Advertisement
Published: August 21st 2005
Edit Blog Post
purplesmurf
BEWARE! USE SUNTAN LOTION! Good Morning Everyone!
It seems like I am always a day behind lately and that is just fine with me. That is what life is like down here in Destin. There is no rush. You find yourself talking things more slowly (even your talk becomes slower.....kinda a strange mix of Rhode Island and southern accent...whoah). At 6:15am I looked outside and saw the sun rising and about 20 fishing boats in the distance. I noticed them all coming closer toward the beach. It was an odd, cool sight. April and I think there were dolphins out there. She swore she saw one in the water below. This wouldn't be surprising. Destin has a large concentration of dolphins. There are dolphin sightseeing tours galore around here, however, who needs a tour when the resort you're staying at says the chances of seeing dolphins from your balcony during early morning is very favorable! 😊 Cool!
Yesterday was a great day. We got a very early start (9:00am). Our plan was to rent a pontoon boat for 1/2 a day, but when we arrived at Sunshine Pontoon Boat Rentals we noticed the water in the bay didn't have that breathtaking emerald glow.
destin200
Another beautiful day! The lady explained to us that there were too many minerals "kicked up" from the recent thunderstorms. She thought it would be clear tomorrow (today) -- so we decided to wait. Instead we headed to the beach at our resort. We hadn't had the chance to really go since we got here late Sunday night, so we were very excited. The weather was just perfect. Not too hot at all. There was really no humidity. That's the thing. Late April and early May is PERFECT weather in Florida's panhandle. We rented two chairs and an umbrella for the day ($9 per person). The water was even more emerald and turquoise then it appeared from our balcony. The beach was already full with people. We ran in the water seconds after settling ourselves into our spot. The water was BEAUTIFUL. Warmer then the water ever gets in New England, even in August! I would say it was close to 70 degrees. It was like being in a pool! There was NOTHING, I mean NOTHING under our feet except silky, white sand. No seaweed, no rocks, no shells....nothing but silky smooth sand. The water was crystal clear. We stayed in the water
destin201
Just like Tahiti and the Fiji Islands. for over 1/2 an hour and then went back to our seats to dry off and get some sun. WHOAH.....WHOAH.....I did the normal 20 minutes in the sun thing before going back under the umbrella, but April, ooooh sweeeet April.....light skinned, beautiful April......decided....a.) she didn't need no stinkin sunscreen b.) the fact that she was turning purple in the sun was a good thing c.) 20 minutes wasn't long enough for her and d.) she didn't need no stinkin sunscreen. I warned her that she would burn and burn bad. But she flashed me that innocent April smile and said, she was FINE and to relax --- so I did. About 1/2 hour (or a little longer) I looked over at April and she was gone.....yes.....gone. Sitting next to me was the PURPLE SMURF....do you remember that? I am showing my age, I know....but c'mon....everyone must remember the episode where one of the smurf turned purple and mean and ran around biting all the other smurfs tails---even papa smurf---traumatic!!! Anyway, my sweet, sweet April was gone -- she had turned into a PURPLE SMURF! She grunted, squeaked, used foul language, she even started to snore at one point! I said
destin204
Our chairs for our beach day! we should leave, she said in a few minutes.....I said we have to leave and she said she was relaxed......RELAXED???? She looked asphyxiated! At that point I knew there was no telling purple smurf what to do......it was at that point we were joined by stained puppet sock, tootin tootie, and naked sally strutters torso doll. They were like THREE'S COMPANY! Little tootin tootie was so cute. She wanted to be buried in the sand, so I did, but now the poor thing has sand dandruff that won't come out of her hair. Stained sock puppet said that looked fun and joined in the fun. Sally just wanted to sun bathe. After the puppets played around, we packed up our belongings and headed inside to freshen up. I looked like I had been to Cuba for 6 months. April, a.k.a. "the purple smurf", was acting very, very strange and cranky. This was VERY out of character for her. Every time I looked at April, god forgive me, I laughed. She was sooooooo red/purple, I just laughed. So did she....but with a grunt. This was beyond a farmer's tan. This was a farmer's 3rd degree burn. And every time I asked
destin205
April before she was bit by a purple smurf! her if she was OK, or needed a wet towel for her face or some ice....she yelped, "NO, I AM FINE"! Whoah....
We decided to take a drive down to Navarre Beach and Pensacola to survey the damage caused by Hurricane Ivan. We had heard Navarre was pretty bad. Let me explain to you --- Navarre Beach was the most beautiful beach I had ever seen in my life. Last year it even (very slightly) beat out Destin (if you can believe that). The sand and water were dream-like. 100% perfection. There were million dollar homes lining the road to the beach. It was (and is) a new town with lots of plans and construction for the future. Then in September 2004, Hurricane Ivan struck and Navarre/Pensacola took the brunt of it. Gone were many of the million dollar homes, and miles of white sand were thrown all over the place. The once sprawling beach was cut in half. The water, still that beautiful glow, looked almost sad. When we crossed the bridge to Navarre, the affects of the hurricane weren't that noticeable until we turned the corner and drove down the main beach road. Literally dozens of homes
destin208
My bronzed foot! were missing. Miles of beach sand --- gone. The few restaurants in the area were closed. Bull dozers and huge machinery were parked in most parking lots. It was like an affluent ghost town. Navarre WILL be back. That is the vibe I got from it. Even with all the destruction, it was still beautiful -- that says a lot! We weren't even able to make it to the part of the beach we visited last year. That portion of the road was still closed off to traffic. We continued south to Pensacola and that too was heavily damaged. Pensacola is dated anyway. They need to update the area and it seems like they are doing that now. All I can say is I wish the people of Navarre & Pensacola and ALL areas affected by the hurricanes lots of luck and peace. I couldn't imagine going through what they have.
It was almost 6pm and we were tired, and purple smurf looked like she was ready for combat, so we decided to pick up dinner to eat back at the condo and watch TV. When we got back to the condo, April said...."I'm warm..." -- Those of whom
destin209
April roasting! know April, know the small, sweet voice she said that in. I cracked up laughing. I asked her if she needed ANYTHING..."no" she kept saying. Before I knew it she had retired to the bedroom for the evening. She was gone. Sleeping and snoring away! LOL!
Today, Thursday, may just be an errands type day. We have a lot to do! Clean clothes, mail stuff, buy a new digital camera (mine died at the beach yesterday), etc., etc., -- We are going to a cute beach front restaurant named Floyd's however, that should be fun.
By the way, April's purple smurf burn is now a beautiful red tan and she never bit my tail! 😊
Happy Travels!
Des & Ape
Advertisement
Tot: 0.158s; Tpl: 0.011s; cc: 16; qc: 76; dbt: 0.0774s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1.4mb