A Culinary Road Trip From Orlando to St. Augustine and Amelia Island
Food enthusiasts Sandra and John Nowlan take a culinary road trip from Orlando to Florida’s northeast coast to discover history and culture, and enjoy the bounty of the sea.
We started out on our culinary road trip at Wild Florida, just outside Orlando. With some water spray and wind in our hair, it felt like an exhilarating theme park ride, but it was outdoors with natural surroundings and real wildlife.
Wild Florida features exciting, hour-long airboat rides through Cypress Lake’s shallow, boggy edges. A large sign at the entrance gives credit to Nova Scotia, where Alexander Graham Bell invented the shallow-bottomed airboat driven by a large aircraft-type propellor mounted over its stern.
Then, as we slowed down after speeding past alligators and a wide variety of bird life, Captain Mike verbally credited Canada for presenting the United States with more than 30 breeding pairs of bald eagles in the 1930s. He noted that this generosity basically kept the U.S. bald eagle population from extinction. It was a gesture we particularly appreciated after a few weeks of tense Canada-U.S. relations.
Hitting the Road for Food, History and Culture
Our main goal for a week-long road trip from Orlando to the northeast coast of Florida was to explore the fascinating history and culture of the area as well as to sample the cuisine, especially seafood, for which the state is justly famous.
We love fresh seafood, so we looked forward to stuffing ourselves with Florida’s famous shrimp and local fish, such as grouper, mahi-mahi, and pompano. Large (often too large) portions are common in Florida restaurants, but we’ve usually been impressed with the quality of our meals:
Renting a car at Orlando International Airport (MCO) was relatively easy without a shuttle required to reach the rental lot. Unfortunately, printed road maps are no longer available at check-in, so an effective GPS is necessary, especially with Orlando’s heavy traffic and complex highway system.
Our road trip from Orlando included stays at two hotels and a historic B&B in Orlando, St. Augustine, and Fernandina Beach on Amelia Island. All three communities love to share their rich history and vibrant culture with guests like us. Here are some of the attractions we particularly enjoyed:
Orlando: Beyond the Theme Parks
Orlando’s theme parks are so well known that tourists often don’t think beyond them, but we found that the city has much more to offer. These were some of the highlights of our visit:
Visiting Winter Garden
Winter Garden, a small city (pop 48,000) that’s part of greater Orlando, has a charming downtown filled with small, unique boutiques (no chain stores in sight) and a welcoming vibe we found very attractive.
Two no-charge museums stood out. The Winter Garden Heritage Museum has a well-maintained caboose out front and an interior focused on the community’s native and African American heritage as well as the rise and fall of the citrus industry. Dozens of labels from former orange producers fill the walls.
Winter Garden was also a significant railway centre served by both the Atlantic Coast Line and Seaboard Coast Line. The Central Florida Railway Museum honors those past years with photos, models, and railway memorabilia. Knowledgeable volunteers like Bill Puckett are delighted to discuss their passion for railroading.
Enjoying the SOBO Art Gallery and Studio
The SOBO Art Gallery and Studio (named for its location on South Boyd Street), features excellent local art for sale and monthly art exhibits. In a back room, aspiring artists have classes and workshops.
Experiencing the Performing Arts
Since 2014, downtown Orlando has included the magnificent Dr. Phillips Center for the Performing Arts. The venue comprises both 2700-seat and 1700-seat theatres.
We were fortunate to be able to attend a more intimate concert by a local neo-soul, rhythm and blues band in the Judson’s Live auditorium with table settings for just 150 guests.
The performance included a menu of exotic cocktails and small, creative plates.
Eating Heartily in Orlando
Our excellent Orlando accommodation (The Terraces at The Grove) had a dinner restaurant, Valencia, which was more like an aging Denny’s, but its breakfast had outstanding coffee and a good choice of standard fare.
Plant Street Market in Winter Garden is an indoor artisan venue featuring the Crooked Can Brewery and 20 local vendors serving wonderful natural, organic food. We enjoyed a delicious lunch with Bento Sushi and BBQ pork and beef.
St. Augustine: The Oldest City in the U.S.
St. Augustine, founded by the Spanish in 1565, is the oldest continuously inhabited European-established settlement in the United States.
The city center is very walkable, but the best way to absorb and appreciate its remarkable history is with the 90-minute, 22-stop, narrated Hop-on, Hop-off Trolley Tour.
Several attractions on the Trolley Tour stood out for us. Castillo de San Marcos is the oldest masonry fort in the United States. The Spanish started construction in 1672 to defend Florida and protect the Atlantic trade route. It is remarkably well preserved, as is the oldest wooden schoolhouse in the United States, where an animatronic teacher and “Dunce” student provide humorous commentary.
