WISH YOU WERE HERE ~ Picture Postcards From Florida

Don’t grow up too quickly, lest you forget how much you love the beach. 

~Michelle Held

Friday, July 21, 2017

Grandpeeps Elijah and Shelby at our fave place to stay at the beach

Elijah, Shelby, and Neil and our fave view

One of our fave places to eat

Mahi Mahi

Crab Legs!!! I shared a few

Salad for Neil and shrimp for Shelby 

Do Not Disturb ~ he's on vacation

Sunset swimming

Little Mermaid Shelby

Saturday, July 22, 2017

The warm water of the Gulf of Mexico doesn't get any better than this

We had our little plot of beach real estate pretty much to ourselves this morning. (Transition day, people leaving.  And the people coming in would be late in the afternoon check-ins, so not so many here at this point.) The water was calm. Added bonus: no seaweed! 

Elijah says Hi!

Beach Boys grandsons Knox and Elijah

Early afternoon. Somebody was snoring ....

Beach clouds are the best clouds

World's Largest Sand Dollar

Early supper at another one of our fave places to eat ~ Mellow Mushroom

Kosmic Karma ~ I'm the only one who loves this one ~ more for me!

Peeps Kelly, Knox, and Kerry

Jerry Garcia always hangs out at the Mellow Mushroom no matter where you go ~ I'll bet he likes the Kosmic Karma

"Nothing left to do but smile." ~JG

"So grateful not to be dead." ~KR

Daughter Kelly thought it would be funny to send this picture to her sister Holly ~ Holly was not amused 😂 ~ She knows we're kidding. They're both mom's favorite, of course.

Night Life ....

.... and a killer sunset

Sunset swimming revisited

Water Babies

Neil and Elijah made a Walmart run for supplies (as did the rest of the tourists here apparently~Neil said it was crazy. All those incoming check-ins I mentioned earlier.)

They also hit Krispy Kreme. Neil said those doughnuts you see there being slathered in glaze came right off the line and into the two boxes they brought home. Oh yummy!

Get in my belly!

I ate two while they were still hot. No regrets.

We came all the way to Florida for these doughnuts.

We finally got our own Krispy Kreme doughnut shop where we live about a year ago, but we never go there. I guess because we have two really good local doughnut shops we enjoy. 

Never fails, though, that when we have the opportunity to visit Destin, we always have to have a box or two of Krispy Kremes. It's a beachy tradition. 

AT THE BEACH ~ LAST DAY ~ SUNDAY, AUGUST 14, 2016 ~ DESTIN, FLORIDA

God blessed us with another sunny day at the beach ~ even more beautiful than yesterday and totally storm/rain/black cloud free

Knox, Kerry, and Kelly enjoyed some pool time first ~ Kerry launches Knox into the water ~ this kid has become a water baby this summer ~ thanks for the picture, Kelly!

Knox and Grandpa started another project ~ the original idea was to build Noah's ark 

Beach clouds are the best

Kelly and Kerry nested in their circle of shade ~ today was hot and sunny and very windy ~ red flags were flying again

Collecting water for the project

He made several trips ~ serious business

Noah's ark or Noah's submarine/castle/thing?

Super vivid effect ~ sky reflecting in the waves

Supervising the project

Kelly using that life vest to lift Knox over the rough waves ~ Knox had a great time in the ocean 

The completed project ~ hard to categorize this ~ so you be the judge ~ the Titanic maybe?

Our beach chair neighbor became agitated with the gulls trying to steal her food ~ she ran back and forth, shooing them away, while I took pictures [I thought great! Maybe I can get some shots of gulls in flight]

This was the only decent shot I managed to snap ~ but the beach chair neighbor lady was pretty entertaining 

One last dip in the sea ~ thanks, Kelly, for the picture

Parting shot ~ Always hate to say goodbye to the beach ~ Hope to return again someday

Mellow Mushroom for our last supper ~ that's my Kozmic Karma ~ Delish! ~ Our server was a sweet and gracious young woman from Italy who spoke English beautifully in her Italian accent ~ here in America to earn some money ~ she's been here since May and is more than ready to go back home in two weeks ~ apparently Italians come here to study engineering or dentistry ~ she was into dentistry ~ also apparently American coffee is the pits ~ she was looking forward to Italian coffee ~ I enjoyed hearing her speak 

Destin Commons ~ Bass Pro shark ~ thanks for the selfie, Kelly!

Family Kimbrough and Jaws

Kelly and Knox racing around at the go-cart place across the street from Gulfgate ~ thanks for the picture, Kerry!

Here we are already at the end of our vacation ~ always flashes by, doesn't it? ~ Nothing left to do but pack it all up again and head north to Tennessee in the morning

Ciao, Destin!