a sneak peek for this week's episode.
Scott, can I give it one more plug? So when we were at Wicked Vow yesterday, we met a couple who has a business on the island who has lived all over Hawaii and Cayman Islands and the Bahamas and said they typically go where work is, where their project is, their next project. And they're working on a project here now and have said, this is the place that we want to stay.
I'm Scott.
And I'm Melissa.
And we are the Sunshine Travelers. Our passion is travel and sharing our experiences with those who enjoy it as much as we do or those who want to learn more about travel or even those who just want to live vicariously through our travel stories. No matter where you fall along that journey, get ready to hear about our firsthand experiences as we visit some of the most interesting and amazing places on earth. This week, we're staying close to home while we experience the 59th annual Isle of Eight Flag Shrimp Festival held right here on Amelia Island. Been a while since we did our last episode on Amelia. And as usual, some things have changed. Join us as we take you to a few of our favorite places and give some updates on new places that we have discovered. So pack a bathing suit, towel, beach chair, some sunscreen, and your favorite book, and join us on Amelia Island.
on Amelia So Island. for people Melissa, that aren't familiar with Amelia Island, it's located in Northeast just outside of As a matter of fact, Florida, Jacksonville. Jacksonville International Airport is our hub when we go on most of our trips, and it's about 30 minutes away from Amelia Island. We decided two years ago to make this our home, although we had never been here before the trip where we made that decision.
Yeah. And we do joke that that's funny because people imagine that we came here to vacation a lot, which is common for people who live in Atlanta like we did. But no, it was actually our first time. And that was when we said we love it here. And it checked all the boxes of what we were looking for. And that's how we ended up here. Yeah.
in episode 14, we did our first episode about Amelia Island. A lot of the places where we mentioned that you might want to look at to stay, a lot of the restaurants, many of those are still the same. And so we're not going to cover those again today, but we're going to take you through some of our favorites and then also share with you just a little bit more about what goes on in Amelia Island throughout the year.
Yeah, we went very deep and very long into where to eat because there's lots of good places, no short of a place to eat. And so at the end, we are going to tell you our go-to places, our very favorite places that we seem to go to very often, I guess I should say.
Yeah, most often.
Yes, most often. And then we definitely want to add some activities to your list. So obviously the biggest draw is to come for the beach. Obviously, the biggest draw is to come for the beach. But it is nice to have a few other things to do and interesting things to see. And we also, that's one of the things that we do when we travel is we wanted to seek out local tours or other activities so that you really get to experience a place. And so that's really, we wanted to share with you today what we seek out when we go to other destinations and beach destinations and what we ask of locals when we are there. And that's how we really wanted to share this with you. So
let's start out. What makes you like Amelia Island so much?
when we first came here, it was really the charming downtown in addition to the beach. But really before we had spent a lot of time at the beach, it was just the charming downtown, right? There's lots of places to eat. There's fun places to shop, which we like to try to frequent as much as possible if we need to pick up something or need to get gifts. you need to pick up something know, or need to get But then as far as gifts. the beach, what we really appreciated was the fact that since we don't live right on the water, right? So we don't have just, you walk out your door and you go to the beach. And there's also not a ton of hotels. There's a few, right? Or a few condos or houses that you could rent. So if you're not staying right on the beach or you don't live right on the beach, every fourth of a mile on the beachfront, you're going to have a place to park. And for the most part, there's places available, right? You may have to go down two
to go down two or three. There's going to be public beach access. There may not be parking every quarter of a mile there on the beach, but there is a public beach access point.
That's But most of the true. within a few time, of we can find a them, place to And if not, park. there are some big parking lots. And really, the only time that we've ever had to use that is like the first 4th of July that we were here. So that is important to me because you don't want to, okay, go to the beach, and then it takes you 30 minutes to find a place to park or you have to walk forever. And so that is convenient. I also like that you can take your dogs on the beach. Now, of course, when it gets hotter, we limit that to the very early mornings or the evenings. And, you know, the beach stranger even drives up and down and give some treats and things like that. But you can do that, that that is a possibility. Yeah, because it is a dog-friendly place. Now, you can't take dogs in every single restaurant, but there's lots of places you can eat outside where it is dog-friendly, and you'll see a lot of dog bowls. But the other thing about the beach is that it's also not super crowded. It would be more crowded if you go down to Main Beach where it is a bigger parking lot. But the rest of them, because it only each of those beach parking holds, you know, four or five, you might have a few houses right there and a few people who can walk. But I mean, that few of people spread out. And so you're not going to be at just like a crowded beach. Now, that means, though, that you do have to bring your food, drinks, things like that. But it's just a peaceful beach and not a crowded beach. We were in Fort
Lauderdale a few weeks ago. And literally, this is pretty early in the season. It was still April then. And it was just row after row after row after row of people stacked on top of each other already.
Yeah. And it's just a different. And, you know, that that may be your beach vibe, right? Where somebody the chair is there and you have to, you know, and then you can order food, you can order water, etc. But this is what I liked about. That's what I enjoy about Amelia Island. That's just what I liked that's what I enjoy about Amelia Island. about,
one of the other Well, things that we like is that Amelia Island actually has four seasons. So we're in the very northeast corner of Florida. I you mean, could literally, go to the end of the throw a rock and beach, have it land in Georgia. So that's how close we are to the Georgia state line. And
Yeah.
And so really from the second part of I would say until it's going to I November, fairly chilly. November, February, be, mean, You might have some nice beach days, but for the most part. But that time of year is great for golf.
Yeah.
great for golf. Now, we did have a lot. I felt like we had a lot of gray days, a lot of rainy days this particular year. But the early part of this year, we were able to get on the golf course a lot and, you know, not have to worry about having a tee time way in advance. And temperature was just absolutely perfect.
