Things to do on and around Amelia Island

A little something for everyone

 

ON THE SHORE

Downtown Fernandina Beach

Located on the northern end of Amelia Island along the Intracoastal Waterway, Fernandina Beach remains much as it did in the 19th century. Its picturesque 50-block downtown historic district is included on the National Register of Historic Places. An ideal place to stroll, downtown has more than 50 shops and 25 restaurants on its shady streets, as well as many structures that were built in the late 1800s, including Victorian-style homes like the Ash Street Inn. For more information, visit www.ameliaislandhistoricdistrict.com.

The Palace Saloon

The Palace Saloon is Florida’s oldest tavern and perhaps the most well-known landmark on Centre Street, the heart of downtown in Fernandina Beach. Frequented by the Carnegies and Rockefellers, the saloon still serves drinks from its original 40-foot mahogany bar.

Ride the Beaches of Amelia

Debbie Manser, owner of “Ride the Beaches of Amelia Island,” is passionate about sharing her love of horses with others. Manser offers parties of one to six the chance to ride horses on the island’s white-sand beaches. All experience levels are welcome. For more information, visit www.ameliahorsebackriding.com or call 904-277-7047.

Great Florida Birding Trail

The Great Florida Birding Trail is a 2,000-mile highway trail that unifies existing and new birding sites throughout Florida with special identifying highway signs and published maps. The East Florida portion of the trail includes several spots on and around Amelia Island, including Fort Clinch State Park, Amelia Island State Park, The Nature Center at Amelia Island, as well as nearby Big Talbot Island State Park and Little Talbot Island State Park. For more information, visit http://floridabirdingtrail.com.

Amelia Island Lighthouse

Considered the oldest structure on the island, the black-and-white lighthouse is operated by the U.S. Coast Guard and being renovated, and as such is not open to the public. However, it can be seen from several island vantage points, including Atlantic Avenue and several spots in nearby Fort Clinch State Park. Built in 1839 using materials salvaged from the Cumberland Island Lighthouse three miles north, it is located off of Atlantic Avenue at Egan’s Creek. It sits atop the highest elevation in Florida — 107 feet above sea level and can be seen up to 19 miles out to sea.

 

ON THE WATER

Amelia River Cruises and Charters

Departing from the Fernandina Beach City Marina City Marina and the Down Under restaurant, Amelia River Cruises and Charters offers relaxing and informative excursions along the Amelia River.

Narrated tours travel past the waterfront of downtown Fernandina Beach, through Tiger Basin, an oasis of salt marshes, and along Cumberland Sound where sightseers can see dolphins, sea turtles and, in the summer, endangered manatees, as well as the Cumberland Island shoreline with its wild horses. For more information, visit www.ameliarivercruises.com or call 904-261-9972.

 Kayak Amelia

Amelia Island’s maze of marshes and creeks are ideal for enjoying the island’s natural splendor from water level. On most days, husband and wife Ray and Jody Hetchka lead groups of 10 to 14 people through the island’s tranquil waterways. The cost of a three-hour trip, which includes a 30-minute lesson, is $55. Children under 12 are discouraged from participating or may prefer a double kayak. Kayak Amelia launches from many different sites around the island. For more information or to make a reservation, visit www.kayakamelia.com or call 888-30-KAYAK.

 

STATE PARKS

 Cumberland Island (Ga.) National Seashore

Located immediately north of Amelia Island, Cumberland Island is larger than Manhattan and, as a national seashore, is protected from development. Visitors can only reach the island by ferry and the daily visitor rate is limited to 300 so guests can experience the tranquility and solitude that is the hallmark of a Cumberland visit. The limit — and the fact motor vehicle traffic is almost nonexistent on the island — also protects its population of wild horses, deer, bobcats, sea turtles, boar, armadillos and birds.

Cumberland Island gained international attention in 1996 when the late John F. Kennedy Jr. and Carolyn Bessette were married there in a secret ceremony in 1996.

 The island is a popular day trip from Fernandina Beach. Visitors can explore undisturbed beaches and moss-draped live oak forests, bird watch, swim, hike or fish.

Cumberland Island is renowned for its beautiful ruins of palatial homes surrounded by grassy fields and free-roaming wild horses. The island was once home to some of America's most prominent families, including the Carnegies. Plum Orchard, a 30-room Greek revival mansion built in 1898, was a wedding present from Lucy Carnegie to her son and is open to visitors.

