I wanted to return to a vanilla experience so I got it working as a server.
Then I installed Bukkit because walking around everywhere was really, really boring. I use Runecraft (for the teleporters, making a very cool "hub" building) and Scavenger (it saves items on death).
I'm back running around my castle and exploring the inner sanctums of other people's houses... holy moly, someone at Hamstorm keep had a lot of Lapis Lazuli!
But ultimately I will start again once Minecraft is updated for a higher map height. For now, I have a cool place to run around and experiment.

