Amelia Island, St. Augustine & Jacksonville - FL

DAY 1

Fayetteville, North Carolina: Pack your bags for a trip to the "Sunshine State", Florida, to explore, tour, relax and more! Discover and enjoy the beauty and history of Amelia Island, St Augustine, Fernandina Beach and Jacksonville by motorcoach and cruise. Your journey begins with meal and rest stops at your expense enroute to Fayetteville, NC for an overnight stay at the Holiday Inn Express & Suites Fayetteville South (910-321-0555). Hotel amenities include an outdoor (seasonal) pool, fitness center, business center and complimentary Wi-Fi. Guest rooms feature a mini refrigerator, microwave, coffee/tea maker & supplies, hairdryer and complimentary high-speed internet access. Kickback and unwind tonight after your day of travel.

DAY 2

Ameila Island, Florida: Begin your day with breakfast included at the hotel before you check out and depart for Amelia Island Florida. Lunch is on your own and at your expense along the way. Upon arrival, you check in at the Hampton Inn & Suites Amelia Island-Historic Harbor Front (904-491-4911) for a four-night stay. Guest room amenities include a coffeemaker, HDTV, hairdryer and complimentary high speed internet access. The hotel features a fitness room, outdoor seasonal pool, business center and complimentary WiFi. Dinner is included at a local restaurant with the remainder of the night to relax or enjoy the hotel amenities.

DAY 3

Kingsley Plantation, Ameilia Island Guided Tour & Free Evening: Wake to breakfast included at the hotel before you board the motorcoach for travel to Jacksonville to tour Kingsley Plantation. Located along the Fort George River on Fort George Island, the plantation was home to Anna Kingsley who was the first black woman in Florida to own three plantations and her own slaves. Learn more about Anna's remarkable story from a slave to a slave owner, the history of the plantation, as well as time to explore the grounds including the slave quarters, barn, waterfront, plantation house, kitchen house and interpretive garden. Next, there is nothing like a local step-on guide to share the stories and highlight significant landmarks, upon returning to Amelia Island, the afternoon features a guided tour. Your local guide will join the group and share the peaceful, relaxed seaport community known as Amelia Island. Also explore historic downtown Fernandina Beach, sometimes referred to as a "tropical Mayberry," where the downtown area is full of art galleries, museums, shops and restaurants. Tonight, enjoy a free evening to explore Amelia Island with its many wonderful shops and restaurants. Dinner is on your own this evening.

DAY 4

St. Augustine Guided City Tour, Fountain of Youth, Black Raven Pirate Cruise: Following breakfast included at the hotel, you board the motorcoach and head to St. Augustine, the nation's oldest city as well as one of the most charming. Meet a local guide to start the day with a city tour. Discover more than four centuries of history that owes much to the Spanish and English, the Greeks and Native Americans and African Americans. Afterwards, you have time for lunch on your own and shopping in the Historic District. The afternoon includes a visit to the Ponce De Leon's Fountain of Youth (c.a.1513). You will discover it as an Archaeological Park and learn of that first encounter in 1513 between the Spanish and the Indians. Your tour guide will show you the original spring and you will have a chance to drink from it just as thousands before you have. Next, admission is included to take a cruise on the Black Raven Pirate Ship. This is a one-of-a-kind live pirate show full of music, thrills and pure entertainment! Participate in our adventure, sing along with our crew, and find your inner pirate while you see the beautiful sights of the Matanzas River. Dnner is included in St. Augustine at the Raintree Restaurant, a restored 1879 Colonial Victorian Home. Afterwards, you return to Amelia Island for the night.

DAY 5

Jacksonville Guided Tour, St. John's River Eco Tour: After breakfast at the hotel, you depart for Jacksonville where you meet a local guide for a city tour. The "River City by the Sea" boasts more than 20 miles of wide and uncrowded beaches, close to 40 miles of the tranquil Intracoastal Waterway canal, and the longest stretch of the beautiful St. Johns River. All the natural beauty is surrounded by a modern and vibrant city filled with authentic dining options, thrilling attractions, and world-class museums. Lunch is on your own today before you take a St. John's River Cruise. Admission is included for a narrated cruise with local and river history along with illustrated accounts of the numerous bird species, alligators, and other wild critters that call this area home. Frequent stops are made for photographs, intimate encounters, and a thorough look at this most fragile ecosystem. Once you return to Amelia Island, dinner is included tonight at a local restaurant with the rest of the night to relax and unwind.

DAY 6

Beaufort, SC, Kazoo Factory & Museum, Gullah Heritage Tour, Fayetteville, NC: Wake to breakfast included at the hotel before you check out and depart Amelia Island traveling north with a stop in Beaufort, South Carolina. Beaufort is a city on Port Royal Island, one of South Carolina's coastal Sea Islands. Here, you will have admission included at the unique Kazoo Factory& Museum, dedicated to the history of the kazoo. The museum houses one of the largest collections of kazoos in the world! Then enjoy a Gullah Heritage Tour where you learn about the unique Gullah culture with deep African retentions that are clearly visible in the Gullah Geechee people's distinctive arts, crafts, foodways, music, and language. Enjoy a tour of the Gullah plantation house, cemetery, and church ruins, and visit the praise house, which still hosts meetings for families on the island. Lunch is on your own today before you arrive in Fayetteville, NC and an overnight stay at the Holiday Inn Express & Suites Fayetteville South, the same hotel as the first night of your trip. Dinner is on your own this evening.

DAY 7

Depart for Home: Following breakfast included at the hotel, you continue your journey home with appropriate meal and rest stops at your expense enroute.

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***TIMES & ITINERARY ARE SUBJECT TO CHANGE***

B=Breakfast, D=Dinner