Family Activities in Northeast Florida (Jacksonville Area)

We visited the Bostwick Blueberry Festival on Saturday. It was small, but the kids loved this one. There were the traditional craft booths, food booths along with blueberry plants, fresh blueberries, blueberry ice cream (you get the point).

My daughter picked up a nice, but inexpensive handmade book mark (that looked like a piece of jewelry to me), a necklace and a handcrafted purse all for about $30.

This festival is small compared to others. We saw everything in about 90 minutes, including waiting in line to purchase 5 pounds of fresh blueberries for only $15.00. Of course you could spend a lot more time there depending on the amount browsing that you want to do. My only point is that this festival is smaller. It is very nice and we had a lot of fun, but I wouldn't drive 3 or 4 hours to attend this one.

If you are interested in the blueberry ice cream or Datil Pepper Elderberry Jelly I tried, then you can read more at our Southern Food, Sauces and Spreads blog.

I have to be careful writing about this one. I have several friends from Fernandina and it seems that some folks are pretty passionate about this being a great festival.

If you are looking for nice artwork, then this festival is probably the one for you. I saw a beautiful hand-made globe for $3,000 and several different "fish pieces" or artwork all over $1,000 each.

On the other hand, if you are taking kids for a family day this is not the place to go. No disrespect to all the Shrimp Festival Lovers out there, but my kids didn't have any fun. I went on Saturday, 2 May with a 12 year old and two 9 year old kids. The kids had much more fun at the St. Augustine Seafood Festival and the Palatka Azalea Festival. At these festivals, there are food booths intermingled with the crafts booths and arts booths.

At the Fernandina Shrimp Festival the main street was almost all more expensive artwork. You had to go to the side streets, where apparently the Festival organizers had relegated the more "craft types" booths and lesser expensive jewelry. It took a long time for us to find a booth where my Daughter and her friend could buy a $10 piece of jewelry.

The other thing we noticed is that the food selection was very limited as compared to other festivals in North Florida. Of course there was plenty of shrimp, but venture beyond that and it became difficult.

I am told by some of the long-time Shrimp Festival visitors that this festival is known for the nice artwork and having a Pirates Punch or other adult beverage. I am sure the festival is great for that. However, I try to provide information in this lens about family activities and as a family activity I have to give this festival a thumbs down. If you are "kidless" for a day, then this is probably worth the trip.

One last suggestion......if you are going.....go early or late. We tried to go around mid-day and were stuck in bumper-to-bumper traffic for over 10 miles. The small town of Yulee, which we had to drive through is not prepared for traffic. There were officers at every light, but I am not sure of the purpose. Once we drove through and left Yulee (meaning we were getting closer to Fernandina), the traffic became very reasonable.

It is not as big as some of the other parks (about 200 acres), but at Amelia Island State Park you can ride horses along the beach. There is also fishing.

Amelia Island State Park is located where Nassau Sound meets the Atlantic Ocean.

The last time I visited was early morning and I was the only one walking on the beach. Definitely worth a visit and immediately adjacent to the park is the George Crady Fishing Pier. This is an old bridge that you and the kids can walk on and fish.

You can learn more by visiting Amelia Island State Park.

I found Big Talbot Island to be more remote and isolated than some of the other parks. It is efinitely worth seeing for the "Boneyard Graveyard", but I would recommend visiting this park the same day that you visit Little Talbot Island (see info on this park below).

Also, this park is not for very small children as you have to walk a bit. You can launch your kayak or rent one from Kayak Amelia.


There are bluffs overlooking the water and you can actually see the beach at Amelia Island State Park. This is a great place to have a picnic lunch and enjoy the view.

To learn more about this park, you can visit Big Talbot Island State Park

This park is one of my kids favorites. There is a significant amount of beach access. You can ride bicycles on the paved bicycle lane. There is a large picnic area and plenty of restroom facilities.

The campsites have electricity, water, and picnic tables. Sand dunes are everywhere and the last time we went, the kids found a large horseshoe crab!

You can also canoe or kayak at Little Talbot by launching at the campground. (You will need to bring your own Kayak/Canoe.)

This park is plenty big enough to find you "own spot" on any given day. For more information visit Little Talbot Island State Park. As a side note, the very first picture at the top of this page is from Little Talbot.

Still to come will be write-ups for several other recreational opportunities in the Jacksonville area to include:
* Jacksonville Zoo and Gardens
* Fort Clinch State Park
* Ft. George Island (Ribault Club and Kingsley Plantation)
* Huguenot Park
* Hanna Park
* Pumpkin Hill Creek Preserve State Park
* Fort Caroline
* Ocala National Forest (including Silver Glen Springs and other places)
* Osceola National Forest.