Amelia Island:
Northern Florida’s Top Resort Spot

It’s not often that you get to spend your vacation at the same place as the Leader of the Free World. Well, maybe not exactly the same place, but when Bill Clinton took his family down South on vacation in May, Hillary let him leave their private compound long enough for him to head over and play a round of golf at Amelia Island Plantation. I guess when he heard that Weekend Flyer was checking it out, he wanted to make sure he wasn’t missing anything.

I don’t know about Bill’s digs at his resort, but Amelia Island Plantation ain’t half bad! It’s a 1350 acre, upscale, comfortably elegant, wooded, full-service, oceanside oasis. Outside hassles are barred from entering the property. Want to stay active? Try out the nature walks, biking and jogging trails, three golf courses, 23 tennis courts, 23 pools (I never did find all of them), a lap pool, a workout center, aerobic classes, paddleboats, nearby riding stables, and deep-sea fishing charters. Prefer being as inert as a beached jellyfish? There are miles of beaches, saunas, massage therapy, lounges, shops, and a lot of warm sunshine to enjoy them in. There are a lot worse ways to spend an afternoon than stretched out in a beach chair while watching the pelicans lazily cruise up and down the shore and listening to strains of Jimmy Buffet drift over from the poolside café.

The Plantation is on the southern end of Amelia Island, a 13-mile long barrier island on the Florida/Georgia border. As beachcombers meander north, they stroll past the Ritz Resort (which the locals say is kind of pretentious), a few other condo/villa compounds, and lots of private beachfront places, most of which are available for rent.

The town of Fernandina Beach, the commercial center, is at the north end of the island. Tourism is important and promoted, but the island is far enough off I-95 and the snowbird circuit that it’s not crowded. The main road into town is lined with the usual franchise blights on the landscape, but the town itself is a charmer! Home to the area’s shrimp fleet, the waterfront is a lively mixture of pleasure and work boats with the variety of crews to match. Charter boats offer half-and full-day offshore and coastal fishing trips.

The town has a 50-block historic district that’s filled with restored Victorian-era houses and mansions, about half of which seem to be B&Bs. Sign up for the walking tours to get the behind-the-façade gossip about who lived where.

While the usual seashell-and-knick-knack shops offer the standard souvenirs, the other places have some unusual inventories. The toy store has a lot of hands-on gizmos that aren’t stocked by Toys-R-Us. Shoppers can play with some of them before they buy. The owner admits more adults than kids take advantage of that offer. The bookstores carry a lot of local stuff. Book Loft seems to concentrate more on stories about pirates and seafaring lore, while Books Plus stocks more titles about local history and nature. Check Last Flight Out for good aviation-oriented stuff. Mostly shirts and clothing, but there’s a nice supply of aviation novelties. Very friendly people, too. The owner is not a pilot, but likes the flying world.

While the area isn’t a big artists’ Mecca, there are some nice art galleries. The emphasis is on seashore scenes, of course. The Island Artist Association Co-op Gallery showcases about a dozen local artists. A rotating schedule puts one of the artists on duty as manager every day, giving the exhibits a bit more of a personal touch.

Amelia Island boasts that it’s the only place in the country that’s been occupied by eight flags. (If the Indians had used flags, it would have been nine.) No, this is not "Eight Flags Over Amelia" Theme Park, but a place with a long, lively history. So far, the island’s been run by the Spanish, French, British, Confederate States of America, two independent governments (one of which lasted all of one day), Mexicans, and the US.

Get the whole story at Amelia Island Museum of History. One of the more unusual museums around, it’s housed in the old jail. While the heavy metal doors are still in place, the cells are gone, replaced by open areas with interesting, attractive displays. Instead of just wandering through, though, visitors are led by docents who deliver interactive, oral history performances. It’s one of liveliest 90-minute shows around.

With all of those occupations over the years, it’s fitting that the oldest hotel in Florida is in Fernandina Beach. The Florida House Hotel has been operating since 1865. Even if you are not staying there, lunch or dinner at the green, porched, clapboard building is a must. It’s served boarding house style. Guests sit at 10-person tables and the motherly waitresses start bringing out bowls of slaw, potatoes, collard greens, green beans, fried chicken, spaghetti, warm cornbread, biscuits, more slaw, more greens, more chicken…. In the center of the table, there’s a relish tray, a jar of hot pickled peppers to sprinkle on your collard greens, and pitchers of iced tea ("The one with the little decoration on the handle is sweetened.") Dessert choices are banana pudding, German Chocolate Cake, or "white cake with a chocolate icing. It’s homemade and real good." They keep bringing out servings as long as people keep eating them. In boarding house tradition, the guests are expected to take their plates to the kitchen when they’re done eating. The tab for this down-home feast is all of $6.98 for lunch, $10.98 for dinner.

