more adventures on 30A

wednesday. october 31. 2012

     one thing we can tell you after having spent several days in this area is that there's a reason that Hwy. 30A has its own website   http://www.30a.com/      ........ it's cuz it's MAGIC! and it has nothing to do with halloween!  It's full of what you think a 'florida beach community' should be.......so.......we got back on the road, this time to Rosemary Beach (once again on the recommendation of a friend~thank goodness I've (mom/cathie) got friends that get around, huh?) and this turned out to be a lovely place......

 

altho I've (mom/cathie) never been to Europe, I read that this area has 'heavy European influences' (lifting heavily from travel brochure here) and it really looked like what we imagine a movie set would look like....the towne square was full of shops and restaurants and great cobblestone streets (tires of cars going by made the coolest sounds on these!)....and, in one shop, the proprietress's husband was from Tulsa so we had a good ole time talkin' about home.

 

And in another shop there were the greatest signs....now I (mom/cathie) would never buy any of these, but it just felt good to stop and read and enjoy the sentiments they expressed....whadoyathink?

 

 

......and, altho we try to make a practice of not returning to the same restaurant twice on vacation, bud and alley's taco bar (seaside) was just 'up the road a bit' and we were having a real hard time shaking the memory of those fish tacos from yesterday, so........ off we went:)

and, because we'd mentioned how amazing the public restrooms at Seaside were (downright artistic, to tell you the truth!) we felt like those deserved a 'nod of documentation', as well.......

see what we mean? and, yes, no one else was in the restroom or my camera would not have come out of my bag!   promise;)

Before we left Seaside, we just had to capture these Silver Stream food trailers (bbcue, hot dogs, gourmet grilled cheese) on the main boardwalk all decked out for the festivities of the day/night.....

 

picked up some postcards for our sweet 'grands' (haven't been as good about that on this 'leg' of the journey) and then headed back to destin.........

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

some hidden 'gems'

tuesday. october 30. 2012
        before we left we asked a couple of friends (Amy Moore and Wanda Gooden) who had been down here quite often about places/areas they'd recommend we explore and, today especially, that turned out to have been the ingredient to a wonderful day.  After we left the gym (no that wasn't their recommendation) we did play a scored ping pong game while we 'cooled down'.........

......let's just call it a 'love match'......I (mom/cathie) LET him win because I love him?  No.  He (your dad/rob) triumphed with a significant margin, but was so darned encouraging about my pitiful (although enthusiastic) efforts, that I was reminded yet again of how much I love him.....so, yes, LOVE match;)

     After we cleaned up we headed about 25 miles southeast to the side-by-side communities of Watercolor and Seaside and it was as if we'd been transported to the perfect, small absolutely magical beach community.  Destin is very commercialized (picture Branson on the water) and these lovely villages were simple and simply breath-taking.  We parked the car and walked and walked (and you know how we love that!).  Even the public restrooms were the most beautiful we'd ever seen.....I'm not just talkin' 'clean'....I'm talkin' marble walls and floors, heavy green glass doors, ultra-modern stainless steel fixtures......those cool dryers that you stick your hands down in.....he (your dad/rob) said we need to put those in our bathrooms, but I reminded him of how Silas loves to play with our remote control devices on the lamps, SO....yeah, we won't be doin' that;)

     The speed limit down the main street drops you to a crawl....which is good...because there's so much to look around and see.  We'd read about Bud & Alley's Taco Bar and since we could eat fish tacos every day of the week, this was a no-brainer and it did not disappoint!

green~red~yellow~blue~purple.....my eyes were smilin' all day (mom/cathie, here)

 

 

After that great meal (and telling 'Bud & Alley's' that we were sampling fish tacos from coast to coast and his were 'right up there') we stepped out back of Bud & Alley's and savored the first really warm sand that we've walked in since we've been here.  Happy toes, indeed!  Enjoyed a good walk on the beach and then admired the offerings of some local merchants.....

 

art market....

 

 

 

uh, yeah......we quite agree;)

 

 

 

loved the sign....laughed out loud, as a matter of fact......but we respect our sweet kiddos too much to ever usurp their 'jurisdiction', regardless of what 'zone' we're in (love you guys!)

 

 

this made us laugh, too....no kids, your dad's (rob's) not wearing this home, but I feel awfully blessed to be with him~and the feeling's mutual, so says he:)

 

When we got back to Destin we tried out another place that Amy had recommended, The Donut Hole, a place famous for your dad's (Rob's) favorite~key lime pie!

