To add spice to a blog, we wordplay. To add spice o life, we take adventures. On Friday night, after a long week of work, Ty and I traveled to Pensacola, Florida to escape from Nashville.
Ty is a saint and I'm perpetually exhausted due to a new work schedule, so Ty drove us the entire way through bumper to bumper traffic until we arrived at 1:45 AM. Clayton and Jeanette Flaming were kind enough to stay up for us and welcome us into their home... their dog... not so much. Coco wasn't so excited to have house guests and became easily frustrated with our overly hyper ball of fur. Their dog is an old dog, so if Papi got too close, she'd give him a warning growl and then cough as if to say, "I'm too old for this."
When we got to their beautiful home, I was in full-on zombie mode, so I basically just waddled through their house, fell into the guest bed, and went right to sleep.
In the morning a beautiful light was shining in our hearts; at last we were out of Nashville in a beautiful new place, and ready to start our next (brief) adventure. Fortunately, our adventure started with breakfast. Jeanette brought some great coffee in a cute sea-themed mug, and Clayton brought a feast of locally-produced sausages, omelets, toast, and Jelly that Ty's grandma, Mary Beth, had made. We ate outside watching the squirrels recklessly jump from limb to limb and Papi exploring their acre of property. In the words of Hank Hill, "I tell you what!" nothing can put a person in a good mood like a hot cup of coffee, a full belly, and some fresh air.
Since Ty and I were new to Florida, our hosts offered to take us to some of their favorite places. Our first stop was Fort Pickens, a brick military fort on an island. Fun Fact: Even though it was a Union fort, it was built by slave labor, reinforcing the fact that the civil war wasn't totally about slavery.
One of the walkways within the Fort. Most of the windows were used to stick cannons through. There were also tunnels that they filled with gunpowder, in case they were ever overtaken.
They actually held several Native Americans there. This quote by Geronimo really resonated with me.
After meandering around the fort on a self-guided (and Clayton and Jeanette-guided) tour, we made our way to the beach which was classified as a national park. Funner Fact: If you're over 65, you can buy a pass for $15 that will get you into all of the national parks. (So, there is an exciting birthday after 21 after all!)
Jeanette had packed us all snacks... smoked chicken legs, apples with peanut butter, crackers with peanut butter, vegetables, granola bars, and water. If we ate like that every day, we'd be in trouble! With all that delicious food, we obviously took our chances and broke the "no swimming for an hour after eating" rule.
Can you blame us?
We were very impressed with this "park" AKA beach. The sand was so white it was almost blindingly so, but it didn't burn our feet as we walked across it like it does at other beaches. The water was kind of a bright green with a blue tint to it, and it was cool and crisp. It smelled fresh--not like stale fish and seaweed. The water was so calm, t was almost like a like... All in all, perfect conditions for romping, which is exactly what Ty and I did for about two hours.
Here's the quote of the day from Ty: "You can't expect to go to the forest and not see any wildlife." Apparently, this applies to the ocean as well. As we were walking through the water, Ty says, "OW!" He grabs at his foot, and there was a tiny crab pinching him! He quickly shook it off of his hand and proceeded to suffer with his victimized toe.
After that mishap, we decided to make our way toward the shore and search for shells to add to our collection. As we were searching, I saw a target bag floating in the water. As an act of good stewardship, I bent over to pick it up. To my great surprise, I felt something hard and slimy, and promptly began to scream. What I had perceived to be a plastic bag was in fact a jelly fish the size of a dinner plate! Ty was so amazed he gawked at it floating for what seemed like five minutes. after my brush with danger and almost getting stung (and subsequently peed on... again... see my last post) I'd had enough of the ocean for one day.
Once we'd rinsed off we hopped into Clayton and Jeanette's vehicle and headed toward downtown Pensacola. Downtown is a neat area that is very well taken care of. There are painted pelicans strategically placed throughout the city, pruned flower beds, and buildings without neon lights. We bypassed all of this in search of the Pensacola Greek Festival.
Me and Ty at the Greek Festival. I promise we didn't try to color coordinate.
The Greek dessert we had. And yes, it did taste as good as it looks.
