Beach Baby . . .

For the next few days, I'll be blogging from Amelia Island, Florida, where we are taking a combination business trip/vacation.  Yesterday, we got up at 2:15 a.m. (that's in the morning!), left Green Acres at 3:15 (still a.m.!) and were on the plane at Kansas City International at 5:40 (still very a.m.).   Next time, I'm booking the flights.

In the twenty-four hours we have been here, I've learned this much:

• My back problems are not caused (as I had thought) by our old mattress.  The deliciously comfy, king-sized bed here didn't help.
• You can't watch the sun rise over the ocean when it's overcast - a thought I should probably have had before getting up, dressing and walking to the beach.
• A gray ocean with violent waves, slowly lightening as the sun comes up behind the clouds, is still a beautiful sight.
• A blazing fire pit on the hotel patio, which affords a view of the raging ocean, is the perfect spot for early morning coffee and devotions.
• "Resort people" are not early risers.  I pretty much had the beach and patio to myself at that hour.
• It's difficult to paint a gray ocean with whitecaps if your travel-size watercolor kit does not include black or white.
• Resort prices are beyond ridiculous - $10 drinks, $20 hamburgers, and $165 sun dresses - and they don't accept cash.
• And most importantly:  humidity-proof hair spray isn't.

This evening we are headed south along the coast for my most anticipated part of the trip.  My uncle and cousins, who have lived in Jacksonville for over 60 years, are taking us to Singleton's Seafood Shack - a local hot-spot for fresh seafood.  I'm told that the shrimp trawlers and fishing boats dock right at the restaurant to deliver the day's catch.  Doesn't get any fresher than that. Part of the drive will involve a ferry between islands - something a land-locked Kansas/Nebraska girl has never done.

Not the colorful sunrise I was expecting, but beautiful none the less.

The warmth of the fire against the chilly early-morning breeze was perfect.
 The ocean is just beyond the rock wall in the distance so,
though it doesn't show in the picture, I still had a great view.

The sun eventually peeked out from the clouds.
Maybe tomorrow I can see the sunrise.

The Picture Show . . .

You may find this hard to believe, but I have actually had some requests to see more of our vacation pictures.   I know!  Go figure.  The problem is that I was so overwhelmed by the ocean, that it's pretty much all I took pictures of.  So after minutes of trying to come up with some clever way to work 175 pictures of water into a clever post, I gave up.  Here's some pictures from Florida:

Did you notice the rainbow in that last shot?

It's difficult to read with this view distracting you.

And just to prove that I actually saw something other than the ocean,
here's us - surrounded by the beautiful flora of Florida.

                        

                                    And these are dolphin fingers.  Yes, folks - we ate Flipper!

*Don't panic - I'm assuming the "Dolfin Fingers" were actually Dolfin Fish - also known as Mahi Mahi.   Delish!

Two Tickets to Paradise . . .

I never thought I would be one of those "snow birds" that headed south for the winter.  I have always loved winter, snow, soft sweaters and cozy nights in.  But the past few years I haven't handled the cold as well.  Maybe my circulation isn't what it was 30 years ago.  Enter the "Bucket List".  Several items on my list involved getting to a coast - a northern coast.  As a life-long mid-westerner, I had never seen an ocean, and I definitely wanted to rectify that, but I wanted to go to Maine, or Cape Hatteras - - no tropical beaches for me!

Ummm..... Can I revise that list?  We got the opportunity to go to Florida last week.  Dave had training for work so I tagged along - and neither of us wanted to come back.  Not that Hutchinson Island, Florida is "tropical" in January - but sitting on the beach with a book when it's 75 degrees is close enough to paradise for me.

I was hooked from the first glimpse:

We walked down this path and the ocean spread before us - the most amazing shade of turquoise - and I was awe-struck!  I've seen God's creation displayed in may ways, but this was . . . was . . . beyond words!  If you could wake up to that view and fall asleep to the sound of the lapping waves, life would be good.  So a plan to retire to the beach is my new obsession - not to mention visiting as frequently as possible between now and then.  It only makes sense that we should visit a variety of beaches before making our retirement decision, right?

I took hundreds - seriously, hundreds - of pictures of the ocean.  I culled them down to the top 175, but that's still a bit much to post, so here are a few of my favorite memories of our FIRST trip to the beach. 

And the funniest moment:

The thing that makes this so funny - other than watching Dave get soaked - was that he knew the water as going to shoot up there (although he may not have expected quite as MUCH water as he got) and when I missed the shot, he stood there and got sprayed again to give me a second chance. What a guy!