An Out of this World Trip!

 I lamented about a lack of summer in a previous post. The past few days went a long way to help those gloomy feelings. The family took a few days off to share a special birthday with me (well, a wee early) at one of our most special places...Cape San Blas. 

We took three trips with the kids between 1997 and 2001 and stayed at the same house on the bay. I think we found our new house to do at the very least three summer trips!

This is the house for 2020 and beyond...

If you aren't familiar with Cape San Blas, it is still on the Panhandle of Florida but it is not like the touristy 30A. It is an actual cape and forms a bay that is not fed by a river, but by the actual Gulf of Mexico itself. This makes it just unbelievably pretty and unique. It has incredible sea life on the floor of the bay that is not seen around here. It is quite shallow and great for snorkeling and finding great treasures...starfish, sanddollars, gigantic conch shells with creatures inside, sea urchins, and scallops. The water is more like the green waters of the Gulf so yes, it is a wonderful place.

We will definitely not wait so long again to go. I think my birthday and the hurricane almost two years ago prompted the desire to go. We are somewhat afraid it will go the way of 30A and lose the Old Florida look and feel.

It is not a place to go and do the touristy things. There are no restaurants on the cape. It is half national park and half beach houses on stilts which took a beating during the storm. They are building back furiously and I think our rental was pretty new as well as all the others on our row. 

I had the most wonderful time and totally relaxed. I walked the beach so much that I was worn out. I pretty much only looked at my phone for weather and to take pictures. Nothing else...I highly recommend it.

Lindsay decorated as soon as we got there so I also got to experience a themed birthday...first one in 60 years. It was the perfect theme ---SPACE--- and I just happened to wear my NASA shirt on the way over. I had no idea:)

Tucker had fun with balloons as well...

I got sugar cookies and a cake that Mama made. And yes, today on my actual birthday I am eating healthy and trying to get all that bad stuff out. We grilled one night and made spaghetti another. On the first night, Tyler stopped in Port St. Joe and brought pizza. That is the last town on the way to the cape. 

For reference Cape San Blas is about halfway between Panama City and Apalachicola on the Panhandle. 

We arrived on Thursday and Jeff, Lindsay, Tyler, Tucker, and me went out on the bay for a short trip to to scallop in the bay. 

On Friday, Paul Allen and Katie arrived and I stayed back with Mom and Tucker and let them go with Jeff. They didn't get as many scallops as they had hoped but had a ton of fun. 

Tucker was unsure of the scallops because if they are still alive the shells will open slightly.

We also spent some time playing on the beach.

You can see it was just a hop, skip, and a jump from the house. 

I had a beautiful view from the house porch. I am not sure if you can tell, but the water is in the picture..It just sort of blends in with the sky.

It was sort of overcast during the trip but that actually proved to be beneficial in knocking back some heat and making it pleasant. Jeff went out one morning and caught a rainbow early that day.

There were green flags until the last day. GREEN FLAGS ---unbelievable... The Gulf was like a smooth pool.

Mother did very well. She has lost so much strength and had great difficulty navigating all the stairs on the house, but we helped her and she took 3 very short walks on the beach with me. She seemed to enjoy being with us all though.

She will probably sleep for two days to rest, but I am glad she got to go.

I could go on and on, but suffice it to say..it was a wonderful birthday celebration and I am indeed blessed. I am so grateful for 60 years. I came home to cards and texts so I am enjoying this birthday.

It is a very windy and blustery day. We are under tropical storm warnings and the wind and rain is expected to pick up after lunch, but I think we are in the clear or at least I hope. 

I will stop and share more later, since this is very long. I will be back with some fall decor, more trip thoughts, and stitching later.

Oh, I collected 60 shells to commemorate my birthday trip. Just what I need more shells!

Thankful for another trip around the sun,

Sandy