Amber Ale and fermentation cycle

Well, after I made my 2nd extract brew, a Continental Pilsner from BB, I definently learned some things. Even surprised myself after working in laboratories all these years that there is a different technique altogether. Anyway, being a pure virgin at this, I didn't pay very close attention to rehydrating the yeast on my first batch, American Amber from BB. I got it hydrated alright and then pitched it and shook the whole primary around for a few minutes and then parked it. It took about 14 hours and then started bubbling like a rabid dog. But it only did that, at the most, for 24 hours. OK, I thought. Well, with my 2nd batch, it has been bubbling for well over 48 hours and like the Energizer Bunny, it's still going. Of course, that got me concerned with the AA batch. Did I screw the pooch on this one? Even when I bottled it this past weekend, it didn't exactly taste "all that." It sure smelled good though. Did I make an aged Amber Cool Aide??? I sure hope the sugar priming helps. One thing I did notice on the AA batch, when I racked it to secondary, it bubbled some, but not a lot and not for any extended period of time.
The 2nd time around, I boiled the water in a pyrex cup, got it down to about 86 like the yeast packet said, added the yeast and waited. As I went with the thermometer from the wort to the yeast pool, the yeast was taking off. Also, I pitched it slowly from thy pyrex cup and this time used my brew spoon to swirl it around and get it agitated. I know, definently a better procedure than just dumping it and then parking it.
Anyway, sorry for the long post, but I needed to give ya'll all the facts so that I can read some of ya'lls hypothesis. If this batch is toast, well, $hit happens.

Some yeasts ferment more quickly than others. I don't know that much about the particular strains, but others here do. What yeast did you use?

Do you have a hydrometer? A good way of telling whether or not you got the level of attenuation and fermentation you need is to take a specific gravity reading of your wort before pitching yeast, and then about a week to ten days after it has been in the primary fermenter, start taking daily readings. When you get no change in two or three continuous samples, fermentation is complete.

Knowing the OG (original gravity) and FG (final gravity) also lets you calculate your percent alcohol by volume as

(OG - FG) * 131 = %ABV

It was Nottingham's that came with the BB kit. I just checked my second batch and it's still bubbling. May have to pop a couple open a week before drink date to see if it's even beer. I'll test it at the OU/Texas game.

Nottingham's is one of those said to ferment quickly. It's also a staple that many people use, so I'm sure there's a lot of experience with it on this forum.

Get a hydrometer and a wine thief and learn now to use them.