Amelia Island – Florida, U.S.A. For me, birthdays are traveling occasions.
This year was something of a milestone birthday for me, and I wanted to do something special — to celebrate and also to reflect. So, I hit the road for the nearly six-hour drive from Miami to Amelia Island on Florida’s border with Georgia.
Cycling through Fort Clinch State Park
I discovered Amelia Island only a couple of years ago, when I moved from Boston to Miami and was in search of nice places to stop during the long drive south. Amelia Island was not in the cards for me that year, but I filed it away as future must-visit.
Here’s what surprised me most during my time on the island: Everywhere I went, people remarked at how unusual it is for people from Miami to visit Amelia Island. Typically, I was told, visitors to the island are from Georgia or the Carolinas. A family I met while kayaking the salt marshes of Simpson Creek was from Texas. But, apparently, Amelia Island is not a popular attraction among southern Floridians. I sincerely hope this is not true. Amelia Island was everything I imagined it to be and more.
Amelia Island is a splendid little place. It has a quiet, understated charm and the nautical feel of a southern Cape Cod — a toned-down Provincetown with live oaks and Spanish Moss. Uniquely, it boasts the influence of eight different flags, having been ruled by multiple nations since the mid-sixteenth century.
Like much of Florida, Amelia Island is best experienced outdoors. I stayed at the Ritz Carlton, Amelia Island, which overlooks the beach and an amazing (and protected) dune system. And while I could have easily occupied myself on the property, I took in as many off-site activities as I could: Cycling through Ft. Clinch State Park, exploring the shops and restaurants of downtown Fernandina Beach, soaring above the island via a powered hang glider with Air Amelia (Hang Glide USA), kayaking with Kayak Amelia, and horseback riding along the beach with Kelly Seahorse Ranch. I also visited American Beach — a historic African American beach community — and caught a glimpse of the majestic sand dune system named “NaNa.”
I think I will re-file Amelia Island, this time as “must-visit-again.”
You can read about my drive to Amelia Island here. Here’s video from my hang gliding adventure in Amelia Island.