Yeah. And you said the temperatures are chilly, but I mean, they're relatively mild compared to other places.
Oh, yeah. So this is from a now Florida person's definition of chilly, like a light jacket. Yeah. It's not cold.
Yeah. Sweater, sweatshirt, you know, light jacket. You're fine. But we do get into the first part of the year, usually end of December, early January, up to February. And we actually have a little bit of cold weather.
Yes, I definitely would say we did have some cold weather for sure. Sometimes where we were just like, oh, it's hard to make yourself go out and stuff like that and so then that would be be definitely for the beach because obviously it's typically always windier you know like really bundle up but i don't know that i would say would you say that we ever had i mean yes we've had like where it got like close to freezing a couple of times but like for you know for the for the night i mean we had some freeze
we had some freeze warnings yeah because we had to cover our plants and stuff like that yeah you know because all of our plants are kind of you know tropical style plants and so the year before last we had at christmas we had those really cold temperatures that dropped
into the 20s yeah Yeah. So, you do have that, right? So, for us or for visiting, I mean, don't think that you're going to come in the dead of winter and then you can still go to the beach. It's very different here, North Florida, compared to... I mean, it's a five hour... If you're driving down to Fort Lauderdale, it's like a five hour drive. So just for example, because you hear a lot of people say like, if you were in the UK, like that would be like half of the UK, right? To drive for five hours. So for us, like you're still in Florida, but their weather is going to be a lot more mild, like throughout the year, whereas we're going to get a little bit chillier temperatures.
I remember reading that year when we had the temperatures in the 20s that's when they had iguanas falling out of the trees down in fort lauderdale oh
so i guess if we had yeah like really really cold so yeah just know that
we're going to have a few weeks during the winter maybe a little over a month where the temperatures are going to get pretty cold you're not going to spend a lot of time outside. Maybe during the day, it's pretty bearable. But then in the afternoons and all, it gets kind of cold. And so, you know, in those days, you can go out, go for a walk on the beach. You just bundle up, wear your winter jacket and gloves and scarf and beanie hat and go for a walk on the beach.
Yeah. And one other thing I wanted to mention about the beach is that if you like seashells, typically you're going to find a good number. Now, obviously, if we've had a storm, then you're going to find a lot more in conch shells and larger shells. But then also, a lot of people like to do the hunt for shark teeth because we have a lot of those here but a lot of beaches do not have seashells and so that's that's nice we have like saying that you know the sandy beaches but then we also have a good number of seashells so if you if you like
right well let's talk you know, one of the things that we answer most often is the question of when should I visit Amelia Island? And so we wanted to take that in just a slightly different way and talk to you about it from a unique year round perspective, because there are great times to visit Amelia Island throughout the whole year.
Right. So even when the weather might be chillier and you're not going to be at the beach for long periods of time, it feels like there is always something going on.
Yes. And that's one of the great things that we love here is that our downtown stays vibrant year round. town stays vibrant year round. It doesn't shut down after Labor Day, you know, like in a lot of towns where after Labor Day, they close the doors and they're going to open them back up on Memorial Day. And that's not true with Amelia Island. It's a vibrant downtown. It keeps going throughout the year. And I think that's a lot because they've purposely designed a lot of these festivals and activities that we're going to talk about that just keep bringing people here throughout the year.
And a lot of them are, they're pretty unique too. Wouldn't you say they're, they're pretty unique and the things that they do around them are unique. So, I mean, it's just fun because there's just something going on all the time. music So, festivals, songwriting festivals, you know, there's just something going on all the time. So music festivals, songwriting festivals, you know, there's a right whale festival because they're right whales mate off the coast here. So then we have sea turtles that lay their eggs and make their nest on the beach.
Yeah, starting right now.
Yeah. And so then, of course, the shrimp festival that we started this with, there's a huge car festival every spring. And so there's just literally always something going on. And here's the, one of the other things that I love so much is there is a farmer's market every single Saturday morning throughout the year. So a lot of places have farmer's markets, but they would be seasonal, right? Spring through fall, every single Saturday morning from nine to one, there is going to be that farmer's market on 7th Street. And then once a month, they also combine it with like a maker's market, you know, craft market, that kind of thing. But it's going to be like a farmer's market and local, you know, lots of different things to eat and stuff like that. There's
of different things to eat and stuff like that. There's a local shrimper who's here every week and brings fresh shrimp. So you got to come early and get those though. They, they sell out of them quickly.
we love that. We go get local honey and, and, and lots of different things. So, so we wanted to go through a month by month about when to visit. And so we're going to start with the shrimp festival at the beginning, first weekend in And so May. Shrimp Festival at the beginning, first weekend in May. And so as Scott mentioned at the beginning, this year
was the
annual Isle of Eight Flags, which is what Amelia Island is known as Shrimp Festival. So that was really neat. This was the first time where we were here for the entire weekend.
was the first time where we were here for the entire weekend. Yeah, we've traveled because you guys know we're constantly traveling and that's how we bring you so much content. But for the last couple of years, our schedules have lined up where we've been traveling on the weekend of the Shrimp Fest. And our friends who live here too are always like, you guys need to stay home one year for the shrimp fest. You guys would love this. And so it starts off with the parade. And then throughout the week or the weekend, rather, you have lots of different festivities that are going on from market booths to fireworks to entertainment. And then like today, there was a decorated shrimp boat parade. And like there was a today, decorated shrimp boat parade. And then they did a blessing of those fishing boats and those fishing vessels down by the docks as well. And that was something that we've never experienced before. It was really unique and neat to participate in and see. And then, of course, there's lots of delicious local shrimp dishes. Now, Melissa can't participate in those because of her allergies to shrimp. But let me tell you, the local shrimp here, those Mayport shrimp, those are some of the best shrimp in the world. Hands down, I'll put them up against any other shrimp out there. These are some of the best shrimp in the world.
