Relaxing and Reflecting on a Beach

I already had some down time after finishing my masters project to relax and rest my brain, but poor Ryan felt like he needed some time rejuvenate. My family was never that family that took yearly vacations to the beach, like most people I knew in school. Instead, we ventured through the hills to Branson, Missouri to a place we fondly dubbed "the jungle" after my younger brother couldn't call it by it's real name. To the rest of the world, our favorite vacation spot was called Silver Dollar City and we spent many a summer riding our way through the 1880s theme park.

In fact, we've gone for such a long time that we have witnessed the transformation of the park. From installing new rides, replacing oldies but goodies with flashy new ones, getting a cheap pair of tennis shoes to boost my height, to riding the same ride first every visit (Thunderation, of course. Connor and Ethan know what I'm talking about.) Our visits have evolved over the years, but I always enjoyed the concentrated family time. But, I was always glad to be back home when it was over too. Five people squeezed into one hotel room for a week would test a saint.

These are pictures from an older trip to Silver Dollar City when Connor was much younger (shorter) and Ethan's hair was just starting to grow out. With five people to fit on the two-seater rides, one person always had to ride by themselves. Here, my mom sacrificed and rode alone, but my dad normally did it.

You'll notice an extra person in these pictures: Ryan! This was only a week before he proposed to me on my birthday back in Memphis. It was a special trip having Ryan there, and with the additional person there was NO WAY we could all fit into one room. (Yay!) This trip gave Ryan an up close and personal look at the family dynamics he was marrying into. I loved being able to share this childhood favorite with him, even though his family visited this same place growing up! It was very sweet to share that time together before the engagement.

Anyway, Ryan and I decided it would be nice to have a relaxing little vacation at least near a beach. We drove down to the Mobile, Alabama area over the weekend to visit some of my good, college friends, sisters Lauren and Leah. After graduating and going our separate ways we've continued to keep in touch with one another, driving the six hours like it's nothing (It's not nothing. That's a long time to spend in a car.) It's even harder when the road taking you down to South Alabama has little to nothing on the sides to keep your mind occupied and your eyes open. They were actually bridesmaids in our wedding!

It was a sweet, fun trip, overall. Unfortunately, due to poor communication and planning on my part Leah had made plans to be out of town to visit some of their extended family. (Sorry, Leah! I promise we'll do better next time!) We were able to have dinner with her before she left on her trip though, so it wasn't a total wash. We ate at a place called Blue Gills on the causeway bridging Mobile to Spanish Fort. This place was right on the water of the bay, so if you wanted to eat there while riding around in your boat you could pull right up to the deck of the restaurant to eat! I thought that was really neat. We stayed in a little part town right next to Mobile called Daphne (like the character from Scooby-Doo), which is about an hour from the nice Pensacola, FL beaches.

Fairhope, AL is right next to Daphne. It's just a little drive down the road to a cute, quaint little downtown area that resembles the French Quarter of New Orleans. Full of small shops, a used book store, a coffee and ice cream shop, and a store teeming with the touch of Joanna Gaines. Needless to say, I loved it. It was small but very cute with charming facades along the sidewalk. The other neat thing about Fairhope is the pier. The pier has a little restaurant called Shux, but be warned should you find yourself in this restaurant: They crank the AC. You might need a jacket.

We got to spend one day at the beach, and it was amazing. I've always loved the beach. I love the sound of the waves rolling up on the sand, the gritty feel of the sand on my feet (and no where else on my body), the cool, salty water swelling over you and pushing you back to the sandy shore.

Some of the other vacations we took growing up were to Wells, Maine where my grandfather grew up. On a warmer summer, those beaches are wonderful to relax on too. But most of the time the weather is not the kind you want to wear a swimsuit in. A travel tip for you if you ever need or want to travel to this part of the country: Pack for warm AND cold weather. The weather up there can sometimes be unpredictable, with warmer temperatures one minute and cold ones the next, or you can think you're heading into a warm vacation for a week to find it's in the 40-50s the entire time. Just be prepared for anything!

Although I love the cool beaches of Maine, I also love the hot beaches down south. All beaches. I love all beaches, everywhere. Just put me in some sand next to the water. I'll be fine.

Ryan and I planned to go back to the beach the day after this, however, we did not anticipate being so sunburned from the first day. (We reapplied our sunscreen. We aren't sure where we went wrong.) It was such a nice day getting to spend some time on the beach getting my head back on straight after it was left spinning working on that project for school. It also gave me time to just reflect on the ways God's been moving in mine and Ryan's life and how good He's been to us. There is no where you'll experience the majesty of God like you will at the beach. Just go and marvel at the vastness of the water, and while you're doing that picture that water as His love for you. That huge expanse of water doesn't even do it justice. Isn't that amazing and crazy? I think so too.

One of the only things I wanted from this trip was, of course, to go to the beach for at least one day, and to stop by Whataburger at least once. As it happened, we ate a ton of fried seafood most of the days we were there. I actually felt quite sick on about the third day of this diet just because we don't eat like that a majority of the time. But sweet, sweet Ryan agreed to find a Whataburger on our way out of town heading home at 10:30 in the morning just so I could get my fix. Ladies, that's love.