We left home Friday morning. We got a late start because I got something horrid in my eye and it took about 90 minutes to rinse it out. We finally got to our cabin in Grayton Beach late that afternoon.
After unpacking and settling in, we headed to Seaside to watch the movie "HOP on the lawn across the street from the beach. I have never seen so many people in Seaside as on this Friday night!
We also enjoyed the full moon shimmering over Seaside!
When the movie ended, we took a bike taxi back to our car. The biker was from Belarus and studies at ULM or Tech ... or at least he's on their water ski team!
After returning to our cabin at Grayton Beach, Drew and I took a moonlit bike ride. It was so bright that we didn't need our lights!
The moon positively glimmered over the sand dunes and the Gulf.
As a special treat, we were entertained by our own private fire dancer on our own private beach!
The next morning, I rode my bike to the beach (again) and noticed the signs encouraging protection of the dunes juxtaposed against the houses built right on top of them.
Lucky for me, however, a school (pod?) of dolphins swam by and distracted me! Here's one, just beyond where the waves were breaking.
We saw some pretty things! Like flowers ...
...and birds.
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And we saw some interesting things, like a self-propelled flying machine ...
...and kites...
...and a beer can that even the Gulf did not want.
(Yes, it made its way to the trash.)
We ate at some really delicious restaurants, including the Great Southern Cafe in Seaside, Blue Mountain Creamery in Blue Mountain Beach, and The Red Bar in Grayton.
Drew and I paddled both Saturday and Sunday. Saturday, we began close to dusk and came in after dark, chased in by the fear of sharks and the worry of Granny, who was on the beach watching us. Sunday, we started earlier and had much more time to play in the waves. The water was so nice!
And of course, we did what every good Florida tourist does: we watched the sun set over the Gulf of Mexico. There could be a better way to spend an evening, but I'd be hard pressed to figure that out.
The last morning, I took one last bike ride to the beach and one last morning walk in the sand before packing up and heading home. I was delighted to find that someone had built a castle by the sea!
Alas, not even a magical castle could extend our trip, so we dropped the keys in the return box and headed back to reality.