Yeah. And it's just neat because like different clubs. So like the Kiwanis Club and different churches and then just like lots of organizations.
Dance studios. Yeah.
Yeah. Have their own booths, right? So then they use it as like a fundraiser. So they'll make like, you know, shrimp quesadillas and shrimp po'boys and shrimp salad and just like all kinds of different things with shrimp that then you can buy and taste and support some of these, you know, local organizations that, you know, need money throughout the year to. How
vendor booths would you estimate that there were this year? Gosh,
Gosh, probably. I mean, at least a hundred.
Oh, way more than a hundred. So a hundred.
than a hundred. So a hundred. Yeah. So lots. Yeah. This is probably the biggest festival. We're going to talk about a couple of other festivals, but like the biggest festival goes through a lot more streets as well.
Yeah, because I mean, literally, they blocked it off from 8th Street all the way down to the marina. So, you know, that's almost nine, 10 blocks that they blocked off on the center street there. And then they also blocked for one block in each direction on each intersection right and all those were full of vendor booths and food and just different types of entertainment and then down in the marina they had a big stage set up so it was really a great festival i thought yeah
so we would say, and we're going to put the link. So it's it's shrimpfestival.com. We're going to put the link for you. But we would definitely say to make sure you look at the different activities and see like when everything is going on, because they do bring in, you know, entertainment as well. So today they have like ice cream eating contests but then they bring in bands and different musical groups and stuff like that but but if you're going to plan to do this i would say try to be here before like lunchtime on thursday or early afternoon on thursday to get situated because you do not want to miss a parade in Amelia Island. It was over and it's an hour and 15 minutes, but it's just really, really neat. And it's interesting because we, if you listen to our episode about going to the Kentucky bourbon trail, and we had gone to this little town, it happened to be their Christmas parade. And we were just so enthralled with how endearing it was, right? For all these little... In that particular one, they had an announcer. Because, well, where we were, we could hear the announcer. But anyway, just like all these groups. And this, I think our parades remind me of that. So, like, it's the fire trucks and the different... It was like all kinds of stuff. Yeah, the Shriners and they have neat stuff. So I don't want to spoil it
like all kinds of stuff.
anybody. You may have seen it on our Instagram. Go
Go out on our feed and check it out because it may make you want to come and participate in it next year. So
year. So I would say don't miss that part. Make it a long weekend so that you can enjoy that. And that would give you some time for the beach. And you should have some time for the beach the other days. And then it really kicks off what? Like Friday afternoon, everybody wasn't open Friday night. But then they did have the fireworks and a lot of the food stuff was open. And then pretty much all day, it wasn't on Saturday evening, which we were kind of surprised because that's when it kind of got, you know, it was cooler and nice to walk around downtown. A few people were open. So really during the day and then until the middle of the afternoon Sunday. And that was when they had, you know, the shrimp boat parade and the blessing of the boats and stuff like that. So definitely look at the schedule. The other tip that we would have is just make sure that you book far enough in advance. Now, we did meet some ladies who were here. I think we met them on Thursday or Friday at lunchtime. And they had said they had booked like back in January, February. So not like super far in advance, but just know that that gets booked up or some of the places, you know, like right downtown might be more expensive. Yeah,
Yeah, because I think I heard there's like 100,000 people in town and Fernandina Beach, I think only has like a population of 16,000.
Oh, wow. And you could tell, I mean, a lot of the people come from Jacksonville, you know, and then lots of local people come, but just plan ahead in advance if you if you want to do that you know just like book something in advance to avoid disappointment for that well let's
just a little bit the weather right now the weather is very mild to warm it's not blistering hot yet it did get really warm today but you're going to be most comfortable probably in shorts and short sleeves. So just keep that in mind. The water's a little chilly for us right now. For if maybe if you live up north or something like that, you would say it's perfect swimming weather. The only thing I would say is we have like three weeks where there's a lot of jellyfish in the water and it's right now. And
so literally
literally when you go down to the beach, you see these blobs. Now they're not the jellyfish that have the long tentacles. They're just like, they look like snow globes.
Yeah, they really do. And we heard somebody else. Now we didn't fact check this. So you can let us know if this is not correct, but we did hear somebody say that it's like that period of time where the water is like starting to warm up but yeah you see them like dead on the beach but the water to me is too cold we see people in it but for us it yeah seems a little i think i could
i think i could have gone out today and but i didn't want to go out there with the jellyfish so all right well let. Well, let's go on to June and July. Now, this is when things are going to start to get busy on the island. School's out. People are starting their beach vacations and everyone's getting ready for the 4th of July. Right. So, it seems like, you know, from Memorial Day to 4th of July, there's this big crescendo of activity that just kind of builds up
memorial day i would say definitely is when things start to kick off and you do see like especially well that weekend and probably memorial day like a lot more people at the beach and then but we have found that it still has been easy to find parking at the beach. No big
So July 4th that was the time also, where when we moved here, that was kind of like the weekend right before we moved here. And so we didn't know how it was going to be. But again, no problem. But do know that you definitely want to plan to go down to the marina right after sunset, probably what? Nine nine o'clock i don't know probably and see the fireworks because they do put on a good fireworks was it the fourth
of july last year where the fireworks went and then everybody clapped because they thought they were over and then they started again and they went on for like 10 more minutes and then kind of died down and everybody clapped because they thought they were over. And then it went again for like another 10 minutes.
