Adventures in Fernandina.

We planned to spend one night in Fernandina Beach. Unfortunately Andy came down with the same virus that had plagued Henry, with the same result. Andy was quite ill for four days.

I had four low key days, trying to keep Henry entertained as quietly as possible so Andy could sleep. We had a couple of adventures though.

One day I decided that I would attempt to gather the provisions we needed. Andy was drinking a lot of gingerale, and really needed some Imodium. Henry, after all of his sick days was running extremely low on diapers. One of the locals told me that there was a store named Fred's that carried the basics, and that it was just a short walk. So, I packed Henry into his life jacket, put him and his stroller into the dinghy, and off we went.

Fred's was a fairly short walk, about four blocks. Unfortunately they didn't have gingerale, Imodium, or diapers!! The clerk told me there was a Walmart that was a 1.6 mile walk. That didn't sound very far, so off we went.

Well, 1.6 miles isn't too far with proper shoes on a nice breezy autumn day at home. In flip-flops, with no sunscreen, no hat, and a baby in a stroller in Florida in July!!!! What was I thinking!!

When I finally arrived at the Walmart I was drenched in sweat and had already developed bright pink cheeks. Henry was a little cranky, but faired pretty well. I thought to put sunscreen on him, he had a hat, and rode in the shade of the stroller's sunshade. I have never been so happy to step into air conditioning! But boy, was I dreading the walk back!

I bought a cheap hat for me, a little towel to cover Henry and searched for sunscreen. Unfortunately with my allergy to the chemicals in most sunscreens I can't buy just anything, and Walmart nor the Winn-Dixie next door carried any non-chemical sunscreen. So, I bought our provisions, as much as I could load in and on the stroller, bought a dollar store umbrella to use as shade, and headed back.

Thankfully Henry fell drank his bottle and fell asleep. He slept all the way back.

Well, I must have been quite the sight! The cheap umbrella had caught in the wind and broken very early in the walk. Here I was with a little stroller over burdened with groceries, you couldn't see Henry under the towel I put on him for shade. I was dripping with sweat (not pretty), and had on a cheap ball hat, and was trying to carry a broken umbrella when it wasn't even raining. I have never felt more like a bag lady in all my life!! I'm sure the flip-flops just finished the picture.

I felt like I was never going to make it back! It was such a hot day, and the groceries on top of the stroller kept sliding off. At one point the umbrella blew out of my hands and I had to chase it across the road. What a day.

When I finally made it back to the dinghy a nice lady took pity on me and held Henry while I loaded up. I was so exhausted and thirsty when I got back to the boat! I kept saying to Andy, "I never should have gone that far, what was I thinking!" I hadn't taken any cash with me, just a credit card to pay for the groceries, so I couldn't even buy a snack. I couldn't have taken a taxi back anyway with no car seat for Henry. What a day.

Things started to look up as soon as Andy started to feel better. One of our fellow boaters offered to drive us around town to get everything we needed, so in one trip we were able to go to the grocery store, the Walmart, fill our propane tank and buy ice. If only I'd known that two days before....

Oh well. If you don't have bad days you don't appreciate the good ones as much.

Fernandina Beach was a lovely little village...if you don't need anything!