By Linda Tancs

Located on Florida’s Amelia Island, American Beach was a haven for Blacks during the Jim Crow era. The beach was co-founded by A.L. Lewis, the state’s first Black millionaire. At the A.L. Lewis Museum, you can learn about the history of the beach and its famous visitors, from 1935 to the present day. Landmarks remain on the site despite the proliferation of golf and vacation resorts, including the first home (owned by A.L. Lewis) as well as the second home erected on the beach, known as Ervin’s Rest.

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Billed as the Great North American Eclipse, a total solar eclipse will cross North America on April 8, 2024, passing over Mexico, the United States and Canada. The path of the eclipse begins in Mexico, entering the United States in Texas, and traveling through Oklahoma, Arkansas, Missouri, Illinois, Kentucky, Indiana, Ohio, Pennsylvania, New York, Vermont, New Hampshire and Maine. The eclipse will enter Canada in Southern Ontario, and continue through Quebec, New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island and Cape Breton. This will be the last time any solar eclipse will be visible within the United States until 2045. 

Be prepared! So long as supplies last, you can purchase eclipse glasses and other accessories, like a phone app and photo filter, from American Paper Optics, a NASA-approved manufacturer. The link in the preceding sentence is an affiliate link, which means that if you click on the link and purchase merchandise from the page, then I may receive a small commission.