Florida, days 1 & 2
we arrived down here in Florida on Thursday evening. straight after being picked up at the airport by my parents, we went down to the Gulf Coast Center & had dinner at R.J. Gator's, which was quite yummy. i was quite content with fried shrimp. had to adjust to the level of heat/humidity since we were used to the cooler temps & negligible humidity that was at home. after dinner we strolled around the outdoor plaza area and listened to a couple who were singing & playing. eventually went into Borders, where of course i couldn't resist buying 2 books - both nonfiction. in the past couple months i've been reading mostly nonfiction books or memoirs. interesting! i was always the girl who bought fiction books for so many years.
next day was spent being mildly lazy - kicked off the day going to the gym @ Pelican Preserve. the rest of the details are a little hazy to me now, as i'm typing this 4 or 5 days later - but around mid-day we went down to Barefoot Beach which is in the town of Bonita Springs. my parents had been there before on a really calm day & said the water was really clear and gorgeous. the day we were there, there was a good bit of wind so the water wasn't that clear. there were also some small waves. we just relaxed for the afternoon - Cory stayed in the shade (as usual) & i tried to get a little sun. went in the water once and played around... fun times :)
us on the beach
i enjoyed this cloud formation. i couldn't get the whole thing, even with my semi-wide-angle lens. oh well
the ocean
saw this sign on the way to the car in the parking lot...
and right afterwards we come across...
my dad decided the turtle needed some accessories
(no turtles were harmed in the taking of this photo... just saying)
the next day - Easter started out with a jog/walk on the golf course. ate a leisurely breakfast and then, to uphold traditions, we headed off to Sanibel to relax on the beach for the afternoon. we've made it an unofficial tradition to head to the little beach all the way on the end of the island of Sanibel. i wasn't down here in FL last Easter so i wasn't a part of it, but the 3 years before last i was down every time :)
a bit to my dismay, the beach wasn't in its usual deserted state, the way it has been most of the other times i've been there. there were lots of people around, some of which were a bit on the annoying side. my parents staked out a spot first & i knew Cory wasn't very happy there because there were too many people. we headed off down the beach to find a quieter spot, which we eventually did, and we played frisbee for a bit by the water's edge.
right around said spot, Cory spied a spot to relocate to - away from most people, all the way back by some waxy plant/tree which served as some nice natural shade. we went back & got our stuff & relocated to said new location where Cory was much happier. the only annoying thing was the large family positioned slightly forward & to the left of us. there were maybe 5 adults and 3 or 4 kids & they were all, for the most part, rather loud. one of the older women had a voice that i eventually placed as a cross between Fran Drescher & Ursula the sea witch (from The Little Mermaid) - ugh, terrible!
aside from that, we just spent the afternoon lounging, enjoying the lack of agenda :) Cory laid in his shady spot, listening to music or whatnot, & i tried to get a little sun.
i've seen this sign the past couple times i've been there & always wanted to get a shot of it but i guess my camera was in an un-reachable spot before? not sure, but i was happy to get a shot of it this time.
me at the end of the day, looking slightly sun-kissed. freckles starting to appear :P
silliness in the parking lot
headed home around 6ish & had a yummy Easter dinner of ham, baked mac & cheese, sweet potato something-or-other, rolls, applesauce, wine, and probably something else i'm currently forgetting.
more to come later :)
next day was spent being mildly lazy - kicked off the day going to the gym @ Pelican Preserve. the rest of the details are a little hazy to me now, as i'm typing this 4 or 5 days later - but around mid-day we went down to Barefoot Beach which is in the town of Bonita Springs. my parents had been there before on a really calm day & said the water was really clear and gorgeous. the day we were there, there was a good bit of wind so the water wasn't that clear. there were also some small waves. we just relaxed for the afternoon - Cory stayed in the shade (as usual) & i tried to get a little sun. went in the water once and played around... fun times :)
us on the beach
i enjoyed this cloud formation. i couldn't get the whole thing, even with my semi-wide-angle lens. oh well
the ocean
saw this sign on the way to the car in the parking lot...
and right afterwards we come across...
my dad decided the turtle needed some accessories
(no turtles were harmed in the taking of this photo... just saying)
the next day - Easter started out with a jog/walk on the golf course. ate a leisurely breakfast and then, to uphold traditions, we headed off to Sanibel to relax on the beach for the afternoon. we've made it an unofficial tradition to head to the little beach all the way on the end of the island of Sanibel. i wasn't down here in FL last Easter so i wasn't a part of it, but the 3 years before last i was down every time :)
a bit to my dismay, the beach wasn't in its usual deserted state, the way it has been most of the other times i've been there. there were lots of people around, some of which were a bit on the annoying side. my parents staked out a spot first & i knew Cory wasn't very happy there because there were too many people. we headed off down the beach to find a quieter spot, which we eventually did, and we played frisbee for a bit by the water's edge.
right around said spot, Cory spied a spot to relocate to - away from most people, all the way back by some waxy plant/tree which served as some nice natural shade. we went back & got our stuff & relocated to said new location where Cory was much happier. the only annoying thing was the large family positioned slightly forward & to the left of us. there were maybe 5 adults and 3 or 4 kids & they were all, for the most part, rather loud. one of the older women had a voice that i eventually placed as a cross between Fran Drescher & Ursula the sea witch (from The Little Mermaid) - ugh, terrible!
aside from that, we just spent the afternoon lounging, enjoying the lack of agenda :) Cory laid in his shady spot, listening to music or whatnot, & i tried to get a little sun.
i've seen this sign the past couple times i've been there & always wanted to get a shot of it but i guess my camera was in an un-reachable spot before? not sure, but i was happy to get a shot of it this time.
me at the end of the day, looking slightly sun-kissed. freckles starting to appear :P
silliness in the parking lot
headed home around 6ish & had a yummy Easter dinner of ham, baked mac & cheese, sweet potato something-or-other, rolls, applesauce, wine, and probably something else i'm currently forgetting.
more to come later :)