To Walkabout and Back

December 15-23, 2025                                     Most Recent Posts:
Fort Clinch State Park                                      Dickens On Centre More Fun
Fernandina Beach, Florida                              Dickens on Centre

This year I spent 6 weeks in total at Fort Clinch State Park Campground in Fernandina Beach.   Like most years, I spent the first two weeks of November here since it is an easy first stop in Florida on the Atlantic Coast.  But this year I came back again for Dickens On Centre and since I was here in the middle of December, I flew out of Jacksonville to go to Maryland to spend Christmas with Carrie and her family.  That meant I had to be at Fort Clinch again at the end of December.  Since unfortunately for me, state and national parks only allow you to stay for 2 weeks at a time, I had to move for 3 days before I could come back for my final stay.

I drove over the state line into Georgia for those 3 days and stayed at Walkabout Camp and RV Park which was one of the first places David and I stayed on our first trip to Florida during our first year of full timing.  It was owned by an Australian couple who had just started it.  It’s been at least over 10 years since I’ve been there.

They now have a swimming pool and farm animals.

Cattle

Goats

Pigs

And chickens.

Free range hens were wandering around all the rigs including mine.  Here were a couple of the most interesting.  Should have asked if Walkabout sold eggs.

Fluffy leggings on what I imagine is an Orpington

This chicken with the pom pom is a Polish.  We raised chickens but mostly Buff Orpingtons and Rhode Island Reds since they are good layers.  Polish while friendly and beautiful are not.   Still I wish now I’d had a couple just for fun.

There was a disc golf course and walking trails which apparently no longer go across the boardwalk.

Back at Fort Clinch  I had a few days before my flight on the 23rd.

Pooh and I worked on the Advent puzzle.   I never do 1000 piece puzzles because the pieces are too small, they take too long and I no longer have someone to help me do them.  But this one is 1000 pieces in little dated boxes so you do just a section each day.   GREAT IDEA!   I’ve talked about this in a previous post since I’ve been working on it since the 1st thanks to my friends Mary and Pete who sent it to me.

This is my last stay so close to the ocean I can walk over so I did every day I was here.

On Winter Solstice it was barely dawn when I went out for sunrise.  I’ve lightened this just a tad so you can see the path to the beach.

I was very surprised to see two runners with head lamps.  Usually this early, I’m all alone.

Here’s how the ocean break water  looked just a bit later on this cloudy foggy morning.

And the dunes behind it.

No sign of the sun at official sunrise time.  This was the first hint sometime later.

Other than those 2 runners, it was just me and the birds celebrating the Winter Solstice.

The sun is pretty far up before it starts burning a hole for itself.

But once it does I’m happy to see it.   The longest night of the year is over and Winter has officially begun though as far as I can tell it has already been unusually cold all up and down the east coast including Florida.

Back at the rig Pooh and I do our puzzle pieces for today.  We’ll have to finish it after I get back from Christmas with Carrie and her family.  Coming up next.