The tab is a mite higher and the menu a mite more trendy at Amelia Island Plantation, but the food and service are every bit as good and attentive. The only restaurant open to the public is The Verandah. This is one of those rare places where adults looking for a ‘resort casual’ dinner and families with kids are both welcomed. Not too surprisingly, considering the location, seafood is the specialty. The grouper baked in a light, crab-seasoned breading was great. It was one of the few times I’ve really thought about going back to the restaurant the next day and getting it again. Desserts are equally wonderful. It’s probably just bad design that the entrance to the restaurant is adjacent to the health club.

The resort’s hotel is the Amelia Inn and Beach Club. A high rise on the beach, all 250 rooms have balconies overlooking the pools and the beach. The rooms are spacious and done right, with all of the little features expected at a resort: hair dryers, ironing boards, coffee maker, over-priced room bar, large TV. The midday sun can be brutal, especially the first couple of days, so the balcony is especially welcome.

If a condo or villa makes more sense, over 400 one and two bedroom units are available for a couple of days, a week, or longer, depending on the time of year. Some of those are on the beach, too, with an equal number looking out over the golf courses or the woods.

Customer service is a priority. Once the staff learns your name, they’ll use it a lot. The restaurant managers drift through the dining rooms at every meal, greeting guests and making sure the service and food meets expectations. Since the resort is so big, there’s a shuttle service that’s both scheduled and on-call. The drivers are also unusually friendly and helpful. Seeing I was still trying to figure out where everything was on my first night there, the driver of the shuttle that picked me up at The Verandah took me on an impromptu tour of the resort and recommended places I should visit via bike in the daylight.

In addition to a lot of villas and cluster-houses on the ocean side of the island, there are about 450 single family homes built on the inland waterway side, where two of the golf courses and several parks and nature trails are located. Rent a bike and pedal into another way of life.

The plots start at a cool $1-million each. The houses are the size of some third world nations and cost as much as those nations’ GNP. Nestled in groves of mature live oaks covered with hanging Spanish Moss, it’s the sort of neighborhood offering a lifestyle to which one would like to become accustomed. Always the peasant, I was tacky enough to ask who was moving in. That much money? Florida? I expected to hear disdainful stories about Columbian drug dealers. Nope. This is old Florida money and old New England money. The nouveau rich yuppies aren’t here.

Which is a little odd, considering that the philosophy of Amelia Island Plantation’s development reflects a lot of the new emphasis on balancing development and nature.

Amelia Island Plantation is an anomaly. It’s a resort development that doesn’t want to become too developed. The barrier island is bordered by the St. Mary’s River to the north, the Atlantic Ocean east and south, and the inland waterway on the west. It’s an ecologically fragile spot. The resort recognizes that as one of the resort’s attractions and works to protect it. The Plantation has won many awards for its sensitive development, which annoys the heck out of critics and developers who say it can’t be done.

Its Nature Center started as a sidebar diversion for guests, giving little walks and programs to keep them entertained. The response led them to enlarge the program. It now has its own building with resident turtles, fish, and other critters; a full daily program of walks, bike rides, beach explorations and other activities; a kids’ program; day-long, off-resort trips; and special nature lover weekend programs and packages.

The resort works closely with Florida’s natural resources department to protect the dunes and the other ecologically-sensitive areas of the island. One of the big concerns is the nesting sea turtles. There are already some areas that are off-limits to people during nesting season. The resort is trying to get that area expanded and to prohibit cars from the beach. When was the last time a resort wanted to restrict the guests’ playground?

There are several Native American sites on the resort property, including the remains of a burial mound. These are also respected and protected. Set off in small parks, bike and walking trails lead to them, and there are descriptive signs explaining how the natives lived and what the sites mean, but it’s obvious that none of the development will be allowed to come close enough to compromise the,. Yet this is the same resort that has three golf courses, including ones designed by Pete Dye and Tom Fazio, and which hosts the Bausch and Lomb Women’s Tennis Tourney each year.

For all of its luxury and special amenities, Amelia Island Plantation is on the affordable side of a high-class resort. Even during high season, the basic rates are fair. A double-occupancy room in the Beach Club tops at $272 a night. The highest tab is for the ocean view, three bedroom suite designed to house six people, priced at $626 per night.

One reason the prices are reasonable is because they cover just the room. Everything else is an additional charge. The shuttle into town, the bike rental, the "Kids Camp Amelia," nature walks, video game rental, tennis courts – are all added to the bill. None of them are excessive by any means, but they are all extra.

That’s a good way to go, since guests then pay for just what they use. If lying around the pool all day is someone’s definition of a great break, why pay for use of the bike trails and kids’ crafts projects?

Flying into Amelia Island is easy. The Fernandina Beach airport (55J), with four long runways and a GPS approach is 3 miles from Amelia Island Plantation. Shuttle service to the resort is arranged in advance. It costs $12. McGill/Island Aviation is the FBO. The efficient,

competent line crew ties you down and carries your baggage to the office. Gas runs $2.75 for Avgas, $1.95 for Jet A. The first night’s tie-down is waived with a gas purchase. They also handle the Enterprise car rental franchise.

Jacksonville is the larger airport with more approaches if you need them. It’s about 30 miles away. Again, advance reservations brings the shuttle to the FBO ($44 per person. Kids under 12 free.)

-0-