Amelia Island: Pirate Paradise in North Florida

Amelia was her father’s favorite.

She never set foot on Amelia Island, and I don’t think she even knew where it was. This was par for the course because Amelia was English royalty and her father’s favorite. James Oglethorpe, the first colonial governor of Georgia, actually named the island after the princess. And it’s amazing the name stuck because eight different flags have flown over this 13-mile-long barrier island off the coast of Jacksonville, Florida.

Motley Crew on Amelia Island

Soldiers, sailors, pirates, smugglers, slave traders, and British raiders have all taken refuge on or tried to claim the island. There are even old homes on Amelia Island today that still retain the false walls where slaves hid on their way north while traveling on the Underground Railroad.

As for treasure, a Spanish galleon carrying what would now be worth 2 billion in gold, the San Miguel, has never been recovered and is believed to lie just off the south coast of the island. In fact, we ran into a motley crew plotting something brazen and wicked, to be sure.

Pirate Talk

They were holed up in the Palace Saloon (1878), the oldest saloon in all of Florida, with the last cigarette machine in the world, when I heard one say:

“Arrrgh me hearties! Shiver me timbers and crush me barnacles if I ever saw such a sight as that! T’is true I seen it with my own eyes, a hole and in that hole more gold than all the fish in the sea! More pieces o’ eight than specks o’ sand on the beach, matey! I be dancin’ the hempin jig if the devil hisself, Cap’n Jack, knew I was telling ye all o’ this. But t’is so mates, t’is so. And t’is all ours for the takin’ me buckos. Cor blimey! Ye cowardly swabs, ye bilge rats-rapscallions are ye?! T’is tonight or never lads. T’is now or Davey Jones’s Locker for us all if the Cap’n finds out we be after his prize me hearties…”

Don’t Turn Your Back

Before I could walk back out of the saloon’s swinging doors, I was assailed by one of these scurrilous scallywags. “Ahoy wench!” he called out to me, “Come raise a pint or two o’ the grog, ye sweet lassies. Let’s all be merry together, me dearies,” he shouted as the others roared with approval. In a low voice, I told Maureen to be polite. “But don’t turn your back on them,” I said. Never turn your back on cutthroats such as these. We made some small talk, took a few pics, and beat a hasty retreat as soon as we got the chance.

Are these ruthless ruffians not the most vile sea dogs you’ve ever clapped eyes on?

Later that evening, we were having dinner at the restaurant in the harbor (there’s only one). As I raised my drink to take a sip, a sudden BOOM blasted out in the harbor. Everyone jumped and turned to see what was happening. It was the pirate ship, black and sleek, making its way out to sea on a sunset cruise. They fired a shot from their cannon because that’s who pirates are; loud and proud of it.