I’ve had a dream for a long time…that I jump in my car and drive to the ocean. On Saturday, June 29th, this dream came true. My husband and I left early Saturday morning and drove 12 hours to Gulf Shores, Alabama. It was a wonderful day of talking and getting reacquainted and falling in love again. We left our three beastlets in the care of my mother(BLESS HER) so there was no “Pipe down in the back” or “Stop farting on your brother!” What a nice day.
We arrived at the beach the next morning full of expectation. We immediately encountered a gentleman who was leaving… “Y’all be careful out there. There’s a lot of jellyfish.”
I braved the water anyway…(ankles only) and had the interesting experience of being stung by “the jelly’s.” We sat out the rest of the afternoon and watched the waves instead.
Day two was better. Not as many “jelly’s” and I actually got to swim. I love swimming in the ocean. Even while being stung by stray jellyfish tentacles.
Day three I met a nice local man at the shore by our cottage. He came in on a kayak and I struck up a conversation. “Are there any beaches close by where we could see some creatures?” I love sea creatures! He said Johnson Beach was a good place to visit and gave me directions. He also said Pensacola Beach, in Florida, was a beautiful place. We tried to find Johnson Beach and couldn’t so we made the 50 miles trek to Pensacola instead. This is what we saw.
It was the prettiest beach ever. There was a yellow warning flag indicating that waves were high and we should swim with caution. I flung myself into the waves and spent several hours jumping and being carried by the water. It was incredible. I was having so much fun in the waves that everyone else disappeared. I heard my husband scream “Margaret!” and I turned to see we were the only people still in the water. Then I heard someone on the beach scream something that sounded like “Shark!” I didn’t panic. I just swam as fast as I could and abandoned my husband to the waves. Yes, I would totally leave him to the shark. My children like me better any way.
We quietly ate our lunch on the shore while a little girl told me about the 6 foot shark that swam right next to her and nearly ate her all up. Then we saw a giant sting ray swim by about two feet from the shore. Creatures indeed!
Near the end of our jaunt we met a man who struck up a conversation with us(the best part of vacation is often meeting people and sharing life stories). One of the first things he said was “There’s a lot of jellyfish down at Johnson Beach. That’s why we came here.” Ha!
We sat on the front porch of our cottage and grilled steaks(a real treat for us) and chilled out on our last night in Orange Beach, Alabama(the cottage was in OB though we visited the beaches in Gulf Shores.) It was a nice, quiet evening and we collapsed into bed, utterly exhausted and ready to head home.
Wednesday morning I woke up early and decided to make one last trip to the beach. I put on my walking shoes and decided to fulfill one more dream….jogging on the beach. I arrived at Gulf State Park near the pier around 6:00am and ran along the beach, taking pictures of ominous storm clouds and sticking my tongue out at the birds. They were utterly annoyed that I interrupted their fishing and gave me the evil eye as I passed by.
I met a nice woman at one point who instructed me not to walk on the dry sand because they were taking pictures of the turtle tracks. Overnight a turtle had crawled onto the beach to look for a nesting site. I was happy to get my shoes and socks soaking wet to protect the turtle tracks. Oy!
This is me at the end of my jog….about 50 minutes later. What do you think? Do I look happy?
We survived the long drive home and today I am back with my beastlets. It was a really nice trip and we hope to do it again someday.
I am also proud to say that neither of us got a sunburn thanks to generous applications of 50 SPF sunblock. I came home with plenty of shells and some residual sand. I am filled with peace and looking forward to spending the rest of my vacation time with my family.
Today we celebrate our nation’s independence. We celebrate our freedoms and reflect on the sacrifices made by brave soldiers who saw a future worth fighting for. Without them vacations like this may not be possible. Happy Independence Day everybody!
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