If you follow me on Instagram, you already know that we took a little weekend trip to Amelia Island a few weeks ago. We stayed at the Seaside Amelia Inn (RIGHT ON THE BEACH!) from Friday-Sunday and explored the area with no agenda. It was a good one!
I asked on Instagram for recommendations about things to do and places to eat, and as usual, y’all did not disappoint! Your ideas were so helpful that I want to share some of them here in case anyone else is planning an escape to Amelia Island. But before we go on I have to mention my life-long confusion with the difference between Amelia Island/Fernandina. I grew up going to Fernandina Beach and then at some point everyone started calling it Amelia Island. I still have no idea what differentiates the two, if anything! Feel free to school me if you have this all figured out!!!
Okay, back to some fun things to see and do… If you enjoy hunting for shark teeth, Main Beach is your spot. We found so many! Anderson even found his first 3 shark teeth over the weekend!!! Our hotel, the Seaside Amelia Inn, is located at Main Beach, so it was the perfect place for us to stay. Main Beach has free public parking lots, picnic areas, bathrooms, a playground, etc. It’s a great place to hang out with kids. And our hotel provided complimentary chairs and umbrellas, so we were all set! If you’re up for a little adventure and hoping to spot some wildlife, Fort Clinch State Park and Egan’s Creek Greenway are fun areas to explore. We also enjoyed hanging out in the old downtown historic district. It was just a few minutes from our hotel! Friday night they had the streets blocked off and a band set up right in the middle of downtown! We watched the sunset over the marina, had a few meals in the area, and even though it was hotter than hot, we walked around downtown several times throughout the weekend.
One of the other highlights of the Seaside Amelia Inn was the breakfast they served every morning. The sweetest girl named Lauren cooked biscuits and gravy, omelettes, bacon, grits, pancakes – the works! The breakfast area was hopping each morning, but she was so laid-back and never got annoyed with some of the insane orders people requested-ha! The whole set-up made it so easy for us, because we didn’t have to leave the hotel or beach area until later in the afternoon every day.
A few of your food recommendations were Timoti’s Seafood Shack (Probably my favorite meal of the trip! The food was great AND there’s a big pirate ship playground in the back.), T-Ray’s Burger Station (An old garage turned into a diner), Fantastic Fudge (I actually liked Island Time Frozen Treats better – coconut frozen yogurt!!!), 29 South (Their desserts are the best!), Hola! Cuban Cafe, Gibert’s (We didn’t eat here only because we’ve been to his Jax restaurants and wanted to try new places), Amelia Island Coffee (One of my fav spots! But I want them to bring back more of the comfy seating they used to have up front!), The Happy Tomato (King was obsessed with this place). Basically, we ate a lot, and it was all delicious!
On Sunday, I dragged my guys to some fun vintage places. We only went to three, but there are so many in the area. I keep thinking about driving up for a day just to explore a few more places! We really spent most of our time playing at the beach in front of the Seaside Amelia Inn but loved that there were plenty of other things to do when we wanted to get out and explore a little. This was a the perfect little family get-away, and since it’s only an hour north of us, I’m already planning another weekend trip to Amelia Island!
