Traveling to Amelia Island, my husband and I were trying Vrbo for the first time. Wow! We walked into a beautiful condo. I love things that match. The decor was amazing. Everything matched. From the wall color to the placemats and napkins, dishes, and pillows in the living area and bedroom to the seating on the balcony, most were lemon yellow and teal. The only errant item was a lilac toaster. When my husband put his shorts on the four-poster bedpost, I almost lost it. After seeing my face, he removed them. I regained my sanity.
Our next step was to find a grocery store. I was convinced I saw a Piggly Wiggly on our way in. After a quick search on Google Maps, we found Piggly Wiggly was miles away. It turns out I had seen a Winn Dixie.
A DiGoirno Hand-tossed Pepperoni Pizza was the quickest way to have dinner. Before putting away the groceries, I needed to preheat the oven. To find the correct temperature to bake the pizza, I scanned the box. The advised 375 was clicked into the panel. The number 375 switched to 260 C. Celsius. Who has an oven with Celsius? The 260 didn’t seem to be the correct conversion from Fahrenheit. Ed, my husband, quickly picked up his phone to Google the correct temperature. I looked at the panel again to see if I could change it to Fahrenheit. That was a no-go. Hm. Could the owners be Canadian? Americans don’t buy stoves with Celsius.
Eight different flags have flown over Amelia Island. M.C. Finotti’s historical fiction The Treasure of Amelia Island tells a tale of this area. She took the real people and their historical significance and gave them life.
Spaniards had a different take on slavery. Although they would buy slaves, after eight years, they would set them free. Interestingly, the character Ana Jai Kingsley did state the former slaves had a rougher time in life after they were set free. Captured from her village where her father reigned as king, Englishman Zephaniah Kingsley bought Ana Jai and later married her. La Florida, as it was called, was attacked frequently by Georgians. They called themselves Patriots. Ana Jai feared them more than the natives. She and her children had to run from their plantation, fearing her children would be enslaved.
During our stay, the Atlanta Ocean was moody. Smooth and blue one day. Others, the taupe, mercurial waves left suds of ocean on the beach reaching almost to the sand dunes. I had never seen sand dunes before, but these were wild, rich with grasses, bristled thistles, and wild bushes. They lay a division between the civilized condos and the smooth white sandy beaches.
The small town of Amelia was delightful, full of unique shops, taverns, and beach clothing stores. We enjoyed the morning just browsing and eating.
