All Good Things Must End

 And now the 24th week of the year is over and done. So is the beach trip, but like the song says, all good things must end someday! And there were some very good things this past week

Saturday: When we picked Son3 and DIL3 up from the airport Thursday night a truck on the highway threw up a rock and dinged the windshield. They had used my car all day Friday so we stopped to have the window repaired before heading for the beach. After a fast repair we headed out for what would be the longest trip to the beach ever. Almost all the way to Montgomery the traffic moved ( when it was actually moving) at a snails pace. We made decent time until we hit another snarl in Florida, but we finally made it. We literally raced to the seafood monger to pick up scallops and grouper for dinner then drove to the condo  We were supposed to pick Son1’s family up from the airport at the beach as soon as we unpacked the car. Seeing them was great and we dropped them off so Pip could go swimming while TheHub and I ran to the grocery store. After shopping then cooking I think we finally ate at about 9:30. 

Sunday: The water was rough and there were double red flags, so no gulf swimming was going to happen.  Instead Pip had lots of pool time. TheHub and I went back to the seafood place for steamed shrimp and redfish  __yum!

Monday: The water was still kind of sketchy with rip tides but there was only a regular red flag.  We did get out in the water and it beat us to a pulp but it was fun anyway. I was very happy Pip could still have fun in the pool. We were supposed to go eat at Captain Andersons which takes no reservations.  Unilaterally we decided a 90 minute wait was too long for Pip so we walked across the parking lot to a new to us restaurant, The Grand Marlin. Delicious did not even being to describe it.

Tuesday: Rip tides were the name of the game again but beautiful weather, a bucket to fill with water to pour over me when I got hot, and a beach chair with an umbrella made staying on the beach all day easy  I did get in the water a bit but with the currents it was hard to stay in one place. 

Sadly DIL3 had to return to NYC.  She is finishing her Masters and had class Wednesday  I hate she had to leave but we were thrilled she got to be there for a little while.

Wednesday: What a difference a day made.  While sitting on the balcony having coffee the gulf was like a lake. We saw tarpon feeding close to shore.  They were between 4 and 5 feet long  they were probably there the other days but the water was too rough to see them   The day begged us to spend all day on the beach and the water was perfect  Rolling waves, no whitecaps and no rip currents.

That night we met TheHub's cousin and wife for dinner.  They have a place down there and were spending a few weeks at the beach.

Thursday: We woke seriously early and sat on the balcony with coffee and binoculars  We saw 4 or 5 porpoises, in deeper water and 3 fairly large sharks about 10-15 feet from the shoreline  There were several people in the water but the sharks totally ignored them.  Our best guess was that they were sand sharks,  which are not aggressive at all.

Every beach trip has a beginning and an end We had to end ours Thursday because Son1’s family was driving to North Carolina on Friday morning for a long weekend visit with one of DIL1’s friends.  We packed up and left  making decent time until we  made our first potty break for Pip  The car was packed to the gills and during the shuffling to get her out, a bottle of Tide spilled all over the backseat mat  I am very thankful I hadWeather Tech floor mats because we just had to remove it and rinse (a lot of rinsing) it off. 

Our second stop was for a lunch in Andalusia  We decided to go inside and eat rather than doing a drive through.  Pip gets car sick and it just made sense to eat inside. 

We were through eating and about to leave to get in the car when a couple of people came out from behind the counter talking about a hit and run in the parking lot.  We were not particularly curious until we realized my car was the one that was hit  We called the police to get paperwork to file with our insurance company when the young guy who hit it returned  We figure someone in the restaurant knew him and called and told him the police were involved and to get his butt back  I am glad he did so he was not charged with leaving the scene of an accident  I would hate for a simple wreck to escalate into more than it was. I know he was not happy, but honestly neither was I. Most likely I will wait until after everyone leaves to have it fixed, but body work was definitely not in my short term plans.  

We arrived home much later than we planned but we had time to pick up bbq for dinner for all of us including DIL2 and Son2  After dinner they swam.  I had a fierce headache and went to sleep.  Ah the pleasure of being back in my own bed!

Friday: Son1 took my car to NC leaving Son3 and me carless. Fortunately he was working, and I was still nursing a headache and just needed darkness and silence.

 Lucky for us I needed nothing and TheHub was back on track for recreational shopping on his way home from work. I NEEDED a popsicle, and Son1 wanted a few things to add to our dinner. He took steaks out of the freezer, did all the cooking and clean up. What a joy!

Look for all the joys the week has to offer. They are there even if you have to hunt for them!

May all your weeds be wildflowers,

Anne

p.s. Sorry this is so late. I was busy getting things back in some sort of order today since the headache has disappeared!