An Artist of the Floating World

The next day was glorious.  We both woke up at a leisurely nine or nine-thirty and had coffee out on the balcony.  We brought the little Keurig and I packed up a big bag of all variety of k-cups.  That day's selection was Sulawesi, a single-origin dark roast that was perfect with a splash of Bailey's.

Then it was beach time!!  We put on our suits, loaded up the cooler and our beach bags, and put on sunscreen before heading down.  Some of the best advice I can give anyone is to put on sunscreen before going down to the beach.  It's so much cleaner and easier that way: you can wash your gross lotion hands and it has a little more time to sink in before the sun hits.

We set up camp at our complimentary beach chair and umbrella set and I spread out the beach toys in front so no one would sit in front of us.  We didn't really have to worry about that though because our building was so small, and probably under-booked during the late-summer season.  It was absolutely lovely.  Sunny, white sand, rolling waves, and not-too-seaweedy water.

After relaxing a bit, I grabbed the shovel and started digging out a mountain for a sandcastle.  It would be a simple, warm-up one, but it was still big enough that I got calluses on my hands from the shovel work.  I'm not used to having to do all the prep work!  After all the digging, packing, and watering steps, we let it sit for a while for a swim and lunch break.  Mom made some delicious turkey, avocado, and mustard sandwiches.

After that, Mom jumped in to help too!  We did some forms, dug a four-way tunnel, and I worked on stairs while she did some carving design work.  Turned out pretty good for Day One, I think.

That night we drove through Destin to one of our old favorites, Mitchell's, for a seafood feast.  Everything was delicious, but I have to say that Mom's sea bass was the winner.  And once we got home, we were both so full and tired that we went straight to bed!

(photos by e.hunt)