AROUND ANASTASIA ISLAND: An Amish surprise Christmas visit
Lorraine Thompson
Anastasia Island residents are used to seeing and meeting visitors from nearby and distant places, but not many if any can recall seeing an Amish family walking local streets and beaches. Nor, according to Noah Byler, an Amish man from Dayton, Pennsylvania, has he or members of his family ever walked on a beach.
“I’ve never seen the ocean before,” Byler admitted, as he sat in a rented condominium overlooking St. Augustine Beach. “Never seen a palm tree.”
The Amish enclave included Noah’s wife Barbara, the grandfather John, Katie and four children who range in age from 9 months to 7 years. The group accompanied a family member here who is attending a conference. Since the Amish do not own or drive automobiles, they were transported here in a hired van from the Amish community of Dayton and will return home later this month via train.