Amelia Island trip idyllic
travel Tiny tropical paradise lies just 9 miles off Florida’s coast

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BY Heather Warlick

Published: October 7, 2008

Kayaking is just one way to spend a day and see the marsh and ocean coastlines of Amelia Island, Fla. Kevin Revolinski, Jenny Adams, Lindsey Galloway and Lori Baker paddle in the Atlantic Ocean just off the island. PHOTO BY HEATHER WARLICK, THE OKLAHOMAN

AMELIA ISLAND, Fla. — A trip to Amelia Island is like a trip to another planet where primitive jungles meet white sand beaches and visitors whiz from place to place on next-generation people movers.

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The island is magical, mystical and mythical. My visit was the most romantic vacation I’ve ever taken alone. I recommend you take along someone you love.

I was invited to the Amelia Island Plantation in August to experience its wonders for myself. Situated off the northeasternmost tip of Florida, nine miles from the mainland, the 4-by-13-mile island is a tiny tropical paradise full of history, intrigue and adventure.

Known as the "Isle of Eight Flags,” Amelia Island has flown seven flags (Spain’s twice) since 1562: France, Spain, Great Britain, Spain (again), the Green Cross of Florida, Mexico, the Confederate States of America and the United States. Its history has been turbulent, wrought with tales of depravity and greed with pirates and smugglers racketing liquor, prostitutes, slaves and foreign luxuries. Remains of the Timucuan Indians, the first islanders who called the ocean-front property home 4,000 years ago, linger though the tribe disappeared hundreds of years ago, forced out by Spanish explorers. Sherbet-hued Victorian mansions mingle with Spanish missions and ghosts of Fort Clinch whisper of Civil War eras gone by.

But today’s Amelia Island is an idyllic beachside utopia for luxurious relaxation.

Vast jungles of live oak cover the island, and nestled within these jungles was my destination: Amelia Island Plantation. The plantation was started in the 1970s and today covers 1,350 acres with elegant homes, vacation rentals, four championship golf courses, a world-renowned tennis program, first-rate dining and shopping, and more than 49,000 square feet of conference and event space. The Spa at Amelia Island is all organic, offering a chocolate decadent massage, Himalayan stone massage and a tree house yoga experience.

At Amelia’s Wheels, visitors can rent a luxury golf cart to traverse the island, a bike to pedal its trails or a Segway (my favorite) to cruise about with minimal effort. I highly enjoyed zipping along paths through the ancient jungle on the space-age contraption. I was led on an adventurous Segway tour of the beautiful Atlantic seaside that I always will remember.

I also toured the seaside by horseback courtesy of The Kelly Seahorse Ranch. I floated the marshes and ventured into the ocean in a kayak and meandered the downtown city of Fernandina Beach on foot, credit card close at hand. I drank a pint at one of the favorite haunts of the Vanderbilts, DuPonts and Carnegies, the Palace Saloon, circa 1858 and Florida’s oldest tavern.

I sloshed through the warm Atlantic waves by moonlight and lounged on my hotel room balcony overlooking the plantation’s cerulean two-tiered pools, where I later sunbathed in pure Vitamin D-inducing ecstasy.

I strolled the shell-encrusted shore, reveling in the otherworldliness that is Amelia Island.

If you have a chance to do the same, please don’t miss it.

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