Amelia Island is the Northernmost barrier island on the East Coast of Florida. Just two miles wide and 13 miles long, connected by a bridge over the Inter Coastal to the North and a series of bridges to protected Talbot Islands to the South.

Fernandina with its wonderful Historic District , port, and paper mill lie to at the North end where part of the shrimp fleet is docked. Mid Island is the resort Summer Beach communities anchored by the Ritz Carlton Resort. The lower third is the Omni Amelia Island Plantation resort currently under major restoration.

Amelia Island and Fernandina are unique and diverse. Layed back to say the least, but there is a movie theater. Scores of top notch restaurants, amazing beaches, Fort Clinch, The Pier, Main Beach and the remote and pristine South End. This is a place where families are not distracted by shopping malls, traffic or stress. Bike and walking trails are everywhere. You can drive your 4x4 onto the beach at some points on the Eastern shore and enjoy the marshes on the Western shores.

Read the posts. It it is too quite for you, go elsewhere, but if you have seen the world and want a genuine "layed back" vacation, you can't do much better and do it on any budget. I know I sound like a Chamber of Commerce writer, but this is our fourth season living here part of the year, and each year it gets better and better. Yes there is a paper mill, it is part of the history and the economy, but I can count the times I have smelled it on one hand.

Check it out, you will love this place. Someone you know has been here and will tell you there is no other place like it in Florida.