 

 

and the only thing sweeter than the look on his face after he tasted that pie was the time we spent enjoying yet another splendid sunset on the beach tonight!

 

 

Author, Author!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

exploring destin and okaloosa island

monday. october 29. 2012
       so it was still a pretty chilly morning (by florida standards) so we went to the gym and worked out and then 'cooled down' with a non-scored game of ping-pong.....that last activity was so fun, we'll have to return to it and maybe make it more interesting by keeping score.....we'll definitely return to the gym every morning this week because this very developed, commercial area where we're staying doesn't lend itself to the type of high energy/high step count walking we'd gotten used to in the solana beach/sand diego area.  But you can be sure, if there's a Bass Pro Shop in an area, we'll find it and find it we did........

 

as an anchor tenant in an extravagant outdoor mall (picture Branson Landing on steroids) and so we enjoyed a nice time there.  Something that really added to the ambience was the 80's era music that was wrapping around us as we strolled down the village streets in Destin Commons.  Just a sweet time.  Later in the day, we ventured across the Destin Bridge to Okaloosa Island to enjoy some Gulf shrimp and crabcakes at the Crab Trap then a great walk on the beach outside the Boardwalk where we'd found that eatery......

 

 

and although there aren't a lot of other people around, we're very aware that we're not alone......

 

 

our enjoyment of this idyllic place (and the blessings of our whole lives, really) is tempered somewhat, though, knowing that as we're enjoying all of this sweet time, the lives, livelihoods, and proprerty of so many in the path of Hurricane Sandy are at risk.  It gives us pause and, taking nothing for granted, we pray for their safety.

 

 

 

 

 

sugar-fine sand and the clearest water........

sunday.october 28.2012
      we arrived in destin last night after dark, owing to a prolonged stop in pensacola for some shopping at the Naval Air Station exchange and some de.li.cious bbcue at Sonny's.  We don't usually take a chance on restaurants we've not heard about, but when there's a place that serves MEAT that close to a place that houses so many men (NAS Pensacola) and when there are so many cars already there, we felt it was worth taking a chance and we weren't wrong!

      The first 'cold snap' of the season has arrived in Florida along with us and promises to stay another couple of days, so we're glad we brought clothing we can layer. Lows at night get into the 40's and the highs won't get into the 70's until Wednesday or Thursday, so although the sunshine is brilliant, the breeze is pretty cool.  After a great two mile walk in the sugar-fine sand this morning, we drove Hwy. 30a  http://www.30a.com/ and recalled the great time we had on Edisto Island, SC because the beach homes that line this picturesque roadway (many of them painted in pastel colors) remind us of the homes there.

     On the recommendation of a friend, we pulled in at Stinky's Fish Camp in Santa Rosa Beach   http://www.stinkysfishcamp.com/    on 30a and enjoyed yummy crabcakes eggs benedict.......Stinky's, where the motto is "with a name like Stinky's, it better be good"....and it was.......you can tell a)we're not seasoned 'foodie photographers' or b)we were really hungry or both....or we would have taken the pic BEFORE we devoured the feast, right?:)

    We checked out an outlet mall and snagged a couple of Mrs. Field's cookies and some Starbucks for dessert before we headed back to plan the rest of our week.

saturday. october 20. 2012

wow!  were our ears poppin' as we made the climb from low desert to the mountains around Flagstaff today!  And we really knew we'd left the beach when we began to see these signs.....

     

The climb from Glendale (Phoenix area) to Flagstaff is dramatic and beautiful and the sky was the most beautiful blue and the pines smelled like.......Christmas!!!  The last (and only) time either one of us had been to the Glorious Grand Canyon was the early '60s so this was really almost like the first time for us to see it.  We'd been captivated by Ken Burns' National Park video series and learned so much about this and other parks that we didn't know, but it meant so much to us to be coming here after having seen that video.  Your splendiferous public library has the series and we highly recommend it!

We've been talkin' about a trip to/ through the Canyon within the next couple of years (maybe a raft with a guide, maybe on a mule down the side~poetic, huh?~or even a train ride) so we knew we'd just be calling this 'preview day', because one day was all we had.......but such a good day it was......

