Taking the Kids: To Amelia Island

You've certainly got your pick of places to stay -- starting with Omni's gargantuan Amelia Island Plantation (www.ameliaislandplantation.com). Look for summer deals, based on the temperature the day you arrive. Spread out on 1,350 acres (you have to take a shuttle from place to place) offering three golf courses (look for junior golf), tennis courts, a three-mile beach and nature center where you might be able to make shark tooth necklaces (a favorite activity here is to find shark teeth on the beach), or go birding. The beaches here are also prime nesting spots for sea turtles. You and the kids can watch on summer nights as volunteers at the Amelia Island Sea Turtle Watch (www.ameliaislandseaturtlewatch.com) help the baby turtles.

Just down the road is The Ritz-Carlton Amelia Island (www.ritzcarlton.com) where kids' activities might include a shark tooth hunt, a coastal gardening class or fishing.

If fancy resorts aren't your speed, you've got plenty of other choices -- from kid-friendly B&Bs like the beachfront Elizabeth Pointe Lodge (www.elizabethpointelodge.com), housed in a historic home, to beachfront rental homes (www.ameliavacations.com) or campsites at Fort Clinch State Park where you can show the kids a boondoggle -- a fort that was never finished -- dating from the early 10th century. Today within the 1,427-acre state park, you'll find Spanish moss-draped live oaks, big sand dunes and wildlife from shorebirds to sea turtles to alligators. There is a white-sand beach, miles of biking on tree-canopied roads, fishing on a long pier and the chance to meet and greet Civil War re-enactors at the fort the first weekend of every month.

Whatever you like to do for fun in the sun, Amelia Island is a good place to kick back with the kids -- you can even take a short boat ride to Cumberland Island in Georgia. Amelia Island is the rare place in Florida where you can horseback ride on the beach, maybe spying a dolphin along the way (www.kellyranchinc.com), explore via Segway, fish all day from the George Crady Bridge Fishing Pier, sign on for a geocaching challenge (www.geocacheamelia.com), using a GPS to search for hidden treasures, play golf or hit the spa at the Ritz or the Omni where you'll find special treatments using flower oils and fruit.

Take an eco-tour aboard the Amelia River Cruise (www.ameliarivercruises.com) or spend an afternoon tooling around the historic town of Fernandina -- the entire 50-block area is listed on the National Register of Historic Places and boasts Florida's oldest saloon in the same spot, the Palace. Once a prosperous seaport, the sleepy town today is filled with all varieties of shops, bars and restaurants. (Fernandina's Fantastic Fudge on Centre Street is a must-stop.)

"We're not overdeveloped," says Ray Hetchka from our kayak, alone in the salt marsh. "And that's a good thing."

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