July 2012 Vacation Day II - Fernandina Beach

We began the day by swimming in the ocean.  The water felt fantastic-just the perfect temperature!  We even took the dogs in!  Sadie didn't like it, but Georgia didn't seem to mind.  I could have stayed in the water all day.

This is me wearing my new bathing suit out for the first time.  I love it-I feel cute and comfortable in the mini-dress-like suit.  In fact, yesterday was probably the most comfortable I've ever felt wearing a bathing suit and usually I feel self-conscious when I wear a hat, but fortunately, I've been able to rock an I-don't-care-what-people-think-about-me attitude on this trip.  Life is so much more freeing when I don't pay attention to the self-conscious voice in my head.  The bathing suit is from Target.

I'm not going to talk about every meal on this trip-I think I'll just pick out my favorite for the day and yesterday's favorite was lunch at The Surf.

It was just me and my dad and we had a nice time eating and discussing the science fiction books that we are currently reading.  (My dad is the one who introduced me to science fiction.)

I got the fish wrap - Bronzed whitefish with lettuce and spinach, mixed with a southwestern black bean, onion, and corn pico de gallo sauce, with a side of hushpuppies.  The wrap was not too big and was wrapped tightly, so it wasn't a mess.  The fish was very lightly fried, which I loved.  I have a sensitive stomach, which becomes queasy usually after eating fried foods, but the fish was so lightly fried that it didn't matter-a huge plus!  The lettuce and corn gave a nice crunch.  In short, this was a light and satisfying meal.

My drink was even better!  In fact, after my dad had a taste, he was so impressed that he had to order one too.  It's a non-alcoholic drink called a Tropi-colada, pina colada flavored and I want another!  It was very sweet and refreshing.

After lunch, my dad and I walked around the historic district of Amelia Island.  It's really neat!  My favorite place was the Island Art Association, which was covered in beautiful mosaics.  The cashier said that making the mosaic was a community effort that not only included artists, but also the regular townsfolk.  I'd love to participate in a project like that for my community!

Here is another art gallery with an awesome idea-painted steps!

This is the Blue Door Artists.  I didn't look around, because I was too hot and tired to want to walk all those stairs, but if I ever come back to Amelia Island, I sure will!

After walking around the historic district and peering into art galleries, we went to a soft serve place called De Nucci's.  It's in a cute pink building and is only a few years old.

I got a small cone of pineapple soft serve dipped in toasted coconut.  Yum!  I had never heard of pineapple soft serve before, which is precisely why I had to try it!  The pineapple was a little too sweet for my taste-I probably would have preferred vanilla with the toasted coconut dip.  The hard dip was great though-you could really taste the toasted coconut, which I think was in white chocolate.  Coconut is one of my favorite foods, so this made me really happy.

Then nap, another beach walk, dinner at a place called Jack n' Diane's, and then bed.  A happy day.

A happy picture!  You know all this talk about bathing suits and food and happiness on vacation reminds me of the beach vacations I had growing up, which were much different.  They were different, because I was so preoccupied with the calories I was putting into my body and the way I looked.  I was so preoccupied with those superficial things that it was hard for me to enjoy myself.  Today I eat what I want and I wear what I want and I try to avoid thinking about what others may think of my choices.  Now that I am not so preoccupied with clothing and calories, I am much more relaxed and happy.  I feel freer to enjoy the moment, even if that moment includes pain or tiredness.

Come back tomorrow for more beaches and restaurant recommendations!