Yeah, I don't know if it was that or if it was at New Year's. But it was one of those two. But it was funny because, yeah, on Friday night, the fireworks and we just kind of laughed. Is that going to happen again? And they had like one.
two. But
just one random. One random
One random that, you know, I guess didn't didn't go off before. But July 4th, you definitely want to walk down there, you know, and enjoy the firework show at the marina.
show at the marina. And during this time of year, you can find live music downtown at the different restaurants and bars almost every single night of the week. They're out there. And so this is a great time to be in downtown. It's a great time to eat outside, maybe a little bit warm, but not too bad. Now, the one thing that we will say is just know that every day in the summer, there's always going to be a chance of afternoon thunderstorms. I like to joke and say you can almost set your watch to them, but just know that they're usually pretty quick and they may have moments of intense rain and thunder and lightning, but they're usually over with pretty quick.
Yeah. And I would say typically, if you're here for the beach, go on out there. You're going to spend your day, go on out there early. So then that might be a good time to like, know, we're done with that for the day and then get ready for dinner, that kind of thing. It's just for people like us, like if you wait till the afternoon and that's when you were planning on going, you just have that. And that's just part of, you know, being in Florida or even, you know, being in South Georgia and, you know, parts of Georgia, too. So, yeah. So just being aware of that. That's just typical.
August and September, the water is still nice and warm. It's great swimming. Matter of fact, we've even enjoyed swimming well into October before.
Yeah. So I feel like that. I mean, you think, OK, like spring to summer, but it's really going to be more like middle of May, wouldn't you say? Probably until October. And that's going to be the time because the water then stays warm. We should also mention that regardless, you need to go to the marina at sunset and check out the sunset. Yes,
on one of those evenings when there's kind of a light cloud cover and that sun dips down below the horizon. And all of a sudden, those clouds just become the most magnificent oranges and pinks. And, you know, right there, you're kind of overlooking the marsh area and the river. It's a beautiful sunset down there at the marina.
And so, as you were saying, Scott, you can swim into October. But also, much of that is also going to depend on if there's hurricane activity in the Atlantic. And so that is something that is definitely a possibility. We've had really, it's been a couple of tropical storms, really, mainly that have, you know, affected us since we've been here, but that is a possibility. So keeping an eye out for that. And then so, and then Labor Day can also be a busy time. People having that one last hurrah. Of course, we are able to enjoy it. I mean, you can really enjoy it after that. But if you're going back, having to go back for school and stuff like that, but Labor Day can also be a great
I was actually surprised this year to see the number of people after Labor Day that continued to come. Because when we would go, you know, we'd go to the beaches in the afternoon or on the weekends, and there'd still be a lot of people out at the beaches.
Yeah, I feel like that they've also like moved up that fall break too, whereas it used to be like later in October. A lot of times it's in September now, which I mean, that can be a fantastic time to be here too. So don't discount that.
Yeah. Well, let's keep moving. In November is the Right Well Festival. So the Atlantic Right Well comes down from like Nova Scotia and that area comes down the Atlantic and this is where they do their calving.
Okay. The calving. Okay, the calving. Yeah. Okay, gotcha.
And so there's a big festival in November. It's really neat because, you know, there's lots of music and food and crap vendors, and then they mix all that with a great dose of really interesting education about these right wells. And I want to say that like last year, we learned that there's only a little over 300 right wells still in nature. Is that right? Is that the right?
yeah, I think so. Yeah, I think that was the number. Yeah, I was really impressed that this festival was very different because there were a lot of, you know, like research places and colleges and just like a lot you of, like know, research places and colleges and just like a lot of organizations that help protect the oceans and ocean animals and whales and stuff like that who came to, you know, have different like educational things. And a lot of them really geared toward kids, right? So coloring sheets and little booklets and things like that. So it would be a great thing. And then of course they had this huge whale that was like a slide and fun things for kids to do, but it was also educational. So that was the neat thing about that. It wasn't just about the food and the vendors and stuff. And that one's completely, I mean, that's free. That one they hold closer to the beach in that main beach park and have a big thing set up and music and a stage and all kinds of stuff. So
we were really shocked. We had walked down there and just spent some time and took the dogs. And it was it was a really good festival last year that we, you know, when we went there,
that was, I think, just one day. It may have been two days. We're going to link the calendar again so that you can have a look. I think that was just the one day. But I mean, that was definitely if you are here, it's something that's definitely worth checking out.
let's jump into some of our really, really favorite festivals. So in December, usually the second week of December, one of our favorite festivals is the Dickens on Center. And so they close the downtown once again to pedestrian only, and they have the vendors set up up and down the streets. But people are roaming around in their Charles Dickens era clothing. And I'm not talking about just like people who are participating in the festival you and, know, that are paid to be there or something like that. I'm talking about just like people who are participating in the festival and you know that are paid to be there or something like that i'm talking about people who come the whole family will dress up in these charles dickens era costumes
said last year and we just didn't do it i think we need to get some costumes for this year yeah we got a lot of
yeah we got a lot of fun we got to get on that because you will not be alone if you come dressed up in these charles dickens era costumes like everybody has
is actually the largest christmas market festival in the state of florida as
a great christmas market and so you know come they you know, lots of food. Usually the temperature is pretty mild then. And so, you know, you don't mind dressing up just a little bit more. It can be warmer in December, but usually it's a pretty mild temperature.
kick this off the same on Thursday afternoon. Now, it's not the full-fledged parade as we described earlier, but it's like a lantern parade, and you can participate in that. And then Friday, Saturday, Sunday, then they have all the other events.
Yeah. People do some really creative lanterns, you know, either paper lanterns or something like that, you know, on poles and sticks and everybody's just walking, you know, down center street with their, with their lanterns.
after that, the last two years, well, actually, so after that, and then also on the next night, there has been like a drone show in the sky. So instead of it being a drone fireworks, a company out show, of Jacksonville puts that on. And
been really cool to be able to experience that. Then also in December, come early on New Year's Eve and watch the shrimp drop. We're all about our shrimp here.
