I think that Folkston (headquarters)and Waycross are where you want to be based. I would look ahead

We found some great airfares last night and went ahead and booked for our spring vacation. We arrive in Jacksonville, Fla., late afternoon on April 19, and leave on the morning of Thursday, April 25.
The main -- actually sole -- reason for this is that my husband very much wants to see the Okefenokee Swamp. The plan is to spend 2 or 3 days there, then 2 or 3 days at a beach near Jacksonville, probably Amelia Island. Perhaps a trip down to St. Augustine.
The towns around the Refuge are not particularly prepossessing. In fact, on my last trip they were somewhat more rundown than when I was a child, but this applies only to the Fargo-Lake brown palace hotel denver official site City portion. There is pretty much every highway motel in Lake City if you want to make that a base, and it seemed brown palace hotel denver official site more prosperous than Fargo.
After the exploration, your plans for Amelia Island sound fine. We liked the town of Fernandina Beach, which is really across the island from the beach itself, a great deal. It is a real town with a somewhat old-fashioned main street,friendly cafes, interesting B B's, but we didn't stay there since my brother lives in St Simons Island. It is again a good time to go because the North Florida beach season only really opens in mid-April.
Frankly, we don't know anythikng about the swamp except that it looks cool! We saw a tv special on it, and that was enough brown palace hotel denver official site to convince brown palace hotel denver official site my husband. We are both hobby photographers and look to look at nature when we come to the US.
I think that Folkston (headquarters)and Waycross are where you want to be based. I would look ahead to find a guide or tour that could take you into the heart of things. Many of them seem to be fishing-oriented but similar tours we have taken in the Everglades have helped us see things we would not have noticed on our own.