Current ride of Magna's owner Tom

Why a motorcycle as the lead picture for a blog on the 10th anniversary of a local salon?  With good reason, since the inspiration and name for the salon “Magna’s – A Full  Body Salon” came to Tom Hughes as he was riding his Honda Magna motorcycle in the days before opening (his current ride is pictured above).  The Latin meaning for magna is large, great , powerful or mighty and Tom felt it captured the concept he had in mind for his salon and spa.   Tom and his partner Stacye chose to match their decor with this theme and create a space that would appeal to both sexes.  Hence the decor includes light hardwood floors, recessed lighting,  earthtone colors,  Roman style columns and a mixture of both masculine and feminine decorating.   Tom and Stacye  recently celebrated their 10th anniversary on Amelia Island and held an open house for clients and friends.  We utilize Magna’s often for weddings and spa packages and Deborah has been the beneficiary of several of their relaxation packages on birthdays and anniversaries.  It was a nice evening with the opportunity to meet their staff, visit with other locals and see the full range of the spa and salon at one time.  Wine, beer and treats were available and enjoyed by all.  It’s great to see local businesses succeed and we appreciate having the services available to provide for guests of the Williams House.  Come to Amelia Island, stay at the Williams House and enjoy a trip to Magna’s!  Our congratulations to Tom and Stacye and our hope for many more successful years here on Amelia Island!

Tom greets Deborah in front of Salon and Shrimp art

Magna's waiting room/retail shop

Front desk view of Magna's salon

Guests enjoy Magna's hospitality

Deborah enjoys snacks while Tom chats

Relaxing space inside Magna's salon

Conference room is set for start of scrapbooking retreat

The Williams House hosted its first Scrapbooking Retreat. Deborah’s  daughter, Jaime is a Consultant for Close To My Heart scrapbooking & stamping supplies and leads Scrapbooking workshops and shows in Virginia (jaime_llewellyn@yaoo.com).  Our meeting room located in the Carriage House is the perfect space. Each Scrapper gets their own table to set  out their supplies and tools which they can leave in place for the duration of the Retreat.  The cost of the retreat included some free “goodies” and lot of prizes were awarded throughout the weekend  for various projects completed. Jaime also offered classes during the retreat. There was lots of laughter and fun.  Close To My Heart has a complete range of tools, papers and stamps to make any scrapper happy and lots of projects were completed by the end of the weekend.  The male half of the family enjoyed some golf and dinners out with the scrappin’ ladies.  It was a great weekend and Jaime is already planning for the next retreat. Come join in and have a great scrappin’ time!

Jaime, Elena, Kathy and Shannon are all to get scrappin'

Close To My Heart has lots of supplies for great scrappin'

Ladies enjoy making a recipe box from one of the CTMH kits

Hard work scrappin' yields good results

Picnic Lunch was provided each day for the scrappers

Recipe boxes that each scrapper made were a big hit

Deborah shows off her first photo pages made from a CTMH kit

More great scrappin' results from retreat

Ladies show how great scrappin' projects can be done

Jaime provided great prizes at the retreat for completed projects

Scrappin' ladies enjoy lunch in Williams House courtyard

williams house owners try out windward sunset sail

Deborah’s daughters were staying at the Williams House this week and her older daughter, Jaime led a scrapbooking retreat.  While they were here, we took the group out on a sailing adventure with Windward Sailing for a sunset cruise in the Amelia River.  It was a beautiful evening with a nice sunset, calm seas and warm temps.  We took along some subs from our local Fernandina Deli on 8th street and a few beers and wine.  We enjoyed seeing fort clinch from the river side, shrimp boats at the docks, Cumberland Island, porpoises( or dolphins ) and learning a bit from our experienced captain about sailing.  He even let Deborah steer the boat for a while as he rigged the sails.  We’ve had several guests take this private sail and all have enjoyed it.  We can now add our own reccommendation for a fun experience and a great calming end to a day.

all-aboard for sailing in Fernandina Beach

shrimp boats rest in Amelia harbour

fort clinch guards river entrance

deborah and daughters relax as we sail

deborah's daughters hang on in a turn

Beautiful view of Cumberland Island from sailboat

Deborah takes a turn steering

Sunset on the harbour near fernandina beach

The sailboat's american flag highlighted by sunset

Beautiful sunset nears end on amelia island

The stage and stars for centre street concert

During the summer , a free concert is presented downtown between second and front streets the first Friday of each month. A variety of local talent is brought in and performs for a crowd gathered in downtown to just kickback, relax and enjoy some fun music and dancing!  Presented by the local business community this event keeps bringing in larger and larger crowds to enjoy the summer fun!

They're dancing on centre street

Announcing the fun

Yes there is fun and food!

Byron with Victor, Cassandra and guests

We have had two small weddings and a vow renewal at the Williams House this July and they were enjoyable even with the hot weather.  First came Victor and Cassandra from New York who braved the elements for a warm wedding and reception in the courtyard beneath our 600 year old live oak.  The next day, Frank and Mary Anne from Georgia  enjoyed a “Just the Two of You” wedding and elected for the comfort of the indoor cooling and a parlour vow exchange.  Soon thereafter, Ray and Ronna shared a vow renewal ceremony, also in the parlour.  They try to renew vows every 2 years to keep the excitement and commitment to each other fresh and foremost in their lives.  We enjoyed all of these events and meeting the couples and hearing their stories of meeting, falling in love  and joining together for life’s journey together!

Exchanging vows in the courtyard

A beautiful (and delicious) wedding cake

Victor & Cassandra as husband and wife

Ready to cut their cake

Reception setting

Frank and Mary Anne exchange vows in the parlour

A beautiful wedding cake

Mr. and Mrs. !

Lovely couple on Williams House staircase

Another view

Cutting their cake

Feeding eachother "nicely"

Awaiting their carriage ride with Boomer

A favorite wedding picture at the Williams House

Byron with Ray and Ronna after their vow renewal

The happily "renewed" couple