We are. And so it's like, you know, the ball drop in New York or all the other places, except for it's the shrimp, and except for it's at 7 p.m. as well.
Yeah. Well, you know, all the old people have to go to bed here. We can't bother them and keep them up all night long.
Yeah. And so I'm trying to remember did they do was it did they do fireworks then after that last year there's
a drone show again
oh it was okay that
that was when you saw like the had the teddy bear and then they had the toy soldiers that
was a dickens
sure that they did it again though
so guess what you need to come and find out which one it is yeah so but
but let's
back up for a second because before the dickens the weekend before the dickens they also have the holiday parade yeah so again the parade and this is the big one another one of the big ones and it's typically like the weekend before dickens so like the first weekend in december so again just look at the calendar but that's that's another fun one to be around for
be around for bring up your bring your light up glasses and all kinds of things because i think that's a light up parade
oh and you know what else we forgot, though? So let's back up to Black Friday because they do have pajama.
I forgot
about that. and activities for kids and Santa Claus and a bunch of stuff. So that is in November. And again, this whole time, we have a lot of golf courses here. So it's a great time to come and play golf as well.
Yeah, I kind of forgot about that this past year because that's when I just gone into that walking boot. And so I don't remember a whole lot about that. But, you know, there are activities throughout the year. We do want to highlight one other that is in March, and that's the Amelia Concourse. And so talk about a car show on steroids. You're going to bring hundreds of collectible and antique cars onto the island. There's car shows all week long. There's craft shows set up and vendor booths and stuff like that. And they do a really good job. Now, some of these cars, I mean, like these cars are worth millions of dollars. The ones that they bring here, they're really high-end cars.
Yeah. So for this, they do have things downtown and people do bring cars downtown to where you can see, but then they do have a completely separate ticketed event. So again, we will post the link because for some of those, you'll need to definitely plan early and again, plan for hotels and stuff early for that. And then make sure that you get tickets to you know some of those events but they do have a lot of stuff downtown and it brings a lot of people and like you said you know vendor vendor booths and and stuff like that so that can be a really fun it's actually the premier car show on the east coast yeah
so it's
it's huge yeah all the
big names are here as a matter
of fact the weekend that they were setting up for that or early before the weekend they were setting up for that, Scott and I were actually playing on one of the golf courses. And they had already closed part of that hole. They had moved the tee box somewhere else. And we said, we have to make sure not to shake the ball, slice it the wrong way. Because like he
ball, slice it the
you get over and it was yeah those cars are super expensive some of those hundred
of those hundred plus you know hundreds of thousands of dollar cars sitting out there and it's like oh my god can we just skip this hole yeah
but that was neat to to see them you know early setting that up and then a lot of those so but i will say so that is not the weekend to play golf because they use a lot of the golf courses and stuff like that so if you want to play golf like just make sure you avoid that weekend because that that's not going to be a possibility
yeah and we have another tip for you guys we talked about all these festivals where they block off the downtown so obviously parking becomes a challenge but there there's a secret. There's a local secret about parking. And if you want to know that secret, send us a message. You can send it to me, scott at sunshinetravelers.com. Or you can PM us on social media. And we'll share that local secret about parking with
Yes, because it will. Yeah, it'll save you. It'll save you some money and then just convenience and stuff, too. So, yeah, let us know if you need that. Our little tip. We don't want to tell everybody. So,
well, and people are going to get mad. Locals, when they hear this, they're going to get mad that we're sharing this. There's a few other activities that we want to share with you that you might want to add to your list when visiting. So like a historic driving or walking tour of Amelia, there's a trolley that you can get on. And I believe they take you around and share some of the history of Amelia Island. There's, you know, as we mentioned about the shrimp fest, it's called the Isle of eight flags and over its history there have been eight different countries or governments i guess you should we could say that have ruled this island and so you know they'll take you through the history of that there's also an old fernandina a city the old city of fernina, which happens to be on the north end of the island. And at some point around the mid to late 1800s, they moved it to where it is today, which is part of what we really liked because the town that we moved from was built around the same time. So, like the style of the houses and everything just remind us very much of where we lived before we moved here.
Yeah. So, if you're interested in those types of things, that would definitely be worth looking into. And these are things that we like to seek out when we go to places. So, just to learn a little bit about the place too. And there also is a historic museum as well that you can check out so we're going to link all these things in the show notes if you're interested in these another one is so what's interesting about the island because it is an island right so you have the atlantic ocean and then on the other side you have the amelia river so we have amelia riverises, which runs some various boat tours every single day. So Sunset Cruises, Cumberland Coastal Tour, we're very close to Cumberland Island. So you can kind of catch you and go by and see. And what's neat is like there's always like dolphins. Sometimes of the year you can see manatees as well. And then, you know, just to get to to see that part so that those tours that run daily so something you might want to check out and book ahead of time just depending on how busy it is right they might get booked up so but then if you also want to experience the river or like not on a big boat you can book some kayaking tours some paddleboard tours as well on the river. And then there's another I that's a smaller river that you can take those on. river, guess, So kind of take a look at those and see what would be of interest. And a lot of them provide everything that you need. So you
with you. Yeah, I was going to say is there's lots of activities if you're an active person and you're searching out those activities. Bike riding, like there are great places to go and ride your bikes here on the island. So right where we live, there's this greenway that has just tons of wildlife on it. Right now, there's a couple of gators who are just prominent, you know, right there in that habitat. And you can see them kind of up close and personal. But, you know, throughout the year, you see birds and turtles and all kinds of wildlife, deer, rabbits. But then on the southern end of the island, there's actually a really long bike trail that you can take your bike on and ride. And so I would say the whole city of Fernandina is very bike friendly. And so you can get those bikes and go into downtown. You can go to the beaches. You can even ride it if you're so inclined. You can ride it down there to that south end, you know know but lots of great activities like that yeah
obviously you could you know bring your bikes depending on what your you know capacity to do that that there are hotels some hotels that have bikes that we've seen that you can pick it up but there's also various bike shops that i'm sure also rent bikes so if that's something that you're interested in that is something that we enjoy doing. And it's relatively, the nice thing is it's like pretty flat, right? So it's not anything super strenuous and you can, you know, ride eight,
it's not anything
10 miles in an hour. And, you know, it's not like you're changing gears a lot and it's not super strenuous. The other thing that we wanted to mention too, is if you like to do little short hikes, right? Again, nothing's for new us because it's really flat here. There are a few unique ones. So in our other episode, we had mentioned that there are several state parks. So Fort Clinch State Park, you can go there. That's a great place to ride your bike as well. There's a few trails and stuff. ride your bike as well. There's a few trails and stuff. But just so if you go to the south end of the island and just over, it's Big Talbot Island. Basically, the island is a state park. And there's a couple of notable beaches, short trail from the parking lot. One of them, the first one that you would come to is Boneyard Beach. And so it's basically where...
