Sunset at WaterColor

Another day - another sunset. Tomorrow we travel from the north of Florida to the south. Don't you just hate it when there are no roads that go where you want to go? We're going south, but we have to head east because that's the direction the road goes. It will be a long day because we also cross over into the eastern time zone and lose an hour. Ugh. And don't we lose another hour this month when daylight savings time kicks in? Oh, well, at least the sun will stop setting at 5:30.

Where R U?

Spring Break begins this weekend and we're all down here waiting for you northerners to swarm down to the sunny shores during the next two months. As you can see, the sand and the palm trees are waiting for your arrival. Life sure seems lonely at the bottom of the country this time of year....not really winter......not quite summer.
I actually prefer it like this......before the party begins.
Will we be seeing you soon?

It's Sharky's, Dude

IT'S SPRING BREAK.....................40 YEARS LATER.

Do you recognize this place from MTV? You know, Sharky's......the world's largest tiki bar. Unfortunately, it's a little too early in the season for the bikinis and the wet t-shirts, and the place was filled with old people attracted by the 1/2 off-all-food sign. The food was horrible, by the way.

Back then, I probably didn't care. Now I do.

Back then, I probably wouldn't order a glass of wine at a tiki bar. Now I do.

Back then, I was happy with a guy with an MG.......now I'm eying that sweet little red Porsche.

Back then, the beach party was in Lauderdale........now it's in Panama City.

However, we're still having lunch on the beach, and that's as good as life gets.......no matter what your age.

Long Ago & Far Away

Who would have believed that we could remember the address, let alone find the house? It is still standing.......and so are we. We are in Pensacola, and this is our first house. It used to have a front porch and huge pecan trees, but I think a hurricane or two might have roared through between then and now.

We have not known Will and Nancy quite so long as the house......but almost. They and the house are both in Pensacola, but we knew them in Virginia where they were kind enough to loan me their car to take my driver's test, which I passed by the skin of my teeth. (Our son loves those old-time, corny expressions!) At any rate, the examiner took pity on me when neither of us could figure out how to turn on the defroster and the car totally fogged up. Really looking forward to taking that test again when I'm ninety. But, I digress.........we haven't seen these people for many, many, many years (get the picture?), and I'm sure you must be curious about whether we still had anything in common. Of course, we are all older, but after the initial realization, I don't think we noticed the wrinkles and the gray hair.................our essences were the same as ever....... and we were in synch. The packages may not be the same, but the contents have held up pretty well.

Nancy and Will were nice enough to show us around the city that we could barely remember, and, of course, we stopped to see the beach......Pensacola Beach........one of the most beautiful in the world. I remember many a hot summer day..........floating on a raft with a can of cold beer in my hand. This time I just put my feet in the water.

Driving back to our sand castle, we watched the big ole southern moon rise in the sky, and later that night, we were lucky enough to witness a total eclipse of that moon. The pictures we got were a little better than the ones we took in New Zealand (new camera), but the eclipse itself was just as awesome in both hemispheres.

Beach Creatures

The red flag (high hazard) has been fluttering in the breeze the last few days although I think it really should have been the purple one (marine pests). We've had some stormy weather and the waters in the Gulf have been rather rough, stranding unlucky sea creatures along the tide line -- jellyfish one day and cute little crabs and their multiple severed legs the next. The starfish has also lost parts of two of its legs, but one of them has already started to grow back.

Can you believe how wide the beach is? And how uncrowded? Of course, it's not summer yet, but any time you have this much sun and sand and sea to yourself...........you've got to think that life is good - even if you have to share it with the jellyfish (the little guys have a nasty sting). In the second photo that blob in front of the sand dune way down the beach - c'est moi. And I would probably still be there if it weren't raining today.

Seaside

Seaside is a planned community, and everything is poised for a perfect photo-op. The foliage is precisely manicured, the houses are pretty in pastels, and the guys from Queer Eye would find absolutely nothing to improve here. It's almost eerie. One is reminded of The Truman Show. Oh, yeah, that's right -- part of that movie was filmed in Seaside.

That being said............I would love to live here..........at least, for several months of the year, like the other residents do. Why wasn't I paying attention when they handed out the beach houses?

Food Glorious Food

Ah, it's key lime pie. If there's one dessert that can make you forget chocolate, it is key lime pie. Not just any limes -- key limes. Lime pie..................now that almost sounds yucky, but key lime....that's a different story altogether.

Blue crab fingers. Yep........that's what I said........fingers. Who even knew crabs had fingers for pete's sake. I could eat these guys three meals a day - seven days a week and still not get enough. On previous visits to Florida I thought that stone crab claws were the bomb, but they are so much more difficult to liberate from their shells and not quite so sweet as the fingers. Either or both should be followed by the key lime pie, of course.

It's hard to look cool when you have a plate of hoppers on the table in front of you......"What are hoppers?" you ask. Well, they are shrimp found only in these waters along the emerald coast, and, according to my personal food taster, "best in the world."

Life is good when you know where to dine.

Cowgirl at the Beach

Obviously, someone needs a wardrobe makeover. The queen of denim has forgotten that she's not in Texas anymore. With all this traveling, it's hard to remember exactly where we are each day. It is amazing that we're merely on the other side of the Gulf.........same country..........same time zone........but life is totally different here. I mean - totally. It's all oil rigs, refineries, cowboy boots and pickup trucks on the other side.........eating with your fingers, sitting at picnic tables. However, tourism is the oil in Florida........it's boutiques, fur coats, mercedes', and white table cloths. It's all good though..............cause they pull those fresh shrimp out of the water on both sides.

Beach Biking

Here 'tis -- our latest domicile. What you can't see is the stunning view of the Gulf. And yes, those bikes are made for riding. We do love it here........bikin'........beachin'......barefootin'.... Wasn't life good when you could ride your bike all the time? You should see all us older kids pedaling here, there, and everywhere. I'm the wobbly one. My chain (among other things) is rusty.

Glad we didn't experience all that nasty weather that roared through the South........tornadoes are just not my idea of a good time. Two days of heavy fog here and a roar of rain. In fact, we had to squint through the mist at lunch yesterday, trying to see the emerald waters.

In other transportation news, the world's cutest biker is having difficulty understanding what has happened to Ohpa's car. He thinks we took the one we had in New Zealand with us. He loved sitting in that car and pushing all the buttons. You know what pushovers we g-parents are. He misses that car. We miss him.

The Emerald Coast

Can you see the color of the water? Even if you think you can, it's not the true color. This area calls itself the emerald coast - I assume because of the color of the water - maybe green......maybe aqua.......definitely bright.......positively vivid. You gotta see it to believe it. I will be searching through my paint boxes, trying to get that color (whatever it is) down on paper. Maybe life is not really a beach, but beauty is.

Footprints in the Sand

It's February, and that white stuff blown up in drifts against the fence should be snow, but it isn't. Instead, it's the sparkling white sands along the Gulf of Mexico on Florida's panhandle. Yep. We've left Texas for the time being (whatever that means), and are ourselves drifting into new territory. However, not really new because we were here many years ago when you could walk for miles and not see another person, let alone those high-rise monsters. Well, we all want a place on the beach, and there's just not enough space for all of us. Happily, on this side of the Gulf there aren't any high-rise oil platforms on the horizon. I rather like looking out across the water and seeing nothing but water.