A Fortnight at the Fort

We Dreamers enjoy staying at Fort Clinch State Park(Florida) when we visit family on Amelia Island.  The park has nice roads and trails for biking, some areas for fishing and a beach to walk on... and swim from, if you are a member of he Polar Bear club! We have not had the opportunity to visit during warmer months, when one might want to swim. We probably wouldn't care to do so in the sometimes oppressive heat of coastal northern Florida! 

The State Parks have a policy that campers may stay for two weeks in any month, and then must move out of the park for 7 days before returning. Thus, we stay for a fortnight. Do you know how that term came to be? According to Wikipedia, the word derives from the Old English: fēowertyne niht, meaning "fourteen nights".

The park has two campgrounds. They are very different from each other. The "river" campground is heavily treed. This area is situated on the western side of the park along the Amelia River. Most of the sites are quite separate from one another and with all of the trees and underbrush there is a lot of privacy. 

Source: Florida State Parks

The sun and wind find it a challenge to make it through the heavy canopy of oaks, so that can be a blessing or a curse. There are a few trails which are nice for walking and biking.  Tucker and Gypsy love this campground, and especially love going for walks at night when the night creatures are out and about. Last year Gypsy discovered a possum. I am not certain who was more surprised!

The Atlantic Beach campground is located on the east side of the park.  If you are lucky you might even see a nuclear sub go by on the way to dock in St. Mary's. 

The camp sites are closer together and the area is very open having only a few palmetto trees. There are pretty dunes between the beach and the campsites. Our fuzzy family is not welcome on the beach, so Mr. Dreamy and I don't take as many walks on the beach as we'd like.

Source

In fact, walking the dogs is a challenge. There are no trails, and there are sand spurs everywhere. Tucker's feet seem to be a bit more rugged and he rarely complains that he has picked up one. Gypsy, on the other hand, (aptly playing the role of the princess) seems to walk less than 5 feet before stopping, holding her paw aloft for assistance from her human. Sadly, no one assists the human in removing teeny barbs in her thumb and fingers acquired from removing the stickers from Miss Gypsy's paw - she must do that herself! But, one shouldn't complain when considering the beauty from which the stickers came.