way, that's what we call it. I don't think it's the actual name of the beach. Okay.
not the name of the beach. Yeah. So it's called Boneyard Beach because... So basically what it is, is the trees have fallen. And so that's where the Amelia River is on that side. And the river is going to then meet the Atlantic Ocean. And so it's not a beach where you can really So swim. the trees have fallen and then meet the Atlantic And Ocean. so it's not a beach where you can really swim. So the trees have fallen and then are then laying there on the beach, right? So it's like these massive-
like preserved.
Preserved, like massive driftwood. So it's just, it's really neat. It's great for photography and it's just great for taking a walk as well. So there is one thing, the dogs are not allowed on that beach because in the state parks, dogs aren't allowed on the beach, but it's a great place. So yeah, I'll have to look and see. I can probably mark or put a link to a Google Maps or something where we mark it. But yeah, that's what it's known as, Boneyard Beach. But that's just a unique place to go. And then Boneyard
Beach connects to what's called Black Rock Beach. And so it's another nice little hike to the beach. And then you have these black rocks that are on the beach. So it's just something different than your typical, you know, sand beach.
So these would not, again, be like swimming beaches, but just something unique if you want to go to a different beach and also have a little hike.
talk about restaurants. You know, we're not going to, we're going to try not to mention, well, we are not going to mention everything. There's no way.
Go back and listen to the other episode. Yes.
I mean, I'm looking, we would need like another hour to go through these and we're not going to do that to you guys. We do have a Millie Island visitors guide on our website where you can learn about some of the current places that we would recommend. We try to keep this thing updated. And but one of our favorite things to do when we're traveling is to ask the locals, where should we eat? we're traveling is to ask the locals, where should we eat? And so this is our opportunity
you the places that we go to most often. Yes. And two, if we, and we don't just ask one person, we typically ask and ask and ask. And if we hear the same things come up, we're like, okay, we really need to, you know, try to go to that place. So a few of our go-to places that we visit often and take people when they come. One of the big ones is called the patio at fifth and Ash. It's, it's nice because you can sit inside. It's very limited seating inside, but lots of outdoor seating, but they do have, like we've sat out there all times of the year, right? They have umbrellas they have fire pits or fire little gas you know fireplaces um that you can sit around they have live music a lot this place is dog friendly for the outdoor seating so variety of food so that's a place that we go a good bit they also have brunch on the weekends too
great cocktails good food the second place that we're going to mention and by the way these are in no particular order We also have brunch on the great weekends, too. Yeah, good food. cocktails, The second place that we're going to and by the mention, these are in no particular way, order. It's just what we came up with. But we were actually there on Saturday night, and we went to Wicked Bao. Now, if you're not familiar with what a bao bun is, it's a taiwanese i think street food and so you know it's like this doughy bun thing i don't know like almost like a pancake almost yeah but light
and light and fluffy and that's that's what they're known for now they have lots of other things too but they have a variety of them and then you can get a sampler they have a grouper one which i like to get again because i can't eat the shrimp but that's like one that she had put on them like she had a certain so they do have specials and so she had put this one as a special and it was so popular that it's become a staple which is nice because i mean a lot of people come here for seafood so but
then they also have like noodles one of my favorite things to order here is the crispy pork chop rice or something i think that's what it's called crispy pork chop rice and you know so they've they just got a bunch of different crispy rice tots that's
tots that's something that's like, too. But, I mean, spring rolls and all kinds of stuff with the crispy rice tots are interesting. So, she has some interesting things. And the good thing is that most likely, I mean, almost 100% likely, you'll get to meet the owner, which is Natalie. And she's just fantastic. Yeah,
Yeah, she greets you at the door. She walks you through the menu and any specials that they're having. And so, you know, we just love going there. Natalie's great because she actually goes around and supports all the other local restaurants. And, you know, and she's always trying to give back to the community. So we love to support her and go there. And the food's just terrific. Yeah.
And try the sake sangria. It's like a flavor of the month and it changes, but always good. Okay. So the next one is Salt Life. And so you may have seen Salt Life on like t-shirts and stuff like that. Salt Life does have a few restaurants and I think it's mainly regional. I know there's one in Jacksonville and a couple of other places. So we don't typically like chain places, but this feels like a smaller, like more regional chain. We like this because it's one of the few places that you can, that's near the water here and so that you can see the water. But we particularly like their poke bowls or their tuna, seared tuna salad, that kind of thing. And they have a variety of seafood, cocktails, live music a lot of the times. But it's two-story. And so on that top story, you can see the ocean. So usually they have great service and stuff like that. So that's a place that we like to go to a lot of times for lunch.