Mather Point.....you could just stay there all day.....gives the phrase 'eye candy' a whole new meaning......it was breezy, the sun was setting.......and another dimension that we hadn't anticipated was the lyrical beauty of hearing so many different languages being spoken around us!  I can't ever remember being in one place where so many nationalities were gathered together in such close proximity for the purpose of admiring a singular object of grandeur......kinda gave us an "every eye shall see, every knee shall bow.....every tongue shall confess" kind of feeling:)

 

 

 

 

So we got our passport stamped (wow! that's five stamps in three weeks! some kind of dangerous precedent we're setting here, mr. s;)) then headed off to Bright Angel Lodge (built in 1885) for a delicious dinner followed by a short hike on the Bright Angel Trail, before heading back to Flagstaff for the night.

 

We arrived at our wonderful Wyndham Flagstaff condo well after dark so we didn't get to appreciate the beauty of this resort till morning (it's definitely worthy of a repeat extended stay!).  One of our favorite after dark rituals (especially when we're in a city/town where we can drive a short distance to escape city lights) is to enjoy the 'starry, starry night'!  WELL, this resort was already removed enough from city lights that all we had to do was walk out on the condo's deck to enjoy the majesty of a beautiful night sky, the edge of the Milky Way and even a shooting star!  I (mom/cathie) had visions of taking a picture the next morning of  'feet propped up on deck railing while enjoying my morning jo' but....would you believe it.....it was too cold.....so, no.......that one willl have to wait!

 

So Sunday was a beautiful travel day from Flagstaff down to the high desert of northern New Mexico and then Monday, another safe (thank you, Lord, we feel so blessed) travel day under cloudier but pleasant skies from Tucumcari to home sweet home.

 

It will be so good to see you sweet kiddos and darlin' grands while we're home for a couple of days (oh, and do laundry, pay bills, rake leaves, mow, decide what to repack and what to leave and generally catch our breath) before we depart on Thursday for Florida for the second half of our adventure.  So, until then.........

 

 

sweet farewell to solana beach

after our busy 'out-and-about' day on wednesday, we used thursday to pack and organize and walk the wonderful beach a couple more times.  we also had a good skype video call with Laura and sweet Kylee (loved that!) the day before they got released from the hospital.  Keith and Kady, we're sorry we missed you, but you guys were catching some pretty good 'shut-eye' over on that 'oh-so comfortable' day bed in Kylee's room.  So thankful you all are home now and kylee's doing better every day.  Have loved the pics of the girls on facebook!

Our trip across the desert toward arizona on interstate 8 friday morning was quite a contrast ~scenery-wise~from the past two weeks.  Oftentimes we were close enough to the border to see sections of whatever type of 'fence' exists there.  Back in view were the cacti, low hills and scrub landscape.  New to us were the beautiful and far-reaching sand dunes as we approached the cali-ariz border and we saw groups of atv-er's really whooping it up on these 'mini-mountains.'

Loved getting our gas tank filled up ~ for 30 cents less per gallon than elsewhere ~ at the the El Centro Naval Air Station.  Picked up some yummy Pepperidge Farm cookies at the PX while we were there to make leaving our beach home a little easier.

You might remember, on our way out on Oct. 3 that we were prepping some herb-roasted potatoes (ala Manifold Destiny) under the hood of our car....well, that may be a distant memory to us and our tastebuds, but when we had to stop at the Border Control checkpoint near Yuma, Arizona, the drug-sniffing dog that passed by our car sure was alerted to the remnants of olive oil, garlic, and oregano that, unbeknownst to us, remained on our engine!  Pretty funny!  The nice officers let us through, kids, so you're not going to have to bail 'dad and mom' out;)

Rested well in Glendale, Arizona on Friday night.....

we've got a ticket to ride

wednesday. october 17. 2012

who would've thought that 45-year-old repurposed Beatle's lyrics would serve as the
perfect title for a blog post for our last day going into the city, but there you have it......

by now we're getting pretty good at hoofing it down cedros avenue to the station, remebering to have the correct denominations for the ticket kiosk and even a few minutes to spare to enjoy the view.....

and awhile to sit at 'our' bench.....

 

 

yes.....'our' bench....it's always waiting there for us, y' know, but we're not naive enough to believe that we won't periodically have to share it with others over the years, so basically, yeah, it's ours;) and the view across the tracks from our bench....

