Tuesday, January 22, 2013

Two Tickets to Paradise . . .


I never thought I would be one of those "snow birds" that headed south for the winter.  I have always loved winter, snow, soft sweaters and cozy nights in.  But the past few years I haven't handled the cold as well.  Maybe my circulation isn't what it was 30 years ago.  Enter the "Bucket List".  Several items on my list involved getting to a coast - a northern coast.  As a life-long mid-westerner, I had never seen an ocean, and I definitely wanted to rectify that, but I wanted to go to Maine, or Cape Hatteras - - no tropical beaches for me!

Ummm..... Can I revise that list?  We got the opportunity to go to Florida last week.  Dave had training for work so I tagged along - and neither of us wanted to come back.  Not that Hutchinson Island, Florida is "tropical" in January - but sitting on the beach with a book when it's 75 degrees is close enough to paradise for me.

I was hooked from the first glimpse:
We walked down this path and the ocean spread before us - the most amazing shade of turquoise - and I was awe-struck!  I've seen God's creation displayed in may ways, but this was . . . was . . . beyond words!  If you could wake up to that view and fall asleep to the sound of the lapping waves, life would be good.  So a plan to retire to the beach is my new obsession - not to mention visiting as frequently as possible between now and then.  It only makes sense that we should visit a variety of beaches before making our retirement decision, right?

I took hundreds - seriously, hundreds - of pictures of the ocean.  I culled them down to the top 175, but that's still a bit much to post, so here are a few of my favorite memories of our FIRST trip to the beach. 


And the funniest moment:

The thing that makes this so funny - other than watching Dave get soaked - was that he knew the water as going to shoot up there (although he may not have expected quite as MUCH water as he got) and when I missed the shot, he stood there and got sprayed again to give me a second chance. What a guy!






7 comments:

  1. I see a future in photography for you! Gorgeous! You have to frame those pics of Dave and hang them up! There is no more beautiful place than the Maine coastline but you can't really swim there. Cold water! I grew up in FL. My hubby loves the beach and we go every summer but I am not a beach person. Sand gets in every nook and cranny, it's terribly hot and HUMID in the summer and did I mention the bugs? I'll sit on the Maine shore with my book in the sun and visit the southern shores for a weeks vacation! Glad you had a great time. We're off to Hilton Head SC in May. Very nice beaches there.

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  2. Looks like a wonderful time you guys had!! Glad you finally had a chance to see the ocean and spend time there!! It truly is magnificient isn't it? One of many of God's beautiful creation!! Even now, living a lot around it, it still amazes me when I see it!

    betty

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  3. Love the pictures! I think we definitely need to check out Hilton Head SC as Peggy mentioned! I also would love to go to Hutchinson Island!!
    Glad you had a good time but I missed you!

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  4. Tami--Thanks for dropping by my blog!!! I highly recommend ART IS YOU. They also have events in Nashville and in Connecticut. I wish I could go to ALL of them!!! So glad you had such a wonderful trip to the ocean!

    -Amy

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  5. Glad u got to soak up some sun; how fun. love the photos too.

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  6. I'm glad you got to experience the magic and wonder of a tropical beach!! You'll be back … again and again and again. And the wave photo is too darn funny!

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