Florida Fall Break- October 2016

We went to Florida!  I had Fall Break from school and Will is finally done with Harvest (a very busy season for farmers) so we both took a “break.”  This break was perfect and just what we needed!

I found a quote that seems like it makes perfect since to me… or rather why not have another excuse for more vacation…?

“No man needs a vacation so much as the person who just had one.” -Elbert Hubbard

So basically we need more vacations! Perfect!  Butttttt, since that’s not how life works, I’ll give you the details and pictures from this trip and carry on with our day to day lives!!

We left Friday when I finished my day at school and made it to Perdido Key around 11:45pm.  The drive went really well and we even went and touched the ocean when we arrived.  I honestly wanted to “sleep in” the next morning, but that didn’t happen any of the days which really is fine since we were at the beach!

Since we were up early, we went on our first (of many LONG) walks!

We attempted a day on the beach but it sprinkled some so we had lunch at Doc’s before heading to the store to get a few necessities.  Lunch was wonderful!  I had crab cakes and Will had red shrimp.  They ended up being one of his favorite meals- so of course we got a picture of them! (Yes, they still have all the eyes and legs and everything on them!)

For dinner we went to the Oyster Bar and Grill.  It was INCREDIBLY windy from the “almost very rainy day,” but we still chose to eat outside because we were at the beach and it meant we got to eat over the water and boat dock!  The food was fantastic!  We had barbequed shrimp as an appetizer and they were fantastic!  It may have been my favorite thing to eat the whole trip.  They were actually in a very runny sauce- not your typical barbecue sauce and the sauce was spicy and made with so many spices.  I didn’t get a picture- things would blow away pretty easily- so we ate!  Will had fried shrimp for dinner, I had shrimp and grits! Don’t mind the picture of him- we really couldn’t take good pictures here!

Moving on to Sunday- we did a LOT of MOVING!  Will and I have decided that we really do walk a lot while on vacation.  We both really enjoy walking together and being able to talk and not talk and just have that time to ourselves.  So Will realized that a place called The Shrimp Basket was 3.6miles from where we were staying.  It seemed pretty doable, plus it meant we could walk on the beach, plus a walk on the beach to lunch seemed pretty sweet. LET.ME.TELL.YOU- that walk seemed SO LONG! Apparently the sand in Florida or specifically Perdido Key and Orange Beach does not pack like most sand- it sinks!  It sinks enough that at times the sand was up to my shins, making the walk fairly difficult.  It took us 1 hour and 45 minutes to walk each way. (Yes, we still walked back as well!). The prize at the end of the tunnel was so worth it though- the food did not disappoint!  Plus, I feel like we burned off what we ate after that crazy walk both ways.  Will had Fried Whitefish Tacos and Red Beans and Rice, I had a cup of Seafood Gumbo and a small side of Fried Popcorn Shrimp- oh and we had some Fried Crab Claws.  SO.GOOD.

Will was a complete gentleman during this walk and actually helped carry my bag!  The saddest part of this whole walk- I found the world’s smallest PERFECT Sand Dollar! I was so excited to bring it home and show my kids at school.  It was so windy, that the wind broke it in my hand…. =(

Of course that wasn’t enough walking, so we walked some more before heading in for dinner!

Dinner was at Cosmos.  Cosmos is such a cut, fun restaurant and we loved it the first time we got to come to Florida in 2013.  They happened to be playing live music and we managed to get a table outside once again! The food was great again.  Will got scallops and toasted rice with mango salsa and I got Pecan-Crusted Redfish over dirty rice.

We made the most of this trip and saw TWO movies while here. First night was my choice- we saw Storks, second night was Will’s choice and we saw The Accountant.  Both were good and the theater was incredibly nice, but we were the ONLY people in our movie the first night and two of thirteen people the second night.

Monday was our last full day so we made it a full beach day.  We went on a walk under the bridge and the beach was so quiet! We actually found a guy scraping the sand on John Deere equipment.  It was like seeing a little of the farm at the beach!

Lunch was at The Gulf.  Really the atmosphere is the best part of this restaurant. You’re basically eating on the beach.
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We both ate the Fried Grouper Sandwich! Oh- and bonus points for all the restaurants names so far- they were all Sysco customers!

The weather was nothing short of perfect so we laid on the beach and both read books all day!

For dinner we went back to Doc’s to try the Fried Oyster Po’Boy.  It really was delicious!  Unfortunately I left my phone in the car so I didn’t get a picture of it!

Tuesday we packed it up and got ready for the drive home.  We stopped to see the Battleship in Mobile, Alabama.  It was pretty neat.  Once you got on the ship you took your own self guided tours.

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The ship held 2,500 people!  We also explored the inside:

After going through the inside we were on a mission to see how high up we could climb.  Answer is- pretty close to the top!

Oh and we also found a Krispy Kreme, which made Will incredibly happy!

And at some point we went to FloraBama and listened to music and had one of the best burgers! The bun was basically a yeast roll!

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So there you have it- our trip to Florida!

Needless to say, we had a great time!