Yeah, I would highly recommend trying to get upstairs. And we had gone there shortly after we moved here. And, you know, we were just really impressed with the cocktails that they had. They were really fresh, really, really good. And, you know, it didn't seem like a chain in any way, shape, form or fashion.
Yeah. And I don't think there's many of them, but that's one that we like. And we've had some people come and stay and we've mentioned it to them and like, oh, we've, you know, we've been to one of those and we love that place. So that's one that we kind of go to from time to time for lunch.
Another one of our go-to places is a sushi restaurant called Akari. It's on Third Street. It's this little house. Third Street, it's this little house. And, you know, I think they may have a total of like six or eight tables inside. But most of the seating's on the porch and around, you know, around the house. And we just really, number one, the sushi's really good. It's very fresh. But we've just never had a bad experience there.
Yeah, and they have others. So it's not just for sushi. They do have like teriyaki chicken or any of the like hibachi style meals they just don't prepare the hibachi in front of you but they have any of those but like you said we particularly like the sushi now they do have another location completely inside that is near the public's but i mean you could get them both for carry out as well and so our daughter likes actually it's like a sushi burrito which is actually the whole thing rolled in the the seaweed so just something unique but that's a place that if we are like want sushi so obviously yes you can tell we like sushi and tuna that kind of thing
of thing but that's
that's a place that we would recommend that you go to. I would say, though, watch their closing time and be there at least 30 to 40 minutes before that because they're serious about it.
The next place we laugh at ourselves that this is even on our list, but we're going to go ahead and throw it out there.
Yeah. So we like the Cercheros. Now Cercheros is another, it's really like more of a regional, it is a chain, more of a regional chain. It was started in South Georgia. So there's not a ton of them. It's a mix between a Moe's and a Chipotle, but we like it better. So the chips are always included. Like it's not extra for that but anything that you can get at those other places it's a similar concept but really fresh i think we like it it's really close to where we live and so it's just like easy for lunch and of course you can you can do
it's easy to pop in there and get like a you know chicken salad or something like that so if you want to try something different you like that
want to try something different you like that kind of thing and you're on the island i mean it would great to pick up you can take it to the you a, chicken know, salad or something like So that. if you want to try something different, you like that kind of thing and you're on the island, I mean, it would be great to pick up. You can take it to the beach or, you know, whatever, but highly recommend that. So you might miss that because it isn't downtown and it is in like a, you know, a strip type of a shopping thing, but, but yeah, highly recommend Shurcheros.
So the next two places are really small, but they're places that we really like to go to and frequent often. So the first one being Aloha Bagel. And yeah, Aloha, like in Hawaii. And but, you know, you go inside. It's just a really small little restaurant that's family owned. And, you know, they have great bagels in the morning with all kinds of different preparations. You can get like a, they call it an eggle, which is bacon, egg, cheese, and then meat. And it comes with a cup of coffee. Or you can just order a bagel with cream cheese for lunch, have salads, they have sandwiches, just a great little restaurant all in all. Yeah,
I think it's open seven days a week till 2.30. But yeah, great breakfast and lunch spot or to pick up or to get a bunch to go or something like that as well.
We've grabbed sandwiches from there and taken them to the beach several times. Yeah. But then the last place that we're going to mention is called Go Juice. And we really like going there because they have these fresh acai bowls. So it's fruit with the acai and then you can get like peanut butter and stuff like that added to it if you want to. They also do juices and smoothies. Just a really good.
Frozen coffee. Frozen coffee as And well. so it's actually attached to a surf which shop, is a really good Frozen place. coffee. Frozen coffee as And well. so, it's actually attached to a surf shop, which is a really cute surf shop too. And so, GoJuice. We highly recommend that. Go
for breakfast in the morning, get what you need for the beach for the day, and head out. And then one
is completely a chain, but super convenient if you're at the beach and you don't want to leave or you haven't packed food and you don't want to leave to go. And that is Jimmy John's. And so this is kind of our little hack that we have figured out. Use their app, order it online, just put as far as your location, which beach access you're at, and then you are going to meet them there because that's what's nice about the Jimmy John's app is it kind of lets you know throughout the process, you know, we've got your order. We're preparing your food. Your food's ready. It's on the way. And so then you can just meet them, you know, it's on the way and then you can just meet them there. So that's kind of our little hack because you can get drinks, you can get chips, you can get all the things on the Jimmy John's and the people at our Jimmy John's, I don't know if all Jimmy John's are like this, but are just really nice and really friendly. And so,
Well, let's go through some frequently asked questions. And some of these are questions that we get. Some of them are questions when we, you know, just looked up and did some research on Amelia Island. We saw things that people ask. So let's go through those. So the first one is, what is so great about Amelia Island? And my question to you would be, where have you been for the last 57 minutes? We just talked about all these great things. But I think for us, really, is it's one of these destination locations, but it has this really small town feel. And it's just, it's home. You know, for us, it's home. But I know we're not unique in that because we've had friends that have come here and they were literally like, oh, my God, it's a good thing that we have kids still in school or whatever, because we would literally be on the phone with a real estate agent right now.
Yeah. As a matter of fact, our friends that live here for years, they were like, oh, when our youngest graduates, like that's where we're going. And that's what we heard for the longest time from them. So yeah. So all the things really, for me, all the things that I talked about earlier.
What's the best month to visit Amelia Island?
me, it would probably be July. Because that's the best month. Because that's when my birthday is. Just because
Just because you want to celebrate your birthday.
