The year of red and purple flags

So, our 10th trip to the beach will probably go down as the worst weather yet... dangerous surf and nasty man o' wars... But, as we say, a bad week at the beach is better than a good week at work!

House worries partly overshadowed the fun, too... and there was no winter here to speak of to escape from... so both of those things cast a bit of a pall on the trip. Oh, and my beloved camera died! Shucks!

Still, we had a good time, and it's always great for all of us to be together with no work or school to get in the way. Read below this post for an account of our trip, or click the "Vacation: March 2012" label.

A beautiful day - to leave ?!

Though the beach was still littered with seaweed and man o' wars, the sun was shining brightly, and the surf was calm on Saturday morning. Only trouble is, it was time to say goodbye.

There was lots of evidence of the churning the Gulf had gone through in the past few days, including an old pink Croc that had become a habitat for some creature or other.

Saturday turned out to be a lo-o-ong day in the car, too, as we elected to take Interstate 10 all the way into Louisiana. Downside, we added a hundred miles and over an hour to our trip. Upside, we got to go to Louisiana for the first time! And take a picture of the sign! In this picture, you can also see the pickup trucks that were strewn along the shoulders... It seems like people just park and head into the swamps right off the highway! For fishing, I suppose. Or whatever the heck it is that bayou folks do in there.


Anyway, it was a trip to remember, that's for sure. Now, back to the adventure that is buying, selling and moving!

Determined to spend some time at the beach

The early part of Friday, for Emilyn and me, was taken up by a trip to the movies to see "The Hunger Games."

Now, I didn't really know anything about the worldwide phenomenon of the teen science fiction books, but I really enjoyed the story, and I was proud of Emilyn for handling such grown-up subject matter very well indeed. It's certainly something I would have gobbled up as a teen myself!

Because we went on premiere day, we sprang for D-BOX seats -- which move and vibrate in sync with the action on the screen. Coool! They worked really well during the trailer for "The Avengers." I would love to see that whole movie in D-BOX, with Imax, 3-D and the whole business! But I don't think St. Louis has D-BOX yet. Sigh.

When we got back from the movies, we spied Daddy and Allen doing their best to make a go some beach time on our last day, even though there was sporadic rain, tons of waves, piles of seaweed and mounds of man o' wars. I joined them for a while, and snapped a few pictures.

Oh, well. Almost time to head home. Maybe better weather next year!

Airplanes, lighthouse and the Hangout

Well, with red and purple flags flying again, the beach was pretty much out of the question... a good day for Daddy and Allen to take in the National Naval Aviation Museum in Pensacola, Fla. That's the name of it, for sure, 'cause Allen has a top that says so.

The guys got to see an old Marine One, the presidential helicopter used by Nixon and Ford. And Steve took a great picture of a replica of the first airplane ever to land on a ship. I bet you didn't know it was a biplane!

After their trip through the museum, they decided to head up inside the Pensacola Lighthouse. After our trip to Barnegat Light, I think they felt like experts! If I remember correctly, they said it had a few less steps up than Barnegat. That's good! Phew! But what a view!


After they got back to the beach house, and while storms threatened, we decided to try out the Hangout, a new eatery and entertainment venue -- "where 59 ends and the fun begins"! They have one heck of a gift shop, and some great views... but the food was so-so, and the key lime pie was minuscule! And atrociously overpriced! Fun to play outside, though... Allen found a plastic kitty in the sand pile. And I'm told there's free wi-fi. And there's the big chair for photo ops!

A turn for the worse

Red and purple flags snapping in the wind today. Normally, we have a bad weather day, it rains, and it moves on. This year, the front is stalled just to the west of us, bringing stiff onshore winds... and man o' wars.

Tons and tons and tons of man o' wars. And these pesky buggers can sting you even after they're dead. So, not only is the surf itself unsafe, but there's no safe spot to sit on the beach, either! What a bummer.

But, we did get down to feed the seagulls again. (They were eating right out of my hand! As long as I wasn't looking, I didn't chicken out and drop the popcorn.) And we took a (careful!) walk. Got some pretty shots with the new camera. But I still don't like it!

More dolphins than ever

So, we had nice weather, and we saw a pod of dolphins "dancing" up close for the first time ever! The question is, can the crappy Nikon camera handle it?

Well.... more than half of the pictures were blurry shots of empty water. This camera really, really thinks about taking a picture before it actually does it. I'm going to make sure shutter response is the No. 1 priority on my list when I shop for a new one!

But, there are some nice shots here! The Nikon switches pretty well between portraits and landscape shooting...

And we really did get a great dolphin show this time around. Even though we've been futzing around with the house loan and all that goes with it, the sunset dolphin and nature cruise is still one of the most relaxing parts of our trip. They really do take care to treat the dolphins -- and all of Wolf Bay -- well. Thank you, Cetacean Cruises. It's a great tradition!

For the rest of Tuesday's photos, click here.

Testing out the emergency camera

Nikon Coolpix. Cheap at Walmart. I do not like it. But, I get to return it within 15 days, and I can do so at any Walmart. Sounds like a plan!

But it seems to work well enough to capture the growing threat on the beach... man o' wars (dun dun dunnnnn!), and I took this nice picture of my old camera (*sob*!). I have to say, the Nikon does work well indoors with no flash. Although I cannot change the aspect ratio! Booo!

We'll see how it does on the dolphin cruise.

Also today, a trip to Souvenir City! Allen picked up a new shark friend! He's big and soft... so now Allen has a small, medium and large!

A shutterbug mommy's worst nightmare !

My camera died while we were at Lulu's for lunch! What?!?!

Before that, though, we got some great shots of yet another seagull feeding frenzy... Allen playing in the waves, and Daddy and Emilyn smiling sweetly at Lulu's (where the food continues to disappoint, but the atmosphere can't be beat). Emilyn found out she's a hula-hooping wizard, and Allen played happily in the giant sand mounds.

Time to run out and buy an emergency camera at Walmart. O, sweet Casio Exilim, thank you for your years of amazing service. You were state of the art... in 2006. You taught me that digital cameras can be loved, not feared.

For the very last shots ever taken by my beloved camera, click here.

Foggy start, beautiful finish

It's a very good thing we enjoyed this day at the beach...

It was a chilly, foggy start, to be sure. That persistent fog hung right around the Gulf-front condos. And we saw an ominous little visitor on the beach... our first Portuguese man o' war! Dun dun dunnnnn!

But the sun was sparkling on the water, and soaking into our pasty, Midwestern winter skin... Emilyn took a long walk while Allen messed around with the boogie board, and Daddy made a friend while watching cownose rays leaping out of the water and flapping their little "wings"!

It was generally a great day to be together.

For all of our pictures from Sunday, click here.

Back to the beach - weird fog included

It's our 10th spring break at the beach! After all the stress of the house deal, we were apprehensive to leave town, yet oh-so-very happy to get away. After a road trip full of Allen's new favorite song -- "Through the Fire and Flames" -- we finally saw the beachfront buildings on the horizon, shrouded in a very weird and localized fog... but the Crabbes were still eager to dip their toes (and more!) in the Gulf!

Ah, the beautiful, clean sand... And water that was a little chillier than it might have first appeared!


After our traditional first-day meal at The Crab Trap (during which we finally managed to buy just the right amount of food -- and save a ton of money!), Emilyn took the photo that is becoming a tradition -- me and Daddy on the picnic tables at the restaurant's playground.


It's good to be back!