are available from atop the river side walls. We always encourage guests at the Williams House to find time to visit this little piece of history and try to imagine what life was like on Amelia Island in the 1800′s.

Quarter masters office at Ft. Clinch

Bunk bed's in officer's room

View of ocean from gun port

Soldier explains gun turret workings

Cannon aimed along fort perimeter

Tunnel leading to gun turret

Ammunition storage

Gary climbs to the turret

Byron rests by the cannon

View of fishing pier and beach

Cumberland Island view

Tags: Amelia Island Activities, local attractions
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Experiencing an Amelia Island River Cruise

Wednesday, May 18th, 2011

Deborah, Sue and Bob ready for departure

We recently had friends visiting from North Carolina and arranged for a river cruise to treat them to local views and history. We’ve been several times and are always impressed by learning something new on each trip, and on this particular visit, we were fortunate to get a very close up view of the wild horses, which histroically we have only seen from a distance. It was a strange day in that fires burning in the okefenokee swamp had created a smoke haze for the early part of the trip, giving the views a nostalgic old fashioned feeling.

These cruises are popular with Williams House guests since you get to see shrimp boats, Fort Clinch from the river, Old Town and the Pippi Longstocking house, beaches, marshes, the port, the paper mill, Cumberland Island, wild horses, flying manta rays, dolphins, and in our case the Dungeness ruins. In addition there is a history lesson on from the early days of the island to the present made interesting by your hosts on the tour. It’s a liesurely tour with great views. There are three cruises daily including morning, mid day and sunset.