TIME FOR THE BEACH

 I LOVE the beach. The sound of the waves, the smell of the salt air, the interesting wildlife: gulls, pelicans, dolphins, fish, seashells. Everything about the beach is wonderful to me. My husband, who has fair skin and blue eyes, is not a fan so we rarely go. 

A couple months ago, with new, much smaller swimsuits in my closet, I knew I wanted to go somewhere to SWIM. I suggested the beach and he agreed--if we could go to Panama City Beach, FL. Four years ago I taught there for the St Andrews Bay Quilt Guild for the second time. Hubby had one of his top 10 all time great dinners at The Grand Marlin restaurant and wanted to go back. So we did.

BOARDWALK BEACH RESORT CONDOS:  Royal American Beach Getaways

22 floors, we were on Floor 10

Husband waving from our Balcony

View looking out from our balcony

View looking down from our balcony

We enjoyed everything about this place and will return next year, for two additional days. It takes 7.5 hours to get there so I want a couple extra days to make the trip worthwhile.

Our condo had everything we needed and was clean and well-equipped. Check-in was very easy. The Military Discount was unexpected but appreciated. Two Bedrooms, two Baths, sleeps 6 if two use the sofa bed in the living room. It was perfect for the two of us:

I got in my power walk, at least 4.5 miles each morning. Walking on the sand isn't as easy as it looks. It was a glorious way to start each day and at 6:30 am there were few people out there:

AirPods in, ready for walking/singing on the beach

Can you see the Pier, way off in the distance? It felt as far away as it looks here:

That was where I turned around each morning

We ate great seafood. Dinner the first night was at Pineapple Willy's, close by the condo. I had Mandarin Walnut salad with grilled shrimp then ordered an additional 5 grilled shrimp for more protein and because they were delicious:

The next night was The Grand Marlin, I made reservations and I dressed up. We both loved our meals--I had Cioppino--and they brought us a beautiful, decadent, yummy dessert for our special occasion:

The next day we did some touristy stuff: Ripley's Believe It or Not for a few hours. I wasn't overwhelmed but hubby enjoyed it and it was a good way to get out of the condo for a bit. We did lunch out at Bayou on the Beach--I had fried shrimp and oysters with Sweet Potato Fries and he had Shrimp and Grits:

That evening we ate dinner on our balcony--salad, cheese, crackers, wine, and watched the sun go down:

The first two days had been overcast but the Gulf water was warm and I swam every day. The pool had a problem needing a part our first two days so the pool/hot tubs were closed. Swimming in the Gulf was fine for me. 

Thursday night was the Harvest Moon and I was eager to see it over the Gulf. Early it was cloudy so there wasn't much to see BUT at 5:30 am the next morning I was rewarded with a beautiful view of the full moon, so clear and crisp. My poor photo doesn't do it justice:

At 6:30 am it was still beautiful:

It was our last day and it turned into the PERFECT beach day, sunny, mid-80's, clear, wonderful and few people were on the beach. I did my power walk, then swam in the Gulf, and then we enjoyed swimming in the pool. Then lounging in the Hot Tub. Such a relaxing way to wrap up our too-short vacation.

Dinner the last night was at Captain Andersons. We both loved our meals but ate too much. I had planned carefully ahead of time but had not factored in the yummy hard rolls and butter before dinner, the hush puppies with dinner or the incredibly decadent huge dessert we shared. I know I exceeded my calories for the day with that one meal. 

I almost forgot the photo--here is some of my Oven Baked Crab Stuffed Grouper, and hubby had fried seafood:

The dessert we didn't resist, edible bowl filled with sponge cake, raspberry sauce, chocolate mousse and whipped cream:

On the trip home the next day we stopped at All Steak in Cullman, AL, about an hour from home. I had a lovely Pear Gorgonzola Salad with Grilled Salmon:

Hubby had Bacon Wrapped Meatloaf with Mashed Potatoes--he was over seafood by now:

It was such a great vacation, totally relaxing and everything I hoped it would be. The two new swimsuits were perfect. As usual, I brought twice the clothes I needed. With a washer/dryer in the condo I didn't need much:

Headed to the pool:

Out to dinner night 2: 

Going to see the sights, day 3:

End of the day, just relaxing: 

The first morning home I wasn’t surprised I was up one pound. Twenty four hours later, that was gone. A week later I was down two more. Very pleased that getting right back on my usual track does what it should. 

