Friday Feb. 24th, it was nice to wake up with nothing electric car-related to obsess about. Mom wanted to take a boat ride and they had ones leaving from the aquarium near the Publix where we’d fueled our car, so I booked the hour-long dolphin cruise. We’d thought of taking the one and a half hour cruise that stopped somewhere so we could collect shells and I wanted to do that even though I’d already collected a decent amount of shells. But the longer cruise was sold out.
It worked out fine that we took the shorter cruise. Beforehand, we drove a short way down the island to take a look at the shops. We didn’t actually visit a single shop, but instead had some gelato which was good because it was a very warm morning.
Instead of sold out, this cruise had only about a dozen people on it, which was nice because I never like a crowd.
We all had to say where we were from and a woman next to us said with a french accent that she was from Canada. I asked her if she knew of Louise Penny, a Canadian author whose murder mystery audio books I’ve enjoyed listening to. I assumed she’d have heard of her because she seems to be known all over the world, but the woman didn’t know who she was. So I guess the author isn’t really known everywhere.
We saw a few dolphins but in trying to take a picture all I have is photos of the water. I did like this nice row of birds.
We got to the beach a couple of hours before sunset which was great.
We took a short walk on the beach and saw a wedding. Nice idea, but it was pretty dang windy and sort of chilly.
A young woman walked out on the beach with a cute little puppy. It was just so funny and cute, and every time somebody stopped to pet it, it’d flop down on the sand and wriggle around gleefully. It was also intent on digging a big hole.
As we left the beach I talked to the woman, and she said the puppy was three months old. She said she tries to take him to the beach every day because he loves it, and also to work off some of his energy. So cute!
I hadn’t gone in the water at all but decided it was now or never, and I’m glad I did. The water wasn’t that cold, and as I waded in, a guy was splashing around and I said, “the temperature’s not bad,” and he replied, “It’s great, and it’s my last chance!” He had the right idea.
The final sunset…
The woman we’d met on the beach on our first day had recommended a “pricey” restaurant on the beach, so we drove down the street and walked a bit to get there. It wasn’t nice at all, but very loud and crowded. We left and walked a little further and found the next one she’d mentioned, and same deal there, except we here was asked about the wait time and it was 45 minutes. Not worth it. We tried another place, long wait, and ended up at the original “Frenchy’s,” which was kitchy and cute and we were able to sit right down and have a tasty last dinner in Florida.
I’d thought that if I was ambitious I could get up early and run on the beach one last time, but I was lucky to manage to get ready and head out the door in the morning. The drive wasn’t bad at all; that same beach lady full in misinformation had said the traffic would be terrible on Saturday because of everybody going to the beach, but I don’t think I even got stuck in traffic. It was a sunny, warm morning and there were plenty of bridges to cross en route.
And now, back in Springfield it’s grey and cold and about to rain pretty soon. But at least no snow, plus I can feel the approach of spring.
Ok then,
G.
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