One was a slushy, one was a beer... guess which one was mine and which was Ty's... (Answer revealed later.)
Apparently over 20,000 people attend this festival each year. There's Greek music, children dancing, delicious food (can you say "gyros"?), and even better dessert. We enjoyed our time there and felt slightly closer to our home away from home in Europe. Especially since Clayton and Jeanette were nice enough to treat me to an AmberBock. (For my non-beer snob pals, that's a darker beer.)
Jim Gaffigan said it best when he said:
When we left the Greek Festival, we were stuffed, sun-kissed, and happy. No complaints here.
We were so worn out when we got home that we just took a little rest in bed and worked on homework/writing on our computers. Then, we watched some survivor man and sports with Clayton and Jeanette.
One really cool thing about their home, is that they have one bedroom (the guest bedroom) totally dedicated to "old stuff." There are old pictures, bronzed shoes, handmade quilts, old furniture, some clogs, classic hats, and probably even more things that I didn't notice. I really liked that they valued history so much. Looking at the history hanging on their walls made me appreciate even more how important stories are to families. Jeanette proved this by showing us the ultimate story: the Bible. Her family had a very old version of the Bible in German. It used to be her mother's. Every Bible is significant, but the family sentiment behind this one was unreal.
I think Jeanette's mother must have been a pretty neat lady, not just because she raised such a kind and hospitable daughter, but also because she had kept a "prayer" journal for several years, in which she'd written prayers about everything under the Son. (Pun intended.) It was a really lovely keepsake for the Flamings to have, and I think I might start a prayer journal of my own now.
After lots of conversation, a snack of smoked meat and pizza (there we go eating again!) we fell into our bed, full and happy once again.
In the morning, we went to Men's Breakfast at the Gonzalez United Methodist Church in Pensacola. Ty and I identify as Catholic, but after my encounter with Gram's spirit in the park (read my last post) I've definitely felt more open to other denominations... after all, it's all the same God.
The breakfast, was great, but the people we were eating breakfast with were even greater. Most of them were older than Ty and me, but I still felt totally welcomed by everyone. It was such a loving and happy atmosphere, and I really enjoyed it.
Breakfast was followed by mass ("services"?) at 8:00AM. I'd never been to a Methodist service before, but I was amazed by how many similarities there were between the two churches. I did miss taking Eucharist, but other than that, I still enjoyed worshiping God with my new friends in Pensacola.
Since I'm still adjusting to waking up so early, it was nap time when we got back to their house. I took a short nap, then we got up and ate lunch. Barbecue chicken sandwiches with chips, homemade pickles, olives, and strawberry/blueberry shortcake for dessert.
Sadly, our time was drawing to a close, since Ty and I both had to work on Monday morning at 7 AM. So, we packed our bags, loaded them into the car, and said goodbye to the Flamings.
Because Papi didn't get any beach time the day before, we decided we could make a quick detour on our way home to a small dog beach. Papi totally missed the point. He didn't get in the water. He didn't run through the sand. He basically just walked around smelling other dogs' pee. So we loaded up our dog, and started back to Nashville.
Here's a view of the bay we had while driving.
Around midway home, we decided to stop for supper in a town called Clanton, Alabama. This town was the definition of quaint. There were farmers markets selling peaches, a billboard of their local beauty queen, and several restaurants boasting Southern food. When we drove around down town, there were so many small shops and boutiques. It was the kind of town you can picture yourself sitting on your front porch, sipping some sweet tea, and gossiping with a friend while watching your children playing in the front yard. Maybe someday down the road that picture will turn to reality, but who knows.
We left Clanton and God blessed our trip with the most beautiful sunset I've seen since leaving Kansas. I'm not kidding, this sunset could compete with the sunsets we get in western Kansas. Since pictures are worth more than words, especially when it comes to things like this, here it is:
The picture really doesn't do it justice.
But isn't that how all of life is? We can take pictures, and write blogs all we want, but it's always the moment that's the best part. Memories are just ghosts of feelings--pale impressions really. I'm sure this trip will be something we can look back on and enjoy for quite some time... and this blog really doesn't do it justice.
No comments:
Post a Comment