Two former luxury hotels in St. Augustine were built in the Spanish Renaissance Revival style by oil and railway magnate Henry Flagler and were among the first buildings in the world to use poured concrete.
Hotel Alcazar, built in 1887, is now the Lightner Museum, housing a grand collection of Gilded Age antiques. The 1888 Ponce de Leon Hotel is now the 2500-student Flagler College. Louis Tiffany headed the design of its glorious interior. The woodwork, gold gilding and stained glass windows are stunning. The college has the largest private collection of Tiffany stained glass in North America, insured for over 100 million dollars.
Our final stop in St. Augustine was among the most moving. The three-story Ximenez-Fatio House, built in 1798, was a boarding house for many years during the American slave era. An hour-long tour included talented, costumed actors performing short scenes that relive those dark days. A vivid eye-opener.
Feasting in St. Augustine
Two shrimp dishes stood out in St. Augustine. Our best large shrimps came from the Salt Life Food Shack. They were served on skewers with glazed pineapple and pineapple fried rice.
O.C. White’s Seafood Restaurant combines history (located in the Worth House, circa 1790) with roasted squash, cucumber curls, and local red datil peppers.
The Ice Plant Bar and Restaurant, a tall, spacious, converted 1927 ice storage warehouse, is now a popular farm-to-table restaurant with excellent cuisine. Its blackened shrimp and grits with cheese, bacon, and green onions were a hit with both of us.
The Columbia Restaurant is a huge Spanish/Cuban eatery holding 700 guests. Although it was full when we were there, service was very efficient, and the food, especially our fresh grouper topped with local blue crab, was succulent.
Being in Florida, we expected fresh salads and two restaurants delivered. La Cocino, part of the San Sebastian Winery, had an excellent winter salad, the best-ever arugula and kale salad with apple, fennel, hazelnuts, and pomegranate. A creative chef!
The Natural Beauty of Amelia Island
Amelia Island was the last stop on our culinary road trip from Orlando. A happy surprise for us was our far-from-ordinary Bed & Breakfast accommodation in the historic district of Fernandina Beach on Amelia Island, close to the border with Georgia. Fairbanks House is a glorious 8,000-square-foot Italianate villa built in 1885 at the height of Fernandina’s Golden Era.
The upscale neighborhood has dozens of other stunning homes built in the late 1800s in Victorian or Classical Revival style. The city has published a complimentary pamphlet showcasing many of them.
Like many visitors, we took the Cumberland Coastal Tour (Amelia River Cruises), sailing in two states along the shorelines of Amelia and Cumberland Islands. Wildlife sightings included playful dolphins and Cumberland wild horses. Several colorful shrimp boats are tied to docks on this pristine island but sadly, the mood is broken by a huge, steaming shoreside pulp mill.
For a small city (population, 14,000), Fernandina Beach has an excellent Museum of History in a former jail, and a well-preserved Civil War era coastal garrison called Fort Clinch. The fort promotes living history, and we enjoyed interacting with a knowledgeable gentleman wearing period costumes.
Fish and Seafood: Fresh and Fried
Florida’s lucrative shrimp industry had its beginnings in Fernandina Beach on Amelia Island in the early 1900s. As expected, even its fried fish take-out was extraordinary.
Our golden basket at Timoti’s included deep-fried shrimp, fries, hush puppies, and a giant fish sandwich. We enjoyed the signature Blue Crab Dip at The Salty Pelican, a busy waterfront restaurant and sports bar. We could also choose shrimp & oysters, a pound or half-pound of local peel ‘n eat shrimp, or fried gator bits.
The outstanding Fairbanks B&B in Fernandina Beach, Amelia Island (John and Sandra Nowlan)
We can’t talk about food on Amelia Island without mentioning the breakfast at our historic B&B, Fairbanks House. The full breakfast, served with real silverware and lovely china, included juice, fresh blueberries with sweet cream, blackberry waffles with chicken sausage, and banana bread. A wonderful ending to a week of outstanding hospitality.
Reflecting On Our Road Trip from Orlando
On a sad note, reflecting on our culinary road trip from Orlando as Canadians, we couldn’t help but be aware of the current tension in U.S.-Canada relations because of the tariff threats and the U.S. President’s talk of Canada becoming the “51st State.” Florida tourism officials are concerned about a drop-off in Canadian tourists. Hopefully, relations will soon return to their normal, friendly state.
Disclosure: The Nowlan’s visit was sponsored by Visit Florida, but any opinions expressed in this post are their own.
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