Very long post about vacation, in which we discover how many ways Stephani can find for the word "amazing"

I have reluctantly returned from vacation. While part of me is glad to be home, and sleeping in my own bed again, another part of me wants to get back in the car and drive 12 hours back to Amelia and never return. It was quite simply one of the most amazing places I have ever been. If you ever get the chance to visit – take it. The only thing that was disappointing was that the only yarn shop within 30 miles had closed. Not like for the season closed, I mean completely, no longer any evidence that it once existed closed. But a dose of serious window shopping quickly cleared my disappointment.
The place we stayed, Amelia Island Plantation, is like its own little village. It’s designed so that you never have to leave. There is this super cute market/store that had awesome chocolates and gelato, as well as staples, like milk, and nail polish remover( one of the few things I forgot to bring). And, there is an awesome spa, which I was unable to visit, do to my serious lack of funds. There are also about a dozen little boutique shops, and three or four yummy restaurants. We stayed in this amazing villa, with a view of the beautiful beach just steps away. The part of the island we were on is pretty well protected from over-zealous developers, and a lot of it still looks wild and untamed.
There were salamanders, and turtles and so many egrets and herons I lost count. K went fishing and caught 3 blue crabs and 2 croakers, and 2 what I think may have been sergeant majors. There was a mama turtle (land, not sea) laying eggs on the dunes outside our villa, and we saw four or five loggerhead nests marked off on the beach. Oh, and we swam with dolphins. Yep, that was so cool. Our first day there, and we were sitting on the beach, and K points out this pod of dolphins, about 3 yards from where I had just been wading. It was amazing. Then, on Sunday, we were swimming and as I start to head to shore, I hear K call my name, and I turn and not 20 feet away are 3 more dolphins. Such a sweet way to end the vacation.
I think we ate at every restaurant on the Plantation, and they were all good. Seriously, the dinner we had at one was better than the dinner we had at Vincenzo’s.
Yes, my vacation was wonderful, and I have my amazing boyfriend to thank for it. He may not be the most sensitive of guys, but he sure can plan a good vacation. And, he was so sweet.
He called me "darlin". I know he’s going to scream when he reads that, and probably turn bright red, but too bad. It was so sweet you guys. We were walking over to the shops and such to have dinner our first night there, and I don’t remember what we were talking about, when all of sudden he says, “Blah blah , Darlin’, blah blah.” Notice that I have no earthly idea what it was that came before or after "Darlin’"? I was in such shock, I was almost speechless (almost). And, then, like five minutes later, he did it again. Maybe this type of behavior is routine for some males, but not mine. He has never, in the 17 months we’ve been together, called me anything other than Stephani or Steph. I’m the one who rarely calls him by his given name. So, I was floored, and delighted and well, flabbergasted. Apparently the salt air makes my boyfriend more, well, boyfriend-ish.
So, all in all, the whole experience? Priceless. Wonderful. Marvelous. Stunning. Incredible. *sigh*