But July, because I think you're going to get, like, you can get in the beat. Like, you can get in the water. You're going to have some days where it's just really calm. you can just go out there and just like be in the water. You know, you're not to the hurricane season yet to like worry about that. That is the month. I mean, you're definitely going to want some shade. You couldn't be out there all day in July and not get like toasted. But for me, I would say probably July.
Yeah. So I agree with that july is great time to be here for the beach purposes but then i'd also say december and not because that's because
that's when your birthday and not because
everybody to come here to celebrate my birthday but that's when you're gonna have the dick Dickens on center. And that is just, it is just a really cool time to be here. Yeah,
it is. That's it. The town's all
The town's all decorated. I mean, it is just, they don't do anything halfway here. I
agree.
Can you drive cars on Amelia Island? And that, that's actually a good question because we've been to islands before where there's no cars. Yes. And so, yes, you can drive cars on the island. Now, we have a golf cart and we take our golf cart all over the island. Except
Except for it has to be 45. No. No, it has to be 35 or less. So just be aware that if you, you know, rent a golf cart or you stay at a place that, you know, has a golf cart that free to use or something like that, you do have to be aware because they are very particular about that.
Yeah. Someone we won't mention came and stayed at our house, used our golf cart and got pulled over for going into a street where it wasn't permitted.
Yeah. He said, I thought we went that way before, but no. So just make sure you don't. So sometimes we do have to work our way around. You can get around most places. You have to work your way around on streets that aren't.
There's very few places that we cannot go on the golf cart.
And so then I guess the second part is that is, can you drive a car on the golf And so then I cart. guess the second part is that can you drive a is, car on the beach? And there are a couple of beaches
that do allow cars, but you have to
be a
resident. Is it a resident of the county? One of them is. Okay. And then the other one is the state park. And let me just say for all of these places, don't come bring in your Honda and expect to go on the beach. Not happening. You will be stuck in a heartbeat. This is that type of sand where it's just very loose and your car is just going to dig down in and you'll be stuck. And matter of fact, they even have signs that say four-wheel drive only beyond this point. Yeah. And then it's not like you can really drive on the beach. It literally is you pull onto the beach and then there's some parking right there or you can park on the beach. So you're really not driving on the beach except for at the state park. Right. And so this
is the Amelia Island State Park, which is at the very south
end of the island. Yeah. That does have a long stretch where you can drive, but I'll be honest with you, even just a standard four-wheel drive, I don't know that I would try it because, you know, these guys come in these really jacked up trucks and I don't know if they, you know, time in these really jacked up trucks and i don't know if they you know trench out or whatever but they make really big ruts and so i think just like a standard car that's four-wheel drive or whatever may have issues there
so really long answer sure is like no really and we don't go to the ones where you can drive or the cars are anyway personally personally. I know some people enjoy that. That is, I don't particularly enjoy that. I know that you would say like, oh, it'd be convenient. You could pull there and turn around and then have all your stuff. But we've kind of gotten it narrowed down to not taking a bunch of stuff and it's not super inconvenient. And then you have the golf cart and you don't have to worry about the sand in your car, except for when I take the dogs to the beach in the car. And then we have sand in the car.
I've got a beach going on in my car right now. The lastly is Amelia Island expensive comparatively, right there. I don't know anymore, to be honest.
Well, so let's just say this. We have residence ends. We have courtyard. We have Spring Hill suites. We have Hampton ends. We also have a Ritz CarlCarlton and an Omni Hotel. So I think that you could find accommodations. Like if you wanted a beach vacation, like you can find accommodations from the very low end, relatively speaking, for, you know, a room or a Airbnb or using points or whatever to the very high end.
Yeah. I would say just be prepared to pay destination location prices for food and stuff like that.
like that. Yeah.
Mostly at the restaurants. We don't talk about them. We don't go to them. But there are fast food restaurants on the island, and they're just normal prices. But if you're going to go to one of the restaurants downtown expect it to be a little bit more expensive but i don't think it's like noticeably yeah but
then there are super expensive restaurants too so just pay attention to that right so you can go to really expensive restaurants that you that people most people would say okay this is a special occasion place but if you are staying at a condo or a house or Airbnb, something like that, and you're going to be able to cook a lot of your food or, like we said, we've got places like Sorterra's and Jimmy and John, and Scott said, fast food. So budget is relative, right? So you could do it for very inexpensive and then you could come here and you could do it for very expensive. How about that?
can't tell, we love this place where we live. It's the first time in our lives that we can honestly say that we don't mind returning home after a great trip. We're often surprised when we meet people in other places that are familiar with Amelia Island because we didn't know anything about it until we decided to move here. Where is the place that you love in the same way? Send me an email, scott at sunshinetravelers.com, and let me know where that place is for you. We are always inspired by your travel stories.
Scott, can I give it one more plug? So when we were at Wicked Vow yesterday, we met a couple who has a business on the island who has lived all over Hawaii and Cayman Islands and the Bahamas and said they typically go where work is, where their project is, their next project. And they're working on a project here now and have said, this is the place that we want to stay. So when you're looking at booking your reservations for this trip, we recommend using booking.com. You can choose from over a million properties worldwide from cozy country homes to sleek city apartments. Find the best deals with our price match promise. Enjoy great stays at lower cost. And because flexibility does matter, you can book with confidence knowing you can cancel with ease. Always make informed choices with millions of reviews from fellow travelers. Start your adventure now. Visit sunshinetravelers.com slash booking to book your perfect stay. Using this affiliate link to book your lodging helps support our podcast and allows us to continue to provide new content each week. Please consider using this link when booking your next travel. There's no extra cost for you and we are compensated through the affiliate.
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