Amelia Island, FL

For Memorial Day, we went down to Amelia Island to celebrate Chicken Legs’ birthday. 
We haven’t been in a couple of years, so we were due for a trip.
I love going to the spa and how relaxing it is at the beach.
Chicken Legs loves that the golf course is about a 100 yards from the hotel entrance.
We ate, drank, walked on the beach and had an incredibly relaxing time.
We checked into the hotel and were greeted with a glass of champagne in honor of Chicken Legs’ birthday. What a great start to our vacation!
We got a nice room with a view.
We were starving, so we immediately headed out to lunch.

We ate lunch at Barbara Jean’s
Barbara Jean’s is famous for their crab cakes and pumpkin bread. 
I could actually just eat the whole bread basket and call it a meal. It is all SO good.
I got the pecan chicken tenders – they are HUGE! 
Chicken Legs got dirty rice this time. It was also HUGE, but SO good. I am getting that next time.
We ate here on our way to St. Augustine earlier in May. 
On that visit we got a crab cake sandwich and shrimp salad sandwich. 
Lunch was great. I am thinking I might need to order some crab cakes and pumpkin bread from Barbara Jean’s online store. They are so good!!
After lunch we walked on the beach. 
The beaches on the Atlantic Ocean aren’t the sugar sandy beaches we are used to on the Gulf Coast when we visit Destin, FL.
The beaches here have SO many shells. More shells than I have ever seen in my whole life. 
They are beautiful!
We stayed around the hotel the rest of the afternoon.
We hit up Eight in the hotel for happy hour.
We enjoyed a few cocktails and played some pool.




Chicken Legs’ won every time!

After happy hour we headed over to the Lobby Lounge for a drink.
There were several business groups at the hotel. It made for great people watching.

We had such a big lunch, that we opted for some wings for dinner.
They are fabulous! I could eat these every day. 
We also ordered some nachos, but they sucked.
Good Morning Sunshine!

Our room rate included breakfast in Cafe 4750. It was great, as expected.
The best part of breakfast was when our waitress sent us off to our room with 2 Diet Cokes and 2 cookies.
It was like she knew us.
We LOVE Diet Coke and cookies!!
It made our day!
After breakfast, I headed to The Spa and Chicken Legs played golf.
The Spa was SO relaxing. I got a massage the first day and a facial the next day.
Both services were great.
I was super relaxed when I left the spa both days.
BMW was doing a resort tour at the hotel. 
You could reserve various BMW models for 2 hours at time – for free. 
Chicken Legs had reserved us a beautiful BMW Z4. Nice choice! 
It was great to drive down Fletcher Avenue with the wind in my hair!
We took our time and drove to Downtown Fernadina Beach for a little shopping.

Lunch was at The Surf.
Someone at the hotel recommended it to us.  It is a great beach dive.
I got the Drunken Pirate Burger – it was HUGE!
It was just a regular sized burger once I took off the onion rings. I loved the presentation!
Chicken Legs got the Kahuna sweet and sour wings. They were delicious.

We headed back to the hotel to drop off the BMW. 

We spent the afternoon relaxing at the beach.

Dinner was at another beach dive – Sliders.
I love Sliders. It is directly on the beach (you actually park on the sand).
At night they have music outside.
We started with the chips and salsa. It was really, really good.
For entrees, Chicken Legs got the blackened fish sandwich and fries. He loved it.
I got the chicken sandwich. It was one of the best chicken sandwiches I’ve had. I also loved the honey mustard.
I got an order of hush puppies. I LOVE hush puppies and these were great!
Another beautiful sunrise.

I met up with Chicken Legs on the golf course after my spa appointment.
He loves for me to drive the cart. I agreed to meet him since it was his birthday trip.
The course is beautiful and we played with some really great guys.
They both had great stories and information about Amelia Island.
Lunch was at a true Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives joint – Singleton’s Seafood Shack.

You have to take a ferry across the water to get there from the hotel.
It is truly a dive.
They have tons of cats hanging around outside (I loved them all).
The food was actually really good.
We started with the fried corn nuggets. They were served with powdered sugar and ranch dressing. We ate way too many of these!
Chicken Legs got a Po-Boy and I got a chicken sandwich.
I also got some hush puppies – YUM!

The flowers at the hotel were so beautiful. 

We had a cocktail outside in paradise.




We ran across this sea turtle in the courtyard. He was on a mission to find grass.

Dinner was at our favorite place in Amelia Island – Arte Pizza.
This was our first time eating here since they expanded. We were worried it wouldn’t be a good. There was no reason to worry – it was a good as ever.
We started with an order of meatballs. They are so good! So tender and flavorful
Next, we ordered a sausage and pepperoni pizza. O-M-YUM! 
The crust is thin and crispy. The toppings are delicious!
One tip about eating at Arte – the pizza comes out in just a few minutes. It is cooked in a blazing hot wood burning oven. If you want a salad or appetizer, order it first and order your pizza after you have finished eating it. We made the mistake the first time we went of ordering everything at the same time. It all came out together. 
I will miss waking up in paradise every morning.
We took one last walk on the beach and headed back to reality.
We are already anxious to go back! 
I have a reservation in December. I love the beach in the winter!!
Have you ever been to Amelia Island?
What are your favorite places to eat?
What are your favorite things to do? I need suggestions!

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Comments

  1. You looked quite the "sexy thing" riding in the BMW..!
    And I LOVE your sunglasses!!!! Please tell me where I can get a pair??? SERIOUSLY!!!
    Florida hugs,
    Becca
    Tarpon Springs

    1. Becca – the sunglasses are by Alexander McQueen. I've had them a couple of years, but they might make something similar now.

  2. That looks like such a great place to visit. I'm not necessarily a beach person, but I really want to go walk that beach and see all the sea shells. Thanks for sharing your trip.

  3. We used to have a Barbara Jean's in Savannah, but it closed suddenly (I heard there was some mishandling of funds). We were sad – it was so good! I had no idea it was a chain. Good to know there are still others out there I can visit!

  4. Dude…you are making me a bit homesick, haven't been back to NE Florida except for quick trips in years. Glad to be heading to St Augustine for a week next month! Hoping to get to teach Trevor to surf, I learned when I was his age.

  5. We love Amelia! Our favorite places to eat are Ciao Bistro, Timotis (delicious fish tacos!), Sliders, Tasty's, and the Pecan Roll Bakery (to die for pecan rolls!). We love Fort Clinch and are going kayaking this July at the other end of the island. The boat tour around Cumberland is fantastic, also!

  6. We visited Amelia Island earlier this month. We stayed in the historic district! Beautiful & lots of quirky fun little shops to wander through. My favorite meal while there was at 29 South Restaurant. The shrimp & grits were soooo good! 29southrestaurant.com. I also recommend Merge Restaurant. Scallops with blood orange & risotto was pretty amazing.

    1. Jessica – we stayed at the Ritz Carlton. Check the rates – they offer specials all the time.

  7. Another inspiring review! Again, I have to invite you to come to Saint Simons Island sometime and enjoy all the delicious food, delightful drinks, and friendly people our little island has to offer! ????

  8. Looks like such a great time! I've been to Amelia Island for a few hours. We ate at Marche Burette Market and walked around the Shops at Amelia Island Plantation. We went to the beach briefly but it was raining and cold. Definitely need to go back, my kids would love all those shells! I walked around downtown Fernandina Beach last weekend. It was our first time there- very cute! Hope you're having a great weekend!

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