We Ran Away....

We were scheduled to make a four hour drive this weekend for my older daughter's soccer tournament, but due to a rough couple of weeks we dropped our original plans and ran away. Well, drove away, to a much closer and relaxing destination. It takes about an hour and a half to get to St. George Island and escape to another world.

We arrived late in the afternoon and immediately went for a long walk while the sun was setting. The minute we stepped out on the sand we ran into this little guy. We chased him out of hiding for a better look but these crabs are fast! There were lots of them all over - some as small as half an inch, though this guy was about the size of my hand.

My daughter's walked ahead of me down the beach creating a nice photo op for me.

Right next to the hotel where we stayed is a restaurant with outdoor seating where we had a leisurely dinner. When we stepped off of the lighted deck onto the beach we looked up and saw the most amazing night sky I've seen in a long while. As luck would have it we had a moonless, cloudless night and the view of the Milky Way directly overhead was really stunning. We got our beach towels and stared up into the sky for about an hour and a half. I wish I could have captured it in a picture.


Early saturday morning my younger daughter and I got up for the sunrise and took another walk. We saw the slightest sliver of moon not far above the horizon. It looks like a speck next to the clouds in this picture. Please ignore the water spots on my camera lens...I guess I'm not a photographer for a reason!

I meant to get more pictures as the sun came up but we came across a gentleman walking his dogs and that led to lots of conversation and ball throwing. Then we spotted the dolphins making their rounds. Again, no photos because they were not very close in and I am notoriously bad about capturing them. Usually we only see their back fins arching out of the water, but later in the day they were jumping up out of the water - a real treat.

There are a variety of birds,including my favorites, the pelicans. The pelicans fly by like squadrons, patrolling for fish. In the winter you can get great shots of them on the beach but they were further out on the water and they look speckish in the pics I took. I did manage to get several shots of seagulls.



The sky wasn't the only clear view we had. Due to the lack of any storms recently the water was really clear and calm. In fact, I'm not sure I've ever seen it so clear and calm and we've been coming here for about nine years. I heard other people saying the same so I guess it wasn't just my imagination. My oldest had some fun taking shadow pictures in the shallow water.






What's a trip to the beach without seashells? The girls collect them and embed them in the sandcastles that they make.







It's nice that no matter how big and grown up the girls become they still play like children when they get to the beach. They dig holes, catch critters, build castles and moats and play, play, play.






Last, but never least, is Gerbil Thingy. Gerbil Thingy has been a part of our family since my twelve year old was about four. He's had many adventures...I'll have to tell you about them sometime. He jumped up on the rail of our balcony to remind me to get a shot from our room.