Vacation, The Second Dose

After our short overnight stay in Nashville, we headed out the next morning towards the Florida Panhandle.  It was a full day of driving.  Alabama is too dang tall of a state if you ask me.  We got into a traffic jam in Birmingham and while creeping along with all the other travelers, Caroline was able to spot 28 of the 50 state license plates.  Starving and nearly out of gas before we finally got through the jam, we found fuel for the van and ourselves.  Who would have ever thought a Golden Corral could have saved the day, but it did.  We were happy, full, and content campers by the time we left there.

We had stayed in that area of the Panhandle known as Florida’s Forgotten Coast three years ago on our trip to St. George Island.  Not long before we left home this time, I found a house to rent on Cape San Blas for three nights and it seemed online like just what we were looking for.  It happened to be a newer house that was built in a private neighborhood thats development came to a screeching halt at the time of the economy’s downturn.  That situation totally benefitted us since we had a modern and beautiful place with all the amenities, but virtually no neighbors. 

We stopped at a grocery store in St. Port Joe to stock up on groceries since we would be nowhere near an actual full-grocery store for a few days.  This guy greeted us at the entrance of the Piggly Wiggly.  

I just now noticed Grant’s fist bumping the pirate!  haha

We loved our house, suitably called No Worries, and were very comfortable there other than coming to no kid agreement on who got what bedroom.  Sam and Caroline were happy with the bunk beds room, but Jack and Grant both wanted the queen bed room each to himself.  We ended up doing a rotation so every kid had the pull out sofa one night, and everyone got at least one night in the bedroom of their choice.   Gary and I had the upstairs to ourselves and it was deee-luxe.  Also, there were all kinds of water toys and boogie boards and beach chairs available to us and that was great.

 

This was our pool. 

I quickly decided I need this at home.  Like really a lot. 

 

We had fun at the beach everyday, just a short walk past the pool, and you can tell we are very much on our own here.  Very few people around.  We saw no stingrays like we did on St. George, but no dolphins either.  We did find a jellyfish that had washed up, but that was about it for spotting ocean critters.

  

Looks like Gary’s spotted something here, but now I have no idea what.  We did see a jogger that we thought was Uncle Neil but in reality, it was probably Larry David.  But then again, I don’t really know Larry David, but I’m thinking maybe jogging on a hot sunny beach isn’t his style. 

The shells were fun to collect.  Big duck clam shells and giant cockle shells were very prominent.  The bay side is known for its scallops (whereas St. George was the oyster capital).   Too bad I don’t do either.

  

You can see we take our sun protection very seriously.  Well, unless you are an individual that actually has pigment in your skin and hair and eyes and then maybe you can show a little skin.

     

Don’t you love the beachwear?  Gary had gotten tired of wearing big baggy jam trunks so I picked these Old Navy cuties up right before we left.  They looked good, but unfortunately, didn’t make the comfort cut.  Bye bye.

We also take our family sand castle building seriously, too.  Jack typically gets them started and then the rest of the crew gets into helping. 

This was what remained of the castle by the time night was falling. 

The next day we ventured to the tip of the Cape to a state park noted for its outstanding beach.  I didn’t have my camera along unfortunately, but I found this picture online showing the beach where we were.  Beautiful and perfect.  We had to hike in quite a ways from the parking area, but it was definitely worth the walk.

This below also was a found Internet pic that shows you the Cape itself.  The state park is at the northern tip there on the top left and our house was closer to that bend near the bottom center.  Lots of miles of undeveloped beach. 

    

On this leg of the trip, the kids discovered Hungry Howies, a pizza and more chain that they loved. 

We adults really enjoyed the peace and solitude of this place, and I’d say this is when the true relaxation portion of the vacation really got started.