Amelia Island, FL
We spent the weekend in Amelia Island, Florida as a family in May 2022. The reason for our trip was to spend time with family in Jacksonville. Amelia Island is a little less than an hour north of Jacksonville. We love the relaxing, Florida vacation vibe of Amelia Island and love using it as a base for time in Jacksonville.
What We Did
Most of our time was spent visiting with family in Jacksonville, so but we still managed to do some sightseeing. We spent a few hours on the beach across the street from our hotel. It is a very peaceful beach and pretty nice.
We also visited the Saturday morning farmer’s market in Ferdinando Beach, the city on Amelia Island. It is a fairly small farmer’s market, but featured a great variety of interesting wares. We enjoyed walking around and looking at the booths and people watching.
After the farmer’s market, we visited Fort Clinch State Park. There is a beautiful drive into the park and it looked like many great places for bike riding or walking. We explored the Civil War fort, Fort Clinch. There are some beautiful views and interesting history. It wasn’t crowded or busy when we were there. It looks like there are plenty of places to access beaches in the state park as well.
What We Ate
We had dinner on our arrival night at Pepper’s Mexican Grill and Cantina. I would recommend it. The atmosphere is great. We were seated inside, but they have a very nice outdoor dining area as well. The food was good. They knew about gluten free dining and were able to offer my daughter some safe choices.
We also had lunch one day at Bantam & Biddy. We loved this place! Highly recommend it for families with gluten free eaters. They had many great gluten free choices our teen loved. It is rare for her to get a chance to have chicken fingers, mac n cheese, or a restaurant dessert. These were all available as well as other choices. She loved it! Everyone was happy with their meals as well. They offer many fresh and delicious choices. According to their website they also have a location in Chattanooga. Check it out!
Where We Stayed
We stayed at Amelia Island Hotel at the Beach. This is a not our first stay here. We really like this hotel. The rooms are a nice size, clean, and very comfortable. Our standard room included a small refrigerator, microwave, and a counter with a sink in the kitchenette type area. The beach is right across a small, not busy street. The hotel has a basic, but nice pool. It is never busy. There are laundry facilities available. The hotel serves a very nice breakfast in the mornings. Not cooked to order restaurant food, but the breakfast is much nicer and more varied than typical chain hotel breakfast options. The lobby of the hotel has some beach themed murals on the wall and a very “Florida” feel. We always choose the standard or not ocean view room due to the lower price, and the prices are very good for a beach front hotel. At least some of the ocean view rooms have nice balconies and look like they would be good places to sit and relax.
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