Beach Trip

* I'm a bit late blogging about this- so for the sake of my journal I'm backdating this post.

WARNING: This blog is extremely long and contains over a dozen pictures!

My last post was about our anniversary. Well, that Friday we packed up and headed to the beach. We'd been looking forward to this trip for months! We usually stay at the Hilton Garden Inn (that's where we stayed during our honeymoon). This year we decided to try the condo thing. My good friend Chickadee recommended a few. We ended up with a great condo on the ninth floor- it was ocean front and the views were breathtaking.

So, here is a recap of our trip......

We left Friday morning around 8. We stopped for ice (we brought a few snacks in our cooler), gas, and yoohoos. We ended up eating a quick fast food breakfast and then lunch at O'Charley's in Foley. We were a bit early arriving so we headed to the souvenir shop for some goodies. We had 2 pennies pressed and bought some cute stuff. We started a tradition on our honeymoon of buying a Christmas ornament at the beach each year to commemorate each anniversary. This year was no exception- our ornament turned out to be a pretty sand dollar (it's hard to pick out shell ornaments that acually match my Christmas tree theme of blue, white, and silver). Afterwards we headed out to our condo. We loved the condo! It had so much more room than the hotel plus we were able to bring snacks to cook. We then headed out to the beach to relax! We always rent our beach chairs to save us the hassel- this year was no different. We walked on the beach, swam, sunned, and just relaxed. While walking I found a small hermit crab! I was so excited! I ended up giving it to a little girl and she loved it! Later that evening we went to eat at Bubba's (the live music, margaritas, seafood and fried dill pickles were great!), rode around on the strip for a while, and stopped by a store so I could by some goggles.

We also went to the state park pier to watch the sunset. We had a blast watching the other people catch huge fish! The sunset was amazing! We stayed up late just sitting on our balcony and watching the boats and listening to the sounds of the ocean. Here are a few pics from Friday....

Me getting ready to go and chow down on seafood!

Me again...

The view from our balcony. Gorgeous!

The front of our condo overlooked the main strip. Again, the views were gorgeous!



You could see the bridge to Florida from our condo.
The State Pier

Again...


It felt like you walked a mile by the time you reached the end...

Sunset from the pier...


Me at the end of the pier...
The two of us at the end of the pier....


Again...
Watching people catch fish as we walked back. I was sooo afraid I was going to drop my camera in the water!

Saturday was spent on the beach! It was a bit hazy but the sun finally came out in full force around noon. I looked like a dork swimming around in my goggles- but hey, I caught another hermit crab! We walked to the rocks and Bob helped a boy release a baby sting ray- a foretelling of something to come! Later while we were swimming, I was standing about 2 feet away from Bob when I felt the sand under my foot move. I accidentally stepped on a sting ray! He was about the size of a mazagine but he didn't sting me with his barb. After that Bob wouldn't get back into to water. Scaredy Cat! That evening we were sad to learn that Ruby Tuesday had closed- that's Bob's favorite place to eat at the beach! So, we ended up eating at Hooters. Again, the buffalo wings, margaritas, and fried dill pickles were great! =) Afterwards, we went to the track where I whipped my hubbys boootay at gocarts! We came back to the beach that evening to play in the water and then ended up swimming in the indoor pool. Again, we stayed up late watching the boats and listening to the ocean from our balcony.
Here are a few pictures from Saturday....

Me...

Bob...

Our little spot in paradise...
Sandy toes!
Sunning with the iPod...

The second hermit crab. I found this one while using my dork goggles.. haha

All cleaned up and ready to go eat....

Strike a pose...

The Track....

Bob talking smack.... That's okay- I schooled him!
Me after I won! =)

Throwing down the deuces in my dork goggles! lol

Sunday was a sad day. I did NOT want to leave! We took our time going home. We stopped in Mobile to eat, shop, and visit Hobby Lobby. Unfortunately Hobby Lobby isn't open on Sunday. Luck was on my side and I was able to find cute fabric for my classroom at Wal-Mart (blog on classroom changes coming soon!).

My Sad-We're-Going-Home Face

One last picture of our gorgeous view.....

I bet you've stopped reading by now! =)
And that concludes our beach trip 2009!

We're planning a trip to the mountains for Thanksgiving- just the two of us! =) We're looking at different cabins, but we've never been to Gatlinburg. So, if any of you guys have been before, please feel free to recommend places to eat, attractions, and most of all a good cabin location!