May 23, 2010
Historic American Beach, a motorized parachute, the tallest sand dunes in Florida,Amelia Lighthouse, Burney Park and Fort Clinch
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at Amelia Island - Florida May 23, 2010 |
Historic American Beach, a motorized parachute, the tallest sand dunes in Florida,Amelia Lighthouse, Burney Park and Fort Clinch |
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| Amelia Island is one of the southernmost of the Sea Islands, a chain of barrier islands that stretches along the east coast of the United States from South Carolina to Florida. It is 13 miles long and about 4 miles wide at its widest point. Amelia Island was the main filming location for the 2002 John Sayles directed film Sunshine State. | |
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Known as the "Isle of Eight Flags", it has had the following flags flown over it since 1562: France, Spain, Great Britain, Spain (again), the Patriots of Amelia Island, the Green Cross of Florida, Mexico, the Confederate States of America, and the United States. In colonial history, it became known for an episode called the Amelia Island Affair. Amelia Island was the final location of Santa Catalina de Guale, the main mission of Spanish Florida to the Guale chiefdom. |
| American Beach is a historic beach community popular with African-American vacationers. It is located north of Jacksonville, Florida on Amelia Island in Nassau County. During the time of segregation and the Jim Crow era, African Americans were not allowed to swim at the beaches in Jacksonville, and several black-only areas were created. American Beach was the largest and most popular, and was a community established by Abraham Lincoln Lewis, Florida's first black millionaire and president of the Afro-American Life Insurance Company. It contains American Beach Historic District. | |
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| While on American Beach, the two RV Gypsies watched several motorized parachutes and thought the photos interesting enough to post. | |
 A powered parachute (motorized
parachute, PPC, paraplane) is a parachute with motor and wheels. The aircraft's
airspeed is about 25 to 35 mph. PPC's operate safely at heights ranging
from a few feet off the ground to 18,000+ feet. Equipped with the standard
5 or 10 gallon fuel tank, PPCs can typically be flown for about three hours.
PPCs are among the least expensive aerial vehicles. In the United States,
most single place PPCs are flown under part 103 of the Federal Aviation
Regulations and, therefore, may be flown without a license or flight instruction.
Flight instruction is, however, highly recommended, and an average student
can learn to fly a PPC safely with 5 to 10 hours of flight instruction.
Two-place PPCs are light sport aircraft in the United States. The pilot
must have at least a sport pilot certificate issued by the FAA to fly them.
A minimum of 15 hours of flight instruction, and 5 hours of solo as a student
pilot is required to obtain this certificate. |
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Below: NaNa -
the tallest dune in Florida |
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| NaNa, the tallest dune in Florida, is located at American Beach. It is a beautiful natural wonder. A legendary visionary that once lived in this community, the "Beach Lady" MaVynne Betsch (1935-2005) took the time and effort to have this area deemed a protected landmark by the State of Florida. | |
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 Menu for the Sea Islands and surrounding areas (May 2010) You may visit these ten (10) sites in any order you choose. The page you are on is grayed out, and therefore can not be chosen from here. Be sure to scroll all the way down pages for complete travel choices. |
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Savannah, GA - several pages |
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Amelia Island, Florida
and the tallest dunes in Florida (this page) |
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After
you have visited all ten (10) sections above, please continue on to
the next adventure of the two RV Gypsies - 
