Here's a little recap of our Amelia Island vacation...better a few days late than never! We headed south last Monday and even enjoyed the long drive because we were so happy to be going on vacation. :) We arrived in the afternoon and then went out to dinner before resting up for our first very taxing day of this:
There is some construction going on at Amelia Island Plantation this year, so we weren't able to use the main pool and beach club that we enjoyed so much last year. But I'd say this was an acceptable substitute!
Our most interesting pool deck neighbor was Taffy:
She was very concerned about her owner being in the pool, but she stayed very still on her lounge. Later she even put on a leopard print sunhat!
We spent Tuesday and Wednesday enjoying the pool before heading back to
the condo for lunch breaks. In the afternoons, we enjoyed naps, daytime
TV, mojitos, and/or more pool time. It was a tough life.
Tuesday night was a little stormy, but we braved the weather to go to dinner at Barbara Jean's on the marsh. The bread basket is always worth the trip! Wednesday night was also a little rainy, but we had plans to head up A1A to Sliders for all-you-can-eat fried shrimp.
They had a covered patio upstairs, so we still got to enjoy our shrimp by the sea!
On Thursday, we woke up to
pouring rain. We enjoyed cinnamon rolls, coffee, and the Today Show on our rainy morning. Which turned into a rainy day. Which was still better than being at work. ;)
Fortunately, the rain let up that evening -- just in time for our scheduled trip to downtown Fernandina for shopping and dinner.
We were able to walk around and visit a few shops and the dock down by the water.
As a side note, something I wish we had thought of earlier is buying Christmas ornaments as the souvenirs of our travels. There is a little Christmas shop downtown that I remembered from last year, so we made sure to get an ornament this year! We chose a little "Sand"ta Claus who is buried in the sand. Which may also be a sand dollar. We'll enjoy putting him on the tree this year!
Andrew even came across a new feline friend
and reunited with an old one from last year. :)
We also went back to 29 South for dinner -- our third visit here! Our dinner was delicious, as expected. We had this giant appetizer which was called "A Simple Crust of Bread." The chef picks a daily topping, and this day was pulled pork with a blue cheese slaw on top. Yum!
Andrew also got his third sweet tea brined pork chop, and he was happy to find it just as delicious as he remembered it!
Friday was our last full day, and it was (sadly) still pretty cloudy and windy. But since it wasn't actually raining, we decided to head to the pool/beach anyway. We didn't stay too long because of the less than ideal weather, but we were still glad we went!
There are some shops and markets in the main area of Amelia Island Plantation, so we spent some of Friday afternoon just browsing and strolling around. We enjoyed some ice cream in the rocking chairs set up around the pond in the middle of all the shops.
We did a repeat of last year and went to the Ocean Grill inside the Omni hotel for drinks and dinner on our last night.
It is a small, cozy restaurant, and it was not very busy at all. That made for a very personalized dinner experience. :) They gave us a great table in front of a huge picture window, and we had a Caesar salad made table-side, yummy steaks, and key lime pie for dessert. It was a perfect end to vacation!
On Saturday morning, we were sad to leave...but thankful for a whole week off at the beach! We headed up to Statesboro with most of the weekend still ahead of us to enjoy spending some time with my family. And of course, these gals:
