Well, the secret can come out now! We are in Amelia Island, Florida!

The reason for all of the secrecy was that we are here to celebrate my friend Cristen’s 30th birthday…and it was a surprise to her that we were coming! Her husband planned for us to be here months ago and we all kept it a secret! She thought it was just going to be a quiet beach vacation with Graham.

Cristen and Graham were our best friends when Brandon was  in law school and now live 6 hours away in south Georgia. We only get to see each other a couple of times a year (you can read all about our last visit to south Georgia in this post!). We are soooooo happy to be here!

Brandon and I left Charlotte around 1 p.m. yesterday to make the trip down to Amelia. It was about a 5.5 hour drive.

I had my heart set on a Starbucks pick-me-up and even downloaded the Starbucks iPhone app to locate a store but there were NONE even remotely close. (Side note…the Starbucks app is awesome!) I had to settle for a Dunkin’ Donuts iced coffee and it was very mediocre. I know that people go crazy over their coffee but I just don’t see what the hype is about.

We arrived around 7 p.m. and headed straight to downtown Fernandina Beach for dinner. I have never been here before and it is a beautiful beach town. We were in a bit of a rush to eat dinner so we stopped in the first place that looked good.

We ended up at Pepper’s Mexican Grill and Cantina where I ordered a shrimp quesadilla with poblano peppers and mushrooms. It was excellent.

I grabbed a quick picture of the water on our walk back to the car and then my camera battery died. And then I had a mini-meltdown as I realized that I didn’t bring the charger. What kind of blogger and friend am I!? It’s iPhone pictures from here on out. 🙁

Graham and Cristen were having a birthday dinner at the Ritz Carlton (they did a blind chef’s tasting with wine pairings that sounded phenomenal!) and the plan was for us to be there waiting when they got home.

We got all set with champagne, a banner and horns and waited for their arrival. It was a bit of a fire drill because Graham called from the bathroom saying that they were ordering dessert. We rushed to get to the condo, get the car unloaded and get everything ready and then we got a text that Cristen had ordered coffee and they would be a while longer. Whew…

Cristen was SO shocked to see us when they opened the door. There was screaming, hugs and quite a few tears! YAY! I am so happy to be here with her to celebrate her 30th!!!!!!! We spent the rest of the evening catching up. It was wonderful!

I slept for NINE hours last night (sadly, I can’t remember the last time I got more than 6 hours of sleep so it was SO needed).

I woke up starving and made a bowl of plain Greek yogurt with a drizzle of honey, peaches, bananas and a little bit of crumbled banana bread.

Off to the beach – it’s a beautiful day. Not a cloud in the sky. This break came at just the right time. Rest and relaxation with friends is exactly what I need right now!