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Fernandina Beach/ The ocean is the draw for many visitors to Amelia Island. The white Appalachian quartz beaches framed by magnificent dunes are mild in winter and cooling in summer. Historic Fernandina. Billed as a quaint Victorian seaport, the 50-block historic district is listed on the National Register. The "seaport" today is not much more than a harbor marina and the home base of the nation’s largest shrimping fleet. Nearly 80 percent of Florida’s sweet Atlantic white shrimp are harvested in Amelia’s waters. A bronze and copper monument to Fernandina shrimpers sits atop a twelve-foot tower of granite. Visitors may watch the return of the shrimp boats and tour the Burbank Trawl Makers (known as the Net House to locals), the world’s largest producer of handmade shrimp nets. Next door to the Net House is Standard Marine (at North Second and Alachua), one of the largest marine hardware stores and suppliers of shrimping gear on the East Coast. Just east of the docks is the 1899 depot for Florida’s first cross-state railroad, now the Chamber of Commerce visitor center, and a replica caboose. More than 400 structures were built prior to 1927. A walking tour leads visitors past the most historic business buildings along Centre Street and the sherbet-hued, Victorian mansions of the Silk Stocking District. The latter are concentrated along South Seventh, North Sixth and Alachua streets. Adorned with the opulent gingerbread of the period, they include Queen Anne, Italianate, Chinese Chippendale, Florida Vernacular and Mississippi Steamboat masterpieces. Replica gas lanterns, benches, floral planters bedecked with bright red begonias and cobblestone walks front the multi-hued brick buildings of palm-lined Centre Street, the main business thoroughfare. Among the landmarks is the Palace Saloon, Florida’s oldest watering hole. Adorned with handpainted murals, it looks like a saloon of the wild west. A potent Pirate’s Punch is dispensed from a 40-foot-long mahogany bar graced by handcarved caryatids. Up the street is the Nassau County Courthouse, built in 1891 and considered the finest surviving Victorian courthouse in Florida. Equally impressive is the 1912 post office, a three-story edifice. Beside it is the Lesesne House, a handsome Southern residence built in 1860. South Seventh is notable for the Tabby House, built of crushed oyster shells, and the four stunning Egmont houses, constructed in 1901 of lumber from the old Egmont Hotel on the site. Horse-drawn carriage tours of the historic district are offered by Old Towne Carriage Co., 277-1555. Sea Horse Stable, 261-4878, offers beachside horseback riding. Amelia Island Museum of History, 233 South Third St.,
Fernandina Beach. Fort Clinch State Park, 2601 Atlantic Ave., Fernandina Beach. Golf. Leading golf-course architects have incorporated Amelia Island’s natural beauty – from ocean bluffs to intracoastal marshes – to create 90 holes of great golf. The 27-hole Fernandina Beach Golf Club is considered one of the finest public courses in the Southeast. Amelia Island Plantation, a 1,250-acre sanctuary on the island’s southern tip, touts both a Pete Dye and Tom Fazio course combination of 45 holes and is recognized as one of the top twelve golf resorts in America. Gene Littler and Mark McCumber designed the eighteen-hole layout of the Golf Club of Amelia Island, located near the Ritz-Carlton. Shopping. Centre Street is the home of the bulk of downtown stores, although newcomers are popping up on side streets. Housed in an 1873 building with hardwood floors and a pressed-tin ceiling, Southern Touch offers Battenberg lace and a potpourri of collectibles with a Victorian and French country ambiance. Wooden marionettes and crewel rugs are among the wares at Southern Traveler. Aptly named, The Unusual Shop is notable for jewelry, clothing and ceramic tiles. The Ship’s Lantern offers wooden hand-carved sea life. Celtic Charm stocks unusual Irish gifts. Among clothing shops are Tilted Anchor and Last Flight Out. Pause for a pick-me-up – coffee, candy, ice cream or what have you – at Fernandina’s Fantastic Fudge, Amelia Island Gourmet Coffee or 27 North. Other favorites are down island at Palmetto Walk, fifteen shops modeled after tin-roof school houses with verandas, and at the Village Shops adjacent to Amelia Island Plantation. Extra-Special The Main Squeeze, 105 South Third St., Fernandina Beach. Material excerpted from Inn Spots & Special Places in the Southeast, by Nancy and Richard Woodworth. Copyright 2000. Wood Pond Press E-mail feedback to: Home
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