By Hilda Mitrani
Amelia Island's The Palace Saloon is the oldest bar in Florida and was the last American tavern to close during Prohibition. It survived that dry era as an ice cream parlor. Once a favorite haunt of the Carnegies, the Rockefellers and other socialites, The Palace Saloon is still operating today.
In fact, it's one of the frequent stops on the Amelia Island Museum of History’s weekly walking tours of Historic Downtown Fernandina Beach and one of the most interesting things to do in Amelia Island.
Still in the original location, this watering hole's colorful history began in the late 1800s. According to local historians, the owners of the Saloon were selling liquor until the very last minute before Prohibition took effect. People from neighboring states waited in long lines for their share.
This is one of the interesting tales heard on the Amelia Island Museum of History's Thursday night pub crawls. It sounds like the perfect recipe: A tour of four pubs, a wealth of historical information about centuries-old downtown Fernandina and probably a ghost tale or two.
By the way, the Fernandina Beach area has 4,000 years of history, and the Museum itself was built on the site of the historic jail of Nassau County.
Reservations for the Thursday evening pub crawl are de rigeur, and, of course, this is for adults only. (All participants must be 21 or older.) Sounds like a hoot to me.
Anyone have a lead on flapper dresses?