Back to real life, getting ready for teaching in Houston the end of October. The three boxes of teaching supplies were shipped last week. The guest bed is loaded with the rest of the teaching stuff I have to take. I hope there is room for 8 days of clothes too. I am able to mix/match all my wardrobe now so that will help.

I LOVE the beach!

Now, let's quilt.

Barbara

Almost Caught Up

So, I was on vacation last week, Ft. Walton Beach, FL, with our family:  both sons and their women, Stella, grand-girl extraordinaire, my D-I-L's folks, and her brother, his wife and their 5 year old son.  Does it look like we had a great time?

We stayed at The Breakers of Ft. Walton Beach and it was the perfect place.  We also lucked out with wonderful weather all week.

Now I'm back and doing all those post-vacation things: laundry, mail, bills, newspapers, returning phone calls and catching up on The Splendid Sampler blocks.  Here are the five most recent, #51-55.  I still have to do 56 but I'll get to that later:

#51 was a paper-pieced Bumble Bee that I replaced with BB, my grandmother name.  #54 was released last week while I was at the beach and I was thrilled--it's a shell!  Unfortunately, mine doesn't seem very recognizable as a shell, may have to do more heavy outlining.

At the beach, I hand-appliqued the #52, the Purple Coneflower and was able to show it to Stella:

This is her "Excited" face, a new one she just learned and is delighted to perform on demand.  She is expressing her happiness with Stella's Splendid Sampler to Grandpa, my husband.  Lest you think she only gets this excited about her quilt blocks, here she is at the Peach Park, Clanton, AL:

Best of all, she loved the beach and the ocean.  Here is her very first experience there:

I miss my beach view, especially first thing in the morning when the sun is just coming up and no one is on the beach:

Now to get ready for my "Pretend I'm Moving Sale", it starts Sunday and I've got things to do,

Let's Quilt!

Barbara

Fall Beach Vacation

I love the beach.  My husband does not.  So, when an opportunity came my way to spend a week at Virginia Beach with 8 other professional quilt teachers, I took it.

Here is the house--what's not to love?

The kitchen has two full-size refrigerators, ovens, dishwashers, and all the things you could want in a great kitchen.  We ate two meals out and the rest of the lunches and dinners we prepared for each other--a great way to share the week and the kitchen duties.

There are two complete laundry rooms, lots of living space on each floor, each of the 8 bedrooms has an on-suite full bath, and there is an elevator--great for bringing the groceries to the 3rd floor.  I spent a little time in the indoor heated pool, walked on the beach a few mornings, and generally loved the sight of the ocean from our various sewing stations.  The lighting was excellent and I got a lot done.

The Blue Collection by  Maggie Walker

English Paper Pieced Diamonds

3" paper pieced blocks

12" String Pieced Lemoyne Star blocks

The Blue Collection applique' project is a Block of the Month I bought in 1998 and the last time I worked on it was 2005.  I am re-energized now to keep going.  My applique' skills are somewhat better now and I am really enjoying this project.  A few other small things got done and I learned a few computer skills I hoped to learn.

My outdoor shots are not so great but here you can see we were across a street from the beach:

East View

South View

 The house shots I opened with come from the Realty website--here is what it looks like when Quilters arrive.

My Last Morning shot

One of our group got up very early each morning and this is what she saw the last day of our vacation, a spectacular sunrise.  Sorry I missed it:

All in all, I had a wonderful week, met new friends and learned more about old friends.  I highly recommend a week at the beach to warm your soul!  Even in November...

Let's Quilt!

Barbara