January 2nd Article in The Dallas Morning News
Our Island gets a lot of great reviews and people come back year after year. They make it their home away from home or even their permanent home. We ran across this review and just had to share it.
“Driving back across the Intracoastal Waterway Bridge to the mainland, my husband looked in the rearview mirror at Amelia Island receding in the distance. He asked, plaintively, “You don’t have to write about it, do you?”
Given that I’m a travel writer and we’d just explored the island and its charming Victorian seaport, Fernandina Beach, for a story assignment, I gave him an incredulous “Are you kidding me?” stare.
Then I realized he was serious. Steve had finally found the Florida of his dreams — an activity-rich yet laid-back destination he hadn’t believed existed — and didn’t want to share the discovery with others. He spent the rest of our trip talking up Amelia’s high points and making plans to return on our next vacation, a task he usually leaves to me.
What got him so uncharacteristically excited about this northeast Florida barrier island is its low-key vibe and climate that’s more temperate than elsewhere in the sometimes sweltering state. Amelia is on the Atlantic coast, just across the Cumberland Sound from Georgia and an easy 30 miles from Jacksonville International Airport.
Pete Geiger, who retired to Amelia Island after enjoying its cooling ocean breezes on vacations, summed up the island’s appeal: “We get three seasons, with a short spring and fall, temperatures that may dip into the low 50s, and no snow. We get maybe two hard freezes a year.”
The island also is manageable — about 13 miles long and 21/2 miles across at its widest. Or, as he put it, “about the size of Manhattan with a lot fewer people.” With a year-round population of less than 12,000, “there’s no pressure here,” said Geiger, a former pilot.
His wife, Leslie, agreed: “The beaches are never crowded. It’s not chocka-block with people and hotels,” she said of the wide expanses of white sand with numerous public access points, 40-foot dunes and miles of undeveloped stretches. “Everything is five minutes away. You can bike to the golf course, bike to the grocery store. There’s a real simplicity, an ease of living on the island.”
The Geigers shared their enthusiasm for Fernandina Beach over tasty veal stew in the River Cafe at Amelia River Golf Club, one of the island’s six challenging courses — another big draw for my husband. Next time, we’ll play two courses on the southern end: the oceanfront Golf Club of Amelia Island, adjacent to the Ritz-Carlton Amelia Island, and the private Ocean Links Golf Club at Omni Amelia Island Plantation.
Fernandina Beach, a treasure chest of Victorian-era architecture, is Amelia’s only city and the center of island life. With over 300 buildings on the National Register of Historic Places, the 52-block historic district features art galleries, cafes, shops, bed-and-breakfast inns and bars. Florida’s oldest continuously operating bar, the Palace Saloon, dates to 1878 and celebrates its roots with rum-laced Pirate’s Punch.
Visitors can learn fun facts about Fernandina Beach — including its mid-19th century stint as the terminus of Florida’s first cross-state railroad — aboard the island’s new trolley or on a horse-drawn carriage ride.
Fernandina’s harbor is a great spot to watch the fishing fleet come in and, soon afterward, observe hungry pelicans fighting for leftovers. Tourists join locals for sunset drinks at the Salty Pelican, moving on to the Crab Trap for seafood specials. The island boasts a range of restaurants, from barefoot casual to upscale or trendy, such as formerTop Chef contestant Kenny Gilbert’s Underground Kitchen.
Fishing is a favorite pastime, whether from the surf, pier or charter boat, including one that specializes in nighttime flounder gigging. Beach horseback riding and surfing also are popular. From May through October, visitors may join volunteers dedicated to protecting nesting sea turtles.
Amelia is a magnet for artists, musicians and writers, including John Grisham. The calendar is filled with festivals, ranging from a book fest in February to collector cars in March and jazz in October. In mid-November, hundreds come to play the French version of bocce ball in the Petanque America Open USA.
Amelia’s biggest event, a 52-year island tradition, is the Isle of 8 Flags Shrimp Festival, which typically attracts more than 100,000 visitors (April 29-May 1). It commemorates the island’s shrimping heritage, now showcased in a new harbor-side shrimping museum.”
Susan R. Pollack is a Detroit freelance writer.
To view the article on the Dallas News website click HERE.
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