4 day Vacation Update

Warning - this is a photo laden post. Full of pics from our vacation.

P.S. Don't know why this showed up as 'Thursday's Post' but it was written on Sunday.

Every time we walk down to the shore I can just feel the people laughing at us and saying "oh here come those newbies, the pasty white people.' lol We are so un-tan compared to all the people there. Although after this week I'm sure we're starting to fit right in. Almost all of us got a bit of shoulder & back burn. I think this is part of the initiation process into the cool tan people's club.

I am surprised and a little bit shocked to see all the walks of life here. We have 80 year grandmas in bikinis with speedo clad hubbies. The largest family staying at this hotel speak fluent german and flawless english. The newest arrivals speak french and dd (who is studying it) has been sidling up near them to see if she can interpret anything they say, just to see if she knows anything. It's like a big ole' melting pot isn't it? We are most surprised to discover that the majority of people we see on the beach are not speaking english. Maybe this is because of our economy right now and the price of gas? Everyone is home taking 'staycations'. I'm so glad we were able to secure tickets before the price hikes otherwise we wouldn't be here either.

** UPDATE: Found that a Twitter friend (her blog) belongs to a group having a Staycation Workshop. If you need a kick in the pants artwise this summer, you should go play along. It's free. **
Here's the first week's challenge
Last Friday's Challenge (week 2)

On Wednesday, after a morning at the beach, we spent the afternoon at St. John's Pass. It's a boardwalk next to a drawbridge. Lots of lovely stores to shop in.

We had visited there 2 years ago but most of the stores were closed then, because it was September.

We ate ice cream at the fudge shop and Alex and I discovered we love Traverse City Cherry.

They're opening a Bubba Gump Shrimp Co. Restaurant.We're hoping its opened before we leave Tuesday but we're not sure.

Our anniversary dinner was spent at Crabby Bills with fried clams, hush puppies, king crab and more. We could see the beach from our table. Heavenly.

The sunset was a little lackluster compared to the night before but anything is preferable to what we see from back home.

Thursday dawned gorgeous and bright. See how the beach melts into the sky? Alex was not ready to wake up I think, because she kept trying to sleep in the pool chair. We spent the morning in the pool and the afternoon out. We tried out a few malls, watched Wall.E which was a cute movie and then took in the Dali Museum. Dali's paintings are so interesting. Makes me want to paint. Dinner was Gigi's Italian Restaurant. Best Ziti I've had in a long time.

Friday we swam the morning in the pool. The afternoon we just chilled in the hotel with lunch, and TV (DH and I are working out way through the first season of Lost so we watched a bit of it.) It's an addicting show. We spend each evening before going to sleep watching a couple episodes. Something new to bond over I guess.

We decided to go look at 'Florida's Largest Bookstore' or so it claims. It's a great new/used store with wonderful unique books, especially older books. I was in the arts section for quite a long time. The only thing the store was missing was current magazines. And I guess a coffee shop because we felt the need to find a Starbucks after we left there. We're such a spoiled country aren't we? Green Tea Frappuchino anyone?



Dinner was a collective trawl of fast foods and grocery stores. Everyone wanted something different.

Yesterday was just the prettiest overcast day. We spent the morning on the beach, and then it started to rain around lunch time. We headed in to leftovers and secured a table near the pool. It's a day of turnover for the hotel so we saw lots of new tenants. Most seemed to have unruly children so the pool was crowded. We stayed up there all day, eating dinner off the grill (steak and brats yum!) What a wonderful day. One of my favorites so far, just sitting around doing nothing. Read a lot of my book 'Something Rotten', a Thursday Next book by Jasper Fforde. I think its the 3rd or 4th in the series. The sunset was one of the prettiest yet. I don't think we've missed a sunset since we've been here. It's my favorite part of the whole beach experience.
(the first couple pics are of the clouds. They're so vibrant and uniquely shaped. I've been practicing my drawing lately and the clouds here make me want to draw them!)








I've seen so much down here that makes me want to do art, paint, draw, collage. I guess all experiences can contribute to your artistic endeavors. Okay, I'm sure that's enough pics for now. Family is waiting at the pool for me. Guess I should throw on my swim suit for another burn in the sun. I'll be back later for some art from my trip.