Thanksgiving in Flordia

Amelia Island Inn and House

Ok, so we are camped in Georga, why would we have Thanksgiving in Florida? Why indeed! For one, the Florida border is only four miles South, but that had little to do with us having our Thanksgiving dinner on Amelia Island. Since we have no turkey 'on board' for one, and have yet to try using the oven for another, we decided it would be a good idea to have dinner out somewhere and off we went. Fully not expecting to find anything open in Folkston this day, we were quite surprised to see that McDonalds was indeed open but we were both of the opinion that a Double Cheeseburger from the Dollar Menu was really not an appropriate Thanksgiving meal. We suspected (hoped) that we could drive about 10 miles South into Hilliard, Florida and find something open. Keep in mind that we are in the Bible Belt and we were not really not disappointed to find anything open in this small town either. Next attempt; travel 20+ miles East to Yulee where we knew about a number of larger chain eateries (after all, Yulee even has a Starbucks!).

We suspected we were in trouble when we found nothing open in Yulee except (again) a McDonalds, a Huddle House and a Waffle House (that might have been open). We continued on to Amelia Island (having now traveled around 55 to 60 miles) since we knew that one of the first places we would encounter on the island would be a Sonny's. Indeed, Sonny's was likely in use sometime earlier in the day since there was a sign saying "Reserved for a Private Party Today" - ugh!

It was now approaching 4:30pm and we suspected our luck was quickly running out and we'd soon be returning to Folkston and our RV for some Turkey Noodle Soup.

Since we were nearly at the Historic District of Amilia Island (actually in the Fernando Beach area) we thought we'd take one last chance near the waterfront and were supremely disappointed to find a few folks walking down the shop-lined street but there was absolutely nothing open. Reluctantly, Deb turned around at the warf and on a whim took a right turn off the main drag and there, surprisingly, almost every parking spot was occupied surrounding an inn that was actually open and serving a Thanksgiving Buffet. We nearly had the 'big one' when we saw the price, but the food was quite delicious and the setting very attactive and comfortable.

Word to the wise: Should you ever decide to adopt the Nomad life-style, be prepared to prepare your own feast for Thanksgiving if you are not inclined to go searching for many miles or go hungry or (worse) settle on McDonalds.