Leaving Amelia Island

We took as long as we could to pack up to leave Amelia Island on Friday morning.  In an effort to ease the pain, we decided to stop by Savannah on our way back to Macon to try and have lunch at The Lady & Sons.  If you've never been there, you MUST try to go.  I say "try" because it's not easy to get in.  I overheard the hostess tell someone that people had been standing in line at 4:30 that morning trying to get on the list.  

When we arrived, the sign on the hostess stand actually said that they were already booked for lunch, implying that we would not be able to get a table.  I tried my luck, but she said that since my party wasn't complete (Will was still parking the car), they didn't have room for us.  But, I also overheard the hostess send another couple up to the 3rd floor, so we tried our luck again once Will got there.  It paid off!  The hostess gave us the magic card that allowed us past the front door and entry to the elevator up to the 3rd floor.  It ended up that we didn't have to wait at all, and there were actually quite a few empty tables by the time we left.  Paula Deen must have her reservation system down to a science.

As expected, the food was delicious!!  We ordered a plate of Fried Green Tomatoes and each had the buffet.  Fried chicken, fish, sweet potatoes, collard greens, green beans, cream corn, Beaufort stew and, of course, "The Lady's Macaroni and Cheese!" (And that's just what we at, not a full representation of what was available on the buffet.  We just knew what the best was!)  We also took full advantage of the cheese biscuits and warm hoecakes that someone brought to the table... not to mention sweet tea with mint in a to-go cup (a hard thing to come by in Texas - the sweet tea, not the to-go cup).

It was a great end to a great week! 

Amelia Island - Wednesday & Thursday

Our last two days in Amelia Island were as relaxing as the rest.  I don't have any pictures from Wednesday because it was more of the same - beach, pool, resting, reading, snacking.  Will played golf again with Flynn in the afternoon.  Then, his wife, Lori, met us at the hotel and we all had a drink together on our (oversized!) balcony before heading to dinner at The Surf.  Dinner was delicious and the scene led to some good people-watching on the dance floor.  Lori took the only pictures we have of the night so I'll have to get them from her and add them to this post later.  

After my massage on Tuesday, I convinced Will that we should get a couples massage.  Turns out that there's really no reason to do it together (there was no talking, I think he even fell asleep), other than maybe so that you can stick to a vacation schedule (which we did not have!).  Anyway, we ventured down to The Spa on Thursday morning.  There was a scheduling conflict on their end so we spent the morning relaxing at The Spa pool again.  (Will actually had to take care of some work stuff so he wasn't quite as relaxed as I was.  Good thing we got the massages after his work-induced headache!)   

If you haven't had a massage before, you may not know that you're pretty much useless afterwards.  You just end up so relaxed you can barely complete a sentence.  So, we packed a cooler and savored our last afternoon on the beach.  The humidity had settled in so the pictures are a little foggy.  That certainly did not detract from our relaxation efforts!

Once it started getting chilly (and, the cooler was empty), we decided it was time to get ready for dinner at PLaE (People Laughing and Eating).  They had the "chef's pick" for dinner, but we opted out of that with the hope of avoiding another non-seafood entree.  The best part was probably the applewood-bacon scallop appetizer.  We were the only people eating out on the deck which overlooked the golf course at Amelia Island Plantation.  Our waiter was happy to snap a quick picture.  (It's from my phone so is not the best quality.)

Amelia Island - Tuesday

I spent Tuesday morning in The Spa getting a warm-stone massage.  It was absolutely the most decadent thing I have ever done.  I was able to take advantage of all the spa amenities all day because of my early-morning treatment ... the spa pool with the super-comfy chairs, relaxation lounge, sauna, etc.  Will spent his time on the driving range and then played golf in the afternoon.  There wasn't much picture-taking to be had since we spent most of the day apart, but we both certainly had good days.

We met up for dinner at Salt, the hotel's 5-star restaurant.  We were one of only a few tables so we had great service (which I'm sure we would have had no matter how many people were there).  We were treated to a glass of bubbly in celebration of our many 'events.'   The 'salt sommelier' introduced us to 5 or 6 different flavors of salt, jalapeno, vanilla, and others.  Rather than order dinner from the menu, we chose to have the 'Chef's Adventure' menu where you don't know what they'll bring.  Everything was delicious until (wait for it....), they brought antelope for the entree!  It was a bit rare for my taste, but I tasted it anyway.  It was okay, but I would have preferred seafood.  

Here we are on the lawn, again, waiting for our table.

A sampling of the salts.

Dinner was delicious!  That's sashimi on a block of salt.  The longer the fish was on the salt, the saltier it tasted (and the better it tasted, if you ask me!).

Amelia Island - Monday

Will played golf with Flynn, a friend from Myrtle Beach, Monday morning.  Apparently, Will had a pretty good round.  I spent the morning on the beach and by the pool.  

Dinner was at Baxters and was divine!  They do not advertise so we almost missed out on it.  Once we ate there, though, it was easy to see why they are confident that word of mouth is the only advertising they need.

After dinner, we found some chairs on the lawn by a chiminea.  A couple from Chattanooga joined us and we had a good time just chatting with them.  We didn't think to ask them to take our picture together, but here we are before they joined us.

Amelia Island - Sunday

Arrived on Amelia Island a little too early to check in so we drove up to the village in Fernandina to have lunch.  Ate at Brett’s Waterway Café, which was vaguely familiar to us from our last trip to Amelia 11 years ago for Jake & Ally’s wedding.  We wandered in and out of some shops and found a Christmas ornament from this trip.

Hotel check in was crazy-busy, but worth the wait.  The Ritz is shaped like a horseshoe and our room is right in the middle on the 7^th floor (out of 8) so we looked straight out onto the ocean.  Our balcony is a little bigger than most and we loved spending time out there once the sun was behind us. 

Will enjoying the view - ahhhh!

My beach reading for the week

After unpacking and getting settled, we walked around the hotel to get the lay of the land and strolled on the beach.  We even had a tour of the spa … love it!  When we returned to our room, we had a nice bottle of champagne waiting on us.  My telling them all of the events we were celebrating paid off! 

The hotel is a little far from the village so we decided to eat at one of the hotel restaurants Sunday night.  We had a great table on one of the patios and the food was delicious.

Amelia Island

We're having a great time on Amelia Island. The hotel does not have free internet access, though, so I won't be updating the blog with pictures until we get home. Will had a great golf game with Flynn Jarrett yesterday and we're going to dinner with him tomorrow night. I had a warm stone massage this morning - wow! Heading out to lunch now.

Kids are having a good time at Nanoo & Pop's house. They helped Cacoo celebrate her 17th birthday yesterday. And, from what I've heard, they're enjoying their day camps at Stratford.