Road Trip - Part 1 - Amelia Island

I hope you are all doing well and enjoyed your weekend!! We just got back from three days on Amelia Island in Florida. Remember we had spent the day there with Winslow recently (click here for more pictures - especially of some of the beautiful victorian homes)?

Well, we decided to go back without dog this weekend and really explore the area. The longer we live here, the more we are starting to appreciate southern Georgia and northern Florida. And Amelia Island is turning out to be a true treasure.

Fernandina Beach is a quaint little historic town right on the water and filled with little shops, cafes and excellent restaurants.

We tried all two cafes we found, visited both bookstores (what a treat!) and found a wonderful restaurant, Cafe Karibo, we'd eat at again anytime!

This picture made ma laugh - doesn't it look like I was trying to abscond with my tea and pastry? Maybe I was...

Or not! Just a little quiet time for a few minutes...

It was good to have some indoor places to warm up once in a while - it was cold while we were down there. Cold and windy!

That's why we are so bundled up in most photos.

This time around, we spent lots of time at the marina during the spectacular sunsets!

We both love looking at boats and working harbors.

And this one was really beautiful.

Shark anyone?

Beautiful colors!

Even the industrial look of this factory somehow fit into the overall scene.

What am I so fascinated by?

The sunset, of course.

Had it not been so cold, we would have stayed out there for hours!

But even a glass of red wine didn't heat us up sufficiently.

So, we made our way back to the hotel - across the train tracks.

We stayed at the Hampton Inn because of the excellent location (right in Fernandino Beach and on the water) and it was one one of the nicest Hampton Inns we've stayed at.

I especially enjoyed warming up by the fireplace in the lobby!

And this was the view from our hotel room. I think Daniel was a little afraid I might just want to sit by the window and stare at the water instead of going out to explore... :-)

Yesterday, before we left, we went to visit the house below. As a kid (and even now if I'm honest) I was a big fan of the original Pippi Langstrumpf (Pippi Longstocking). I saw them all dubbed in German. The last time just recently with my nephews when I was staying at my sister's...

In 1988 an American/Swedish remake of the original movie was filmed and this was Pippi Longstocking's house, the Villa Villekulla, right in historic Fernandina. So, of course we had to find it and take a picture... Even though I've never seen the remake. I think I like the original too much.

I've had to divvy up the photos of our trip into probably three blog posts. I can't believe how many beautiful things we found to take pictures of in just three days and I want to share some of them with you. I think you'd enjoy them.

So, in my next blog post, I'll take you with us to Timucuan Ecological and Historical Preserve, which includes Fort Caroline and Kingsley Plantation and beautiful hiking trails.

Until then, I wish you a beautiful start to the week...