I splurged recently with a trip to visit my parents in Florida. My yard was still covered in snow when I left so it was wonderful to see green again.
I’ve always wanted to do the Sanibel stoop, so I was grateful to do some beachcoming on Sanibel Island.
I love watching the sanderlings chase the waves to find bugs left behind.
I also love watching all the shorebirds and waterbirds, like this Ibis poking around for something good to eat.
It doesn’t get much better than sunsets over the ocean.
It’s a rare event when I get to take a trip, so I feel lucky to have traveled to the Sunshine State for Spring Break again this year.
Mornings and evenings at the pool are a wonderful way to start and end the day.
Afternoons and sunsets at the beach are the best! Wish I could do that everyday.
The lush, tropical vegetation is always a treat to see in March when everything in my neighborhood is just waking up from being dormant all winter.
I spent a beautiful day at the Naples Botanical Gardens.
Now I’m brainstorming ways I can arrange to visit the beach more often. Vacations are great, aren’t they?!
Terri
We recently went on vacation for the first time in four years! It was as wonderful as I remembered.
We spent a few days in Naples, Florida, soaking up lots of warm temps and sunshine.
It’s been eight years since we’ve seen the ocean. What a tragedy! The beach was as fabulous as I imagined.
We went for a boat ride to see the waterfront mansions.
We saw lots and lots of flowers, especially a wide variety of hibiscus, which I’m looking forward to growing in containers in our yard this summer. We also went to a farmers market, which was a treat since it’s March!
We saw a variety of palm trees.
We were lucky to see dolphins and lots of birds.
We enjoyed dinner on the beach, watched the tide go out, and saw some beautiful sunsets.
It’s always fun to spend idle time walking on the beach and splashing in the warm ocean waters, watching the waves and wildlife, people-watching and seeing the sights.
One thing I noticed while going through the hundreds of pictures I took is that I love to take photos of my feet covered in the soft, powdery sand after being in the water.
We did a lot of beachcombing and found a few handfuls of seashells, but I left them with my mom to bring back on her drive home in a few weeks so they wouldn’t break in my suitcase.
Note to self: go on vacation more often! Cheers!
Terri
That’s how I spent my week, doing nothing but lounging on the beach.
We just got back from a week-long vacation to celebrate our seven-year wedding anniversary. We went to Destin, Florida, stayed at the Hampton Inn, and didn’t do much but sink our feet into the powdery white sand and soak up the warm sun.
Another cool thing we did, on a tip from my sister, was drive to the little coastal town of Seaside, which is where The Truman Show was filmed. The town is full of these cute and colorful cottages, painted in a wide range of tropical colors, like yellow, peach and purple.
I love these adorable mosaic window boxes hanging on either side of a residence’s front door.
I love how the multi-colored flowers and stars stand out among the yellow tiles on this windowbox.
I love my backyard patio, but this patio looked so inviting, like those decorated patios you might see in Coastal Living or Southern Living magazines.
We always love to check out the flora and fauna in other places. Of course, we loved the palm trees,
the palm shrubs (or whatever these are),
and these hedges, that were everywhere.
We ate on The Back Porch quite often, a cute restaurant right on the beach that allows you to come in your bathing suits. How cool is that! They also have a beach bar, which was quite convenient mid-afternoon. (wink wink)
We also ate at Cafe Grazie, a seafood Italian restaurant with great pizza and seafood pasta dishes. I loved the shrimp and penne pasta.
I hope we don’t wait another seven years to see the ocean and relax on the beach. I hope it happens again soon.
Now I should start thinking about getting back to reality. Ehr, maybe I’ll just sit on my backyard patio for one more minute.
Terri's Notebook 