Beach Blog #9

Cloudy/Rainy Days in the Forecast

     I suppose it's all about your age or where you call home that determines whether this is a good or bad time of year to come to the beach.
     If you're like most of the people down here with license plates north of Nashville, it's a great time of year.
     And if you're like us, a couple in their mid to late 50s, it's a good time too.
     For the 'Snowbirds,' it's an absolute no-brainer to get down here where the cold temperatures are still above 50-degrees.
     And for the middle-aged folks like us, it's a good time because absolutely none of the usual reasons for visiting the beach apply to us.

     Sun? Teresa and I both spent years lacquered up in baby oil. We're probably a dermatologist's teaching aide. Surf? Nope. I saw "Jaws" while vacationing at the beach 40-years ago. To this day, I don't get in the water any deeper than my ankles. Sand? Gotta admit that a walk on the beach is still pretty high on the 'fun things to do' scale. We're more about getting away and as our upstairs neighbor Jim from Minnesota said, "doing nothing." Today, we worked on that.

Look at the Middle Toe

     First up, a looong walk on the beach with a lot of stopping and stooping to pick up shells or pausing to looks for boats on the horizon. T & I are also amateur detectives. Some how, we've gotten in the habit of seeing a situation and trying to solve the clue(s) left for us.
     For example, look at the footprint picture. Do you see that really long middle toe? Who has a toe that long? Our quest, for literally hundreds of yards, was who's print is that?
     We narrowed it down to a couple who passed us while walking. She was a young woman. He was an incredibly hairy older man. I said, "It's the woman's because it's so small." T said, "No, it's the man's because it's closer to the water and by the way, I'd make you wax your back." She added, "Seems like there are a lot of older men with younger women down here."
     To be clear, we're usually always wrong in our deductions. Like the time in Midland when we bought supper for a father and his young son because we were convinced mom had run off with the pool boy. Turns out later while talking to the dad, mom was at a Christian women's meeting and father and son were off to pick her up at church. Ooops.

Mardi Gras, Panama City, FL

     We never solved the GIANT middle toe caper. So, we took off for Panama City.
     Turns out, they were gearing up for their Mardi Gras in an area called Pier Pointe that is shop after shop and restaurant after restaurant.    

     The funny or best thing is/was, the area's practically deserted. We suspect in late spring through summer this area, the whole area, would be swarming with people. But not now and that's SO GREAT. Again, that's another great reason to visit Florida when you're middle-aged.

Kilwin's Sweets, Panama City, FL

     Never a pair to pass a treat, we spotted Kilwin's Sweets with their motto: "Sweet in every Sense since 1947" and it was Fabulous Fudge Friday, BOGO on fudge slices.

     You don't have to tell us twice. We got a German Chocolate slice and a Chocolate Pecan slice. By the way, a slice is about a pound. So now, we have two pounds of fudge.

     And here's some need to know news in the world of fudge, keep your uneaten treat in the freezer NOT the refrigerator. Apparently, the fridge sucks out the sugar. Hmm, who knew?

     We also got a couple pretzels. We ate them. Fudge, pretzels and no crowd.... yes, winter's definitely a good time to visit Florida.

Bill Robertson, cooking Pascal Manale's BBQ shrimp tonight.