From Fernandina Beach, guests can take a ferry operated by the Greyfield Inn, the only inn on Cumberland Island, for a day trip. For details, visit www.greyfieldinn.com or call 866-410-8051. For more information about the island itself, visit www.nps.gov/cuis

Fort Clinch State Park

Fort Clinch State Park offers historical tours and a haven for shelling, saltwater fishing, bird watching, hiking and mountain biking.  Named for General Duncan Lamont Clinch, an integral figure in Florida’s Seminole War of 1830, its fort was built in 1847. During the Civil War, it was first occupied by Confederate troops before the Union assumed control. The fort even saw brief action during the Spanish-American War.

Fort Clinch has 4,000 feet of Atlantic coastline, a 1,500-foot fishing pier and a visitors’ center where exhibits explain the history of the fort. On the first weekend of each month, it holds a reenactment of the Civil War era activities at the fort.

The park has campgrounds, a nature trail that winds through a coastal hammock and around a manmade pond where visitors can see alligators and wading birds. Its east side has massive sand dunes and its west side features a coastal hardwood forest. For more information, visit www.floridastateparks.org/fortclinch or call (904) 277-7274.

Amelia Island State Park

            Located on Big Talbot Island, Amelia Island State Park features more than 200 acres of undeveloped sea island recreational opportunities, including fishing, hiking, beachcombing and bird watching. Visitors, however, are advised to use caution when visiting the park’s beach due to the ongoing South Amelia Island Shore Stabilization Project, which restricts access to some sections of the beach. The park is also the entrance to the George Crady Bridge Fishing Pier State Park, which features a mile-long bridge the spans Nassau Sound. For more information, visit www.floridastateparks.org/ameliaisland/default.asp or call 904-251-2320.

 

GOLF

Home to several professional and amateur golf tournaments, Amelia Island is a golfer’s paradise with courses that are challenging and rich with natural beauty.

Ash Street Inn guests can play at the Fernandina Beach Municipal Golf Club, North Hampton, Royal Amelia Golf Links and Osprey Cove at special rates. They can even charge greens fees to their room. With 30 days advance notice, the Ash Street Inn can also book tee times.

Fernandina Beach Municipal Golf Club

Regarded as one of the finest public courses in the Southeast, the 27-hole Fernandina Beach Municipal Golf Club is challenging, yet inviting for golfers of all skill levels. Three nine-hole layouts are characterized by 9,479 yards of diverse terrain.

The north and west courses have forests and Bermuda 328 greens. The shorter 2,928-yard north course has wide fairways and small elevated greens guarded by bunkers. The 3,528-yard west course features the longest stretch of nine holes in the area and is distinguished by its par 5, 613-yard second hole. The 3,028-yard south course is teeming with water hazards and woods of magnolias and hickories. For information, call 904-277-7370. 

The Golf Club at North Hampton

            Designed by Arnold Palmer, the par-72 Golf Club at North Hampton is wrapped around 10 spring-fed lakes, lined with coquina boulders, and has elevations of 40 feet. The wild grasses and rolling hills evoke the feel of an old Scottish links course. Its signatures include waste bunkers and lots of sand. For information, visit www.northhampton.com or call 866-998-8300.

  

EXPERIENCE ISLAND HISTORY

 The Railroad Depot

            Built in 1899 when Fernandina Beach was the starting point of Florida’s first cross-state railroad, the Railroad Depot houses a satellite office for the Amelia Island-Fernandina Beach-Yulee Chamber of Commerce and offers an assortment of brochures and booklets for tourists. The railroad was built by David Levy Yulee and completed in March 1861, one month before the Civil War began and the railroad was dissembled by troops. For more information, visit www.aifby.com or call 866-4-AMELIA.

Amelia Island Museum of History

Fernandina Beach is the only city in the United States to have been ruled under eight different flags. The village’s colorful heritage is brought to life at the Amelia Island Museum of History, located at Third and Cedar streets in the former Nassau County Jail. The state’s only spoken-history museum, it is staffed by docents who guide guests on tours through the island’s past twice daily at 11 a.m. and 2 p.m.

Recently renovated, the museum has new exhibits throughout its first floor, including areas dedicated to native American history, the Spanish mission era, historic preservation, the Civil War and important people and events from Nassau County’s past. For more information, visit www.ameliaislandmuseumofhistory.org or call 904-261-7378.

Kingsley Plantation, Fort George Island, Fla.

Located about 20 miles south of Amelia Island on Fort George Island, the Kingsley Plantation is run by the National Park Service. It includes a plantation house, a kitchen house, a barn and the ruins of the original slave cabins.

The plantation is named for one of several plantation owners, Zephaniah Kingsley, who operated the property from 1813-1839 under a “task” system that allowed slaves to work at a craft or tend to a plot of land after a appointed task for the day was finished. The site is self-guiding, but a staff member is available throughout the day to answer questions. For more information, visit www.jacksonvilleflorida.com/Parks/kingsleyplantation.asp or call (904) 251-3537.