Amelia Island is Old Florida charm at its best: soft quartz sand beaches backed by rolling dunes, streets shaded by moss-draped live oaks, and a historic downtown full of character. This barrier island, about 13 miles long and 2 miles wide, sits roughly 35 miles northeast of Jacksonville. It's the northernmost barrier island on Florida's Atlantic coast and the southernmost of the Sea Islands that stretch up to South Carolina.

Its history goes back more than 4,000 years, beginning with the Timucua people, and eight different flags have flown over the island, from France and Spain to Britain and beyond, earning it the name Isle of Eight Flags. It has deep maritime and military roots and an important African American heritage: Florida's first Black millionaire, A.L. Lewis, founded historic American Beach here. Gilded Age tycoons like the Carnegies and Rockefellers once frequented the Palace Saloon, Florida's oldest continuously operating bar, and pirates like Blackbeard are said to have hidden out nearby. For a few chills, take a ghost tour that includes Bosque Bello Cemetery, one of Florida's oldest, and the island's reportedly haunted inns.

I'll find you the perfect historic inn or oceanfront resort and plan a relaxing mix of beach days, history and great seafood.