Early voting for the Nov. 3 election starts Thursday and runs through Saturday, Oct. 31, 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. every day including both weekends, and the Observer has the five sites: the Atlantic Recreation Center at 2500 Atlantic Ave. in Fernandina Beach; the James S. Page Governmental Complex at 96135 Nassau Place and the Yulee Sports Complex at 86142 Goodbread Road, both in Yulee; the Walter Junior Boatright County Building at 45401 N. Mickler St. in Callahan; and the Hilliard Community Center at 37177 Pecan St. Any registered Nassau voter can use any of the five, which is the one thing early voting lets you do that election day does not: on Nov. 3 it is your assigned precinct only, 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Bring a photo ID that carries your signature (a driver's license, passport, military or student ID, even a debit card counts), and if the photo ID has no signature on it, bring a second ID that does; without ID you vote a provisional ballot and the canvassing board decides whether it counts. Supervisor of Elections Janet Adkins' office asks that you mark up your sample ballot before you come, which keeps the lines moving, and every early-voting site has a secure drop box for mail ballots during voting hours. Thursday is also the last day to ask for a mail ballot, by 5 p.m.; the registration deadline passed Oct. 5.

The dry, cool stretch holds through Friday: 74 today on the island and 76 in Yulee, 78 in Callahan and Hilliard under a north breeze, then down to 57 tonight in Fernandina, 52 in Yulee, 50 in Callahan and 48 in Hilliard, and 73 and sunny Thursday and Friday. The turn comes Friday night, when high pressure to the north and low pressure to the south squeeze a northeast wind onto the coast. Saturday is 72 with rain showers likely on the island (the Weather Service has the chance at 65 percent in Fernandina, about half that in Yulee and under a third in Callahan and Hilliard) and a northeast wind of 20 to 24 mph, and the forecasters say the onshore pattern holds into early next week. That lands squarely on the Taste of Amelia crawl, noon to 3 Saturday through the downtown restaurants, and on the airport open house that morning, so a wet walk between tastings is the likely shape of the day. The beach is the bigger hazard: a rip current statement is up for Coastal Nassau through late Thursday night, the forecasters expect a high rip current risk and rough surf every day this week, and they call a high surf advisory, coastal flooding around the high tides and gusts near wind-advisory levels probable for the weekend. Walk beside the water; do not go in it.

The Waterfront Advisory Board meets Monday at 6 p.m., and its one action item is a revised concept for the Waterfront Park expansion, the small entry park at the foot of South Front Street beside the city boat ramp, back for approval four months after the June town hall where the two arguments were moving the Centre Street veterans memorial to the river and making the ramp safer. The packet carries two dated drawings by Thomas & Hutton, and reading them side by side is the story. The Feb. 25 version had a 15-foot fountain plaza, a "veteran's obelisk plaza" with a relocated obelisk and flags for the branches of the armed services, and a pergola with swings over the marina. The Oct. 19 revision keeps a plaza with a relocated monument, one permanent flagpole for the American flag, sleeves for the branch flags and inscribed memorial pavers; adds an event lawn, a shade structure with swing benches, boater-safety signs and what the legend calls enhanced boat ramp circulation; and the fountain is gone. Whether that monument is the Centre Street memorial is what Monday should settle, and the board's own September minutes show members already uneasy about ramp access as the park grows, with Vice Chair Sharpe calling the ramp "the worst possible spot." Last night's Community Redevelopment Agency hearing on the harbor plan had not been reported anywhere by 7:30 this morning; Friday's issue will carry what was said.

The county has noticed a public meeting on Amelia Island Trail Phase 5 for Tuesday, Nov. 17, 4 to 7 p.m., in the Peck Center auditorium at 516 S. 10th St., the first dated step for the trail since the Amelia Island Parkway Trail was finished in August and tied the island's three paths into 3.2 miles. The notice says nothing about the route, only that two or more county commissioners may attend and will take no action; the stretch the Friends of the Amelia Island Trail described in August as the next phase runs along Will Hardee Road to Sadler Road, then Sadler to South 14th Street and north to Hickory Street, one of the greenway's trailheads. The three-hour window reads like an open house rather than a presentation, though the notice does not say. We will print the route the county shows that night.

Author and playwright Robin Pullen's "Amelia, The Island" started as a chapter book that Story & Song Press put out in April, illustrated by Bill Ivins: a girl wants to be the Shrimp Festival's tour guide, has one day to learn the island's history, and gets help when the wooden pirate Peg Leg Pete comes to life and walks her through the Timucua, the eight flags and the Beach Lady of American Beach. Now it is a family musical, and it is casting. Open auditions are today at 4 p.m. and Thursday at 6 p.m. at Story & Song, 1430 Park Ave.: sing a short song, read a scene, all ages welcome, 15 roles, with rehearsals at the bookstore and the performance set for Saturday, Jan. 30, at 2 p.m. at the fourth Festival of Stories & Songs. If a kid in your house has ever argued about which of the eight flags came first, this is the audition for them. Questions go to the author at authorrobinpullen@gmail.com.

The county is about to show the trail's next leg. Where does the island's path network need to go next, and which road do you ride or walk today that you wish you did not have to? Hit reply and let us know. We read every response.

Locals say "the trail" as if the island has one. How many connected multiuse paths are there, which came first, and how long have the Friends of the Amelia Island Trail been at it?

Answer: Three. The original Amelia Island Trail, finished in 2011, runs to the island's south tip; the Amelia River to Sea Trail followed around 2019 and is picked up at Bailey Road; and the Amelia Island Parkway Trail is the newest, its last three segments ribbon-cut on Aug. 26 this year to make 3.2 miles and tie the three together. The Friends of the Amelia Island Trail formed in 2003, and president Mike Pikula credits the North Florida Transportation Planning Organization with the money that built the newest one.

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