Gulf Shores '09

So, it's a little late for spring break and this beach trip was hardly reminiscent of any Spring Break most people usually take. But still, Gulf Shores '09 it was and will always be.

Basically, I've never taken a beach vacation in the summer time. One Christmas, our family went to Galveston Island but walks on the beach then included a lightweight jacket and definitely no swimming. Then in March one year I visited my best friend in North Carolina and while we enjoyed the beach, it just wasn't the same.

But this time, I swam in the ocean, got sunburned one day, enjoyed live music in open bungalow-style restaurants, had drinks paid for by rich Southern gentlemen and their ladies, and indulged in a late-night ocean swim sans some clothing. It was perfection.

I read a book that I've heard so much about but never read. "Their Eyes Were Watching God". I realized how old I am when I actually WANTED to read this book after realizing that many high school and college students this year are being forced to do so. But I loved the book, nonetheless. And managed not to drown it in the Gulf. The library would've been PISSED.

Other things came out of the trip:

- I want to start a book club with my friends
- my friend, Kim, "usually doesn't like crabs but..."
- we love to people watch. And one of our quotes of the day came from a heavily intoxicated old lady in a sundress who said to her companions, "when the waiter comes for our drinks, I want EVERYTHING!"
- I ate the finest meal I've had in a restaurant in a l-o-n-g time. It was stuffed flounder with New Orleans beans and rice. I mean, seriously - the best meal. It came from the Original Oyster House.

It was also during this trip I had to purchase my first prescription pain medicine for Lyme-related pain. That was slightly discouraging. My body simply could not handle the 10-hour drive down there and by the time we arrived on Friday, I felt numb and exhausted from being in so much pain for so long. The trip home was much more comfortable thanks to the meds.

So, the long and the short of it is, I love the ocean and I really didn't want to leave. What I didn't love so much was the tourism and all the people and stuff so I decided that paradise, really, would be a private island with a private beach and lots of mountains surrounding me.

A girl can dream, right?!