 

 the ride into san diego was lovely and peaceful and our seats, on the oceanside of the train, afforded a once-again wonderful view of the morning surf coming ashore, sometimes from atop cliffs, othertimes from sea level where you really got a sense of the height of the waves and knew why this was a popular time for the surfers.

 Once into downtown san diego, we opted for a day pass on the Metro Transit, because of a recommendation of a fun and delicious and 'on-the cheap' mexi-cali restaurant that would be another bus ride past balboa park (our primary destination for today).  Just as has been the case every time, the faithful #7 (or whatever bus we needed) pulled up within minutes after we arrived at the stop.....

 

 

so we boarded and headed through downtown, gradually accumulating so many fellow travelers that there was a scramble for our seats once we began to move toward the exit doors at balboa park.....we crossed the adobe-looking bridge over park boulevard and headed shamelessly toward the almond croissants and lattes and the model train museum.....both, works of art in their own right.......

 

 

 

 

 

is this just acres of fun or what?

 

By this time we were ready to head to the bus stop to board the #7 for the ride to the Hillcrest area and try out the margarita's and fish tacos at Baja Betty's and they didn't disappoint!

 

After a final bus ride back downtown, we located the Hotel Indigo (sound familiar, Brian and Lara?) and had a 'drink with a view' at the rooftop bar before heading back to the Santa Fe station to catch the Coaster back to Solana Beach for the 'sunset ride'.......

 

 

gentle beach day

tuesday. october 16. 2012   
       so we took a planned hiatus from our protein~fruit~kale smoothies and walked to the Naked Cafe (fulled clothed, of course) and enjoyed breakfast overlooking the ocean, as the morning fog lifted.....I (cathie/mom) pick the darnedest times to forget the camera!  So you're just gonna have to use your imaginations to picture an egg white soy sausage tomato zuchinni cilantro scramble with a side of feta quinoa...oh, and waves rolling in bringing a lovely breeze and reflecting the morning sun.  Name of the cafe allegedly comes from the fact that they use authentic ingredients......whatever it was, my dad would have called it 'larrupin' good'!

We spent the morning walking barefoot on the beach, marveling at the patterns the tide leaves in the sand, the way the sounds of voices are carried on  the water, the antics of the tiny sandpipers scurrying around for breakfast.  Even found a cool sea cave and my heart raced more than just a little  while this pic was being taken because of the numerous signs posted nearby advising "stay away~unstable and shifting cliffs".......guess it's the 'rule-follower' in me that figures that warning signs were meant to be obeyed.......and I probably hear my mom's voice forbidding me......this stuff gets complicated if you think about it too much, right?;)

In the afternoon, we had a great skype video chat with Ally, Silas and Cora (missed you, Tim) and it was fun to catch up in this way with them.  Hope to connect soon with the rest of the fam.....miss you all so much!

Enjoyed a lazy two hours at the beach ~ leading up to a glorious sunset ~ using a splitter and our earbuds to listen to a 'playaway' book from the library entitled For Better:The Science of Marriage.  Although this is a book containing lots of research, there were parts of it that were so funny that we laughed out loud, sometimes at the profound truths we were hearing.  Such a fun time to spend together, laughing and learning.....all over again....and capping it off with a sunset worthy of applause......but then, aren't they all?

      

balboa park.....a 'hoofin' it day, for sure

monday. october 15. 2012       
      we were excited enough to get to the coaster train for a full day of 'hoofin' it' again that we actually set the alarm (this has got to stop!!!!....just kidding!!!!)  Both the ride into san diego and the ride home today, though, were quiet and reserved for drinking in the scenery, rather than conversing with fellow passengers, as we'd done before.

 

Once we disembarked in the beautiful and historic Santa Fe Station in San Diego, and were unable to get definitive MTS (Metropolitan Transit System) advice on getting to Balboa Park for the day from any of the Amtrak employees in the station (and, of course, the information booth was closed) we studied the MTS map and decided to strike out on our own with the whole day ahead of us, a bag of snacks, our bottles of H20......and a vague recollection on my (mom/cathie) part that ALL the buses in San Diego eventually end up at Horton Plaza.  We weren't deterred by the fact that this recollection was from my tour guide days here 38 years ago.  Bless you dad's (rob's ) heart for being willing to step way 'outside the box' to satisfy this need for adventure in me....after all, this is as close the Amazing Race as I'm every gonna get!!!  (And I actually think he's beginning to enjoy it, because guess who wants to do this same trip all over again TOMORROW??)

