~ Left side ~ As you can probably tell, this week had a lot to do with sand, sun, friends, and fun!! 7 Ladies, 3 Nights at the beach. When we first arrived it was overcast, raining off and on, with a forecast predicting rain every day. Of course, the weather at the beach always predicts rain. Fortunately for us it ended up being an absolutely beautiful weekend!! We were able to spend two full days down on the beach enjoying the scenery.
~ Middle row ~ (Starting at the top)
1. Me, covered in shade, on the beach. I’m going to be honest with you….the sun and I are not the closest of friends. I spent maybe a total of four hours in the direct sun over two days. One of the other ladies may have spent four hours in the shade, if that. I’ll let you guess which of us ended the trip looking like a cooked lobster. (Hint….I haven’t been able to raise my arm above my head for at least 26 hours. *sigh*)
2. Mornings at the beach are my absolute favorite. It’s quiet, the sun and I are still getting along, and for the most part the beach is empty. I usually love getting out and walking down the beach collecting little treasures left by the high tide, but didn’t do that on this trip. I stayed on the balcony in the mornings but there is a regular pod of dolphins that normally swims the length of the beach about 50 feet from shore every morning. This year it looked like they have a few new babies added to the bunch, which was pretty fun to watch. It looked like they were playing and splashing. So cute!!
3. The first morning a few of us were on the balcony chatting. I thought to myself how wonderful it is to say I have these friends. We’re all different. Unique personalities, different places in life, opinionated, shy, quiet, loud, focused, laid back…..yet we come together and love each other. We love through the differences, through the shortcomings, the highs, and the lows. We don’t always see eye to eye and there are occasionally disagreements or misunderstandings, but at the end of the day we’re all here for each other. I just think it’s a beautiful thing.
4. It was our last night on vacation. Everyone in jammies curled up around the coffee table playing Phase 10, singing along to 90’s country songs, telling stories, snacking on pizza. I stepped outside at one point to see a beautiful moonlit night on the beach with a perfectly calm gulf and the moon shining bright above it. A perfect ending to such a lovely trip.
~ Last row ~ (Starting at the top)
1. When I was out staring at the moon on that last night I noticed all the flashlights going along the beach. It’s the weekend before school starts back (at least for my friends’ kids) so I could imagine all the kids down there getting one last crab hunt in before the trip was over.
2. The saying is, A bad day at the beach is better than a good day away. This picture was from the day we arrived. Personally, I love a good rainy day occasionally but we had our hearts set on sand, sun, and waves. It was a little disappointing when this rain started up. At this point, I thought I might be wiping away tears finding new ways to take pictures of raindrops all weekend.
3. My one picture that doesn’t involve the beach trip! I ordered the meal delivery service from Hello Fresh that I talk about in this post. I’ve only had a chance to make one of the three meals so far and it was delicious!! I’ll be making the other two this week with equal results, I’m hoping.
4. Sunday night we had dinner at a restaurant on the bay called Flippers. To me it was kind of a hole in the wall place that looks like it’s grown over the years to add an area outside for a bar and stage with seating. From the looks of it I truly wasn’t expecting much, but there was an hour wait so at the very least it was popular with the locals. We sat outside for a while and listened to a band play. Watched a few people dancing, which is always entertaining when the drinks have been coming for a while. Finally we were seated at a table. I got the Grouper Almondine. I’m telling you, it was delicious!! I ate almost every single bite. If you’re ever in the Gulf Shores/Orange Beach area you should try it out!!
How was your week? Do anything wild and crazy? Comment and let me know you’re here!
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