Fernandina Beach

Yesterday, we got a ride into town from one of the guys at the marina. He towed our dingy and motor behind his boat. Then we found Bob, the carburetor guru. He is an old man, and was surrounded by mechanical projects..Scott liked him immediately! Bob told us to give him a few hours to work the motor, so we set out to explore the town.

Fernandina Beach is a pretty little town, that is easily walkable. We browsed some stores and then discovered Pablos for lunch...yes, more Mexican. They have an outside patio, and we SO enjoyed the warm weather while we ate.

After lunch, we went back to The Boathouse, to see how Bob was doing with our dingy motor. We found him smoking a stogy, chatting with Gary. The Boathouse cat slept in the middle of Gary's desk, everyone was relaxing. Bob took Scott back to show him what he'd done to the motor, and to start it up for him. Bob's rate is 50.00 per hour, so we expected to pay 50.-100. Bob told Scott that is was a "no charge" job. Scott made him at least take a 20, so we REALLY lucked out there! It saved Scott from trying to work on the motor at the boat, with no bench to hold it up steady and trying to keep oil and gas from dripping onto the cockpit floor. We took the motor and locked it to the dingy. Then we headed for the Palace Saloon.

The Palace Saloon is the oldest contiually run bar in Florida. Check out some history of the bar at
http://www.thepalacesaloon.com/history.shtml The bar was a blast. All of the stools at the bar were full of patrons...some in actual pirate garb. They are part of a group called the Fernandina Pirate's Club, which has pirates for hire. You can have someone kidnapped by a pirate,(this interested Scott) or have one show up at your party, etc.

We were told by Gary, at The Boathouse, to order a Pirates Punch(but only one), so we did. Arty, the bartender, was happy to oblige us. We sat at a table, then came back to the bar when some stools opened up. The place was all regulars except for us, and they were busy with the task at hand...getting drunk. They took time out to welcome and chat with us, and tell us where the good places to eat were(you can only get liquid food at the Palace). We had a few drinks, and some VERY interesting conversation. We had some sandwiches delivered by the Happy Tomato, to take back to the boat(that way, the drinking wasn't interrupted), and said goodbye to our bar friends.

A cheap motor fix, warm weather, good Mexican food, and some time at a friendly dive bar...a good day!!! Check out today's pics.