 

Anyway........

 

 

it wasn't but about 5-6 blocks before we happened upon the Horton Plaza area and a #7 bus pulled up just as we finished surveying the schedule and we boarded for our trip to Balboa Park.  We pulled out our handsome DMV photos to insure our getting the 'senior rate' and the lively, fun bus driver made such a sweet big deal over them (talk about customer service!) and advised us out of the 'day pass' we were going to purchase and into a better purchase, after actually asking about our plans (wow!) and helping us SAVE money! (cha-ching!)  There were plenty of seats to be had, but by the time we got to Balboa Park, it was SRO and so we were happy to oblige by disembarking (yes, I KNOW it's the second time I've used that word, but I just like it better than 'get off', okay?).

 

And there we were....in beautiful Balboa Park which has grown from the 1400 acres first set aside in 1868 (civil war era, y' know) and now encompasses a huge sanctuary in the middle of this beautiful city where nature abounds at every turn, history and the arts are celebrated on a daily basis, education for all is promoted (we encountered numerous 'field trips' and, as much as I loved what I did for 20 years, I took uncommon delight in NOT being on a field trip with children on this blissful day) and where, if you look very carefully, you can find ........

 

 

the most amazing almond croissants and lattes (yes, mid-morning nourishment is important, just like the arts, and sciences, and education and blah, blah, blah).....looks like someone is trying to take advantage of that fact that I'm (cathie/mom) trying to capture this perfect moment, huh?  So after we thanked the proprietors of Daniel's Bean in the El Prado area, we headed off to a favorite....the botanical garden....

 

this specimen was easily eight feet in diameter and appeared to be growing right out of the wall!  Just could spend such a long time here, enjoying all the things that DON'T grow in our beloved oklahoma.....but that's what makes life interesting, right?  that, AND......stepping outside the botanical garden and noticing a rolling rack of women's clothing, a table with a bowl of ice containing several bottles of water AND a bottle of champagne (may I have some, please?) a boombox (do they still call them that?) playing some pretty 'peppy tunes', a couple of guys with cameras, a couple of guys with large white plastic boards(to block the direct sun), a 6' female fashion model and her entourage.....okay, we're getting the idea now.....a photo shoot.....

 

 

and now we know how they capture all those 'casual' looking poses.....the music keeps playing, she keeps movin' and the photogs keep shootin'....sounds like a plan.......then, from something so intense and choreographed to sometthing so authentic and natural....and relaxed.....

 

 

now, that's more like it, huh?

 

We then saw the Old Globe Theatre, where we saw Godspell performed in 1974.  Sure thought of our Lara Elaine when we saw this, so, Lara, this one's for you.......

 

 

then we stopped by the Museum of Man to wonder at the amazing architecture.....

 

 

 

and there is a current exhibit there which just happened to answer your dad's (rob's) inquiries as to where the IRS 1040 forms are being generated (ah, it's all so clear now)...

 

 

 

.......and, wouldn't you know it....of all the museums that WERE open today, the one that wasn't was the model train museum.......I'm thinkin' we're gonna be back here on Wednesday (yes!)...so we headed across the Cabrillo Bridge which crosses high above Highway 163 to the portion Balboa Park which is bordered by Sixth Street in the Hillcrest area...

 

 

 

based on the enthusiastic recommendations of two young men in the Visitor's Center at Balboa Park, we knew we'd be able to find some 'good eats' in Hillcrest, but many of the tapas style restaurants we were interested in were not going to open till 5pm and we were ready to find an alterntive, and...wow...did we.....The Luna Grill (a new kind of kabobery, it's called)....fresh near east and mediterranean.......yummers!  We had lamb and chicken kabobs, quinoa, curry rice, roasted veggies and at this point, our fitbits read.....

 

 

so we knew we could afford some chardonnay calories after having put in this many steps (and we weren't back 'home' yet).  So it was a delightful meal and the #3 bus back to downtown made stops every 15 minutes right across the street, so you just can't argue with that kind of blessing, can you?

 

We enjoyed some different vistas on our way back into downtown and listened/watched carefully for the best stop to get us closest to the Santa Fe Station...appreciating all the 'pieces' of the day that had fallen together so beautifully.  Fitbit total for the whole day was 8 miles (afoot) so the hot tub was already on our radar before we even got off the train in Solana Beach.  Such a sweet day!