Just shy of a seven-hour drive southeast from Chattanooga is the quaint, serene, and blissful ocean oasis that is Amelia Island, nestled in Nassau County in the lovely town of Fernandina Beach, directly situated on the northeast of Florida’s Atlantic coast.
Amelia Island in May is not only stunningly beautiful and peaceful, but it is also full of friendly locals, a historic Fort Clinch State Park, sea turtles, a lighthouse, amazing coffee, and some of the best, more decently priced seafood I’ve had in decades.
There is no shortage of things to do, and as soon as I touched down in Amelia Island after the drive, I could smell the salty ocean air and feel the nostalgia taking over. All the beach trips over my lifetime came back to the surface, and an ocean of memories flooded my mind, drifting back to my early childhood and even my awkward teenage years.
Moving around my entire life made me feel like I didn’t always have a place to call home; however, the beach was that place for me, and for so many others.
It’s a place to unwind, unplug, and gather as many memories as you do seashells. I couldn’t wait to walk down to the beach and explore. When I arrived at my Coral Sands vacation rental on the north end of the island near Fort Clinch State Park, I was blown away by the ocean views and the proximity to the beach, so I did what I always do when I first arrive: I immediately unpacked and headed straight for the shoreline.
As I flung on the two-dollar and fifty-cent flip-flops I salvaged at Walmart on the drive down and trekked through the winding sandy path from my vacation property, I could start to smell the ocean air and feel the wind in the small amount of hair I have.
I immediately noticed that there was the perfect number of people on the beach. It was mostly private, with roughly fifty to sixty people on the north end of the island near my rental in late May across a stretch of two miles, with mostly families and some older adults.
The weather was perfect my entire stay, sunny with highs of mid-eighties and lows of mid-seventies, without a cloud in the sky, and an infinite amount of seaweed, which was washed up on the beach by the shoreline, making beautiful art when brought back to the sea, forming what looks like a myriad of winter trees and their branches. I also saw one stunningly beautiful jellyfish on shore, and got to witness a sea turtle's path to the sea and their protected nests.
The beach was an absolute paradise the entire stay; full of warm, white sand, and perfectly cool, relatively calm ocean waters to jump in and do karate kicks to the waves as they passed by.
A coastal gem, Amelia Island’s beaches offer up roughly 13 miles of sandy shoreline, with an impressive array of restaurants, from upscale dining to smaller seafood shacks like Sandbar, located right on the beach. In some cases, folks can walk right up with no shirt and sandals and still get amazing virgin piña coladas and blackened boom boom shrimp, which hit the spot. The beach is also dog-friendly and has no strict rules on when dogs can be on the beach, which is a huge plus for us pet lovers.
I ended up staying for five days, and while it is impossible to recap every experience, restaurant, and adventure I went on, I thought of a few to highlight to show that there is so much more to the beautiful barrier island than the ocean alone, even though that was the true highlight of the trip for me.
For slightly more upscale dining, I visited The Patio on Fifth and Ash and The Salty Pelican, both fantastic restaurants that offered incredible seafood and other dishes at a modest price. At Patio on Fifth and Ash, I got the Tuscan Redfish, served over a bed of grits and vegetables with a rose cream shallot sauce. The dish was under thirty dollars and likely my favorite that I had while on Amelia Island. The Salty Pelican had a more laid-back tiki bar vibe, with an emphasis on happy-hour prices and smaller bites.
For more casual, cheaper-priced eateries, make sure to check out Slider’s Seafood Grille on the oceanfront and Timoti’s Seafood Shack. Both have incredible blackened shrimp and pretty affordable prices. Another highlight that every friendly local told me to check out when I asked is Denucci’s famous vanilla custard. It did not disappoint, and there were far too many evenings I also ordered a Coke float from Denucci’s and worked off the calories on my sunset jogs.
The island is also home to much lore and incredible history. Fort Clinch State Park was another highlight of the island, and while I didn’t get to explore much of it, what I did explore was fascinating. The centerpiece is Fort Clinch, a massive brick fortress that was built in 1847 as part of the U.S. coastal defense system. Fort Clinch combines Civil War history with beautiful forests, wildlife, beaches, and tons of shark teeth.
In addition to incredible history, there is also some very interesting folklore surrounding the island, which was told to me by the local Wal-Mart employee who sold me my two-dollar and fifty-cent flip-flops. It involves a stretch of the northern end of the island near my place called “Reefer Road,” which got its name from a strange maritime incident that occurred on Thanksgiving Day in 1977.
According to the tale, a large cargo ship called The Gilberto, carrying vast amounts of marijuana, crashed into shore. The crew tried to destroy the cargo by burning it; however, the ship supposedly exploded, scattering pounds of marijuana onto the dunes and beaches of Amelia Island, with much of it on fire, spreading marijuana smoke all across the island. Now, a whole stretch of the island is named “Reefer Road,” and the story has become embedded in the local culture of Amelia Island.
The main town of Fernandina Beach, where Amelia Island is situated, has a quaint downtown atmosphere, full of Victorian architecture and ornate shops. Before browsing the local shops, I stopped into Amelia Island Coffee Company and had one of the best vanilla iced lattes of my life. There are also two other coffee shops worth checking out on the island, Holy Grounds Coffee and Mocama Coffee, all within a ten-minute drive of each other.
Downtown, I was surrounded by little shops like The Book Loft, which is a cozy, relaxing bookstore that sold everything from non-fiction to local tomes and classics. There was also the Cinnamon Bear Country Store, where I got my Amelia Island souvenir hat. All of these shops are surrounded outside by beautiful, sprawling spanish moss, little benches, and Victorian architecture, which creates a tranquil atmosphere for perusing around downtown.
From incredible ocean views of beaches teaming with beautiful wildlife, to the tasty coffee, custard, and seafood at wonderful local eateries, Amelia Island is the ideal beach destination for Chattanoogans. In addition to the incredible food and beaches, the Island also offers the historic Fort Clinch State Park, interesting folklore, and is full of friendly locals and fellow beach lovers.
Ultimately, the ocean is a great metaphor for life too, showing us that no matter how big the waves are, or how little, we can withstand them. It’s a mantra Benecio Del Toro’s character, Sensei, says to Leonardo DiCaprio’s character, Bob, in Paul Thomas Anderson’s Oscar-winning film, One Battle After Another, during a moment of complete crisis: “Ocean waves, Bob, ocean waves.”
The waves come, and the waves go, and much of life is like that. If not for the big waves that feel like they’ll take us under, we wouldn't appreciate the calm waves that sweetly take us back to shore. That is the beach, and specifically what Amelia Island was for me: a reminder not only of my past and present, and of the serene beauty of nature, but also that no matter how big the waves of life get, we can always hold on, as tomorrow brings calmer waters.