Amelia Island is located about 45 minutes north of Jacksonville, Florida, and it’s the perfect secluded beach town. While Amelia Island is home to a few upscale hotels, the island is mostly residential and still has a lot of untouched natural Florida beauty to discover. With its proximity to Fernandina Beach, visitors to Amelia Island also have the luxury of exploring a quaint beachside town filled with amazing seafood, cute shops, and an active nightlife.
I recently took my annual girls’ trip with my friend Lacy. This was the perfect middle location for us as she was driving four hours south from South Carolina, and I was driving four hours north from Clearwater. If you are looking to meet up with friends who are spread across the south, I highly recommend checking out Amelia Island.
Here is a peek into everything we were able to do during our Friday-Sunday trip to Amelia Island.
Where We Stayed:
The Omni Amelia Island is a 1,350 acre beachfront property. With multiple restaurants, pools, golf courses, spa, and its private beach front, this resort is amazing for those who want to do a little bit of everything. While staying at the Omni, you have your choice of staying in the main hotel building or purchasing a room in one of the villas. We choose to stay in an oceanfront villa because of the cheaper price point; we lucked out that our building was right next to the lobby and had its own pool and beach access. However, since the property is large, there is a good chance you are in a room far from the main lobby. If you plan to utilize the main hotel pool, I would recommend staying in the main hotel building or requesting a room in the Sandcastle or Beachwood villa. Alternatively, there are golf carts and bikes for rent during your stay which makes moving throughout the property a breeze.
Where We Ate:
The first night we ate at The Boathouse in downtown Fernandina, about 20 minutes from the Omni. This restaurant was extremely popular. We ended up waiting about 30 minutes for a table. There is a large outdoor patio, indoor and outdoor bar, as well as seating indoors. We ate here on Friday night, and there was a band on the patio entertaining everyone, which was probably the reason it was a 3-hour wait for an outside table. People were loving the live entertainment.
My favorite spot we ate was Timoti’s Seafood Shak. Also located in downtown Fernandina, this outdoor restaurant has limited seating but is worth the wait. We ordered the nachos and fish and shrimp tacos, but I wanted to try EVERYTHING on the menu.
Saturday night dinner was at Joe’s 2nd Street Bistro. I highly recommend getting a reservation for this restaurant. Lacy and I both ordered the lobster mac and cheese. I cannot recommend enough.
Finally, we wrapped up our girls’ weekend at Pogo’s Kitchen. This was the only place we at that was located on Amelia Island and was very close to the hotel. We ate brunch here and both ordered the French toast. They also provided us complimentary champagne which was a nice way to toast to our yearly girls’ trip.
What We Did:
When we arrived Friday afternoon, we immediately hit up the main pool. This pool was amazing! With multiple hot tubs, a walk-in style lagoon pool, and an infinity pool on top, this was multi-deck set up with plenty of chairs. We had no issue either days grabbing chairs. There is also a pool bar that we took advantage of that also served food.
The beach at the Omni is amazing because of how secluded it was. While there were other beach goers, we were located near no one, and it felt like we had the entire beach to ourselves. The Omni does allow beach chair rental near the main beach area, but I recommend if you are driving to bring your own beach chairs so you can take advantage of the vast beach.
Shopping is one thing I love doing when I travel new places. I always discover unique finds while traveling. Fernandina Beach is where I would recommend spending a morning shopping. There are multiple antique shops and boutiques. Additionally, every Saturday morning, there is a Fernandina farmers’ market with local goods that was fun to browse through.
Overall, while this was not one of Lacy and I’s most extravagant girls’ trips, it was fun to take some time off work and relax at the beach. I highly recommend if you are looking for a low key weekend trip to check out Amelia Island; I promise you will not be disappointed.
