Hidden Treasure

Surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean, the Gulf of Mexico, and the Straits of Florida, the Sunshine State has 8,436 miles of coastline—more than any other state in the Lower 48. Its beaches are some of the country’s most famous and most often visited. And while those postcard-perfect stretches of sugar-white sand abutted by brilliant turquoise water are undeniably alluring, Amelia Island, situated on the northeast coast (and named after Princess Amelia, daughter of George II of Great Britain), offers visitors a surprising slice of a forgotten Florida. With salt marshes and live-oak-dotted maritime forests and gray-blue waterways akin to those of the Sea Islands of Georgia and South Carolina, the pristine thirteen-mile barrier island still feels like a discovery. Dirt roads continue to crisscross parts of the onetime fishing village, where modern commercial shrimping originated. There is a state park on either end of the island. And much of the vernacular Victorian architecture