A Long Weekend at the Beach

Clearwater Beach is one of my favorite places on the earth. My family was introduced to Clearwater when I was 9 years old, and we went there for summer vacation every year. I went with the family until I was 21 and married, then went back with the family & took Artie in 1995. In 2000, we went again with the family and took Logan (at age 2). This was the only trip that included Logan and my dad, and I have great memories and great photos from that trip.
It's a tiny little island near Tampa, and it's definitely more of a family place than a "spring break" type destination. Lots of retirees live there, and almost all of the same little mom & pop stores & restaurants have lined the main street for as long as I can remember. You can go to the marina to board a pirate cruise, a dinner cruise, a fishing expedition, or simply to drop mail at the post office there. You can walk almost the whole island, and there is activity at the pier every single night, year-round.

We went at the end of June for our annual family vacation and took Mom, Kristi & her family. It was a fun trip, but my boss interrupted me several times and there were crises going on at the office that put a damper on my trip. This past weekend, Artie, Logan & I returned for the Labor Day weekend to just chill and enjoy family bonding time with just the 3 of us. Logan is definitely more interested in hanging out with his friends these days than his boring old parents, so we want to take every opportunity we can to spend time with him and keep that bond tight.

We had a GREAT time! Friday night Logan just had to order room service - he still thinks that's one of the coolest things ever. Artie & I walked over to a seafood cafe and had dinner outside. Saturday morning, Artie & Logan went deep-sea fishing and due to the choppy waters from the tropical storm in the Gulf, they both got seasick.

They did manage to catch a few fish, though. If you take your catch to a local restaurant, they'll cook it for you. I thought that was pretty cool, too! While they were fishing, I slept in and then went down to the beach by myself. I rented our umbrella & chairs for the day and just chilled & read my scrapbooking magazines. When they returned, Logan went in for a nap while Artie & I swam and got some sun.

We went to our favorite restaurant, Crabby Bill's, for dinner that night. Logan ordered and ATE the biggest crab legs I have ever seen!!

Sunday we were lazy and stayed around the pool or the beach all day. We ate lunch by the pool at the Sand Bar & Grill. They bring the food & drinks right to your pool chair!

Sometimes Logan wanted to go the room and watch TV or play on his iPad, but mostly we spent all of our time together as a family. We had actual conversations, laughed, and played together, and I think it was the best weekend I've had in a VERY LONG time! I can't think of two people I'd rather spend my time with, and having them all to myself was such a treasure. I'm so glad we went. Logan said it was enough family togetherness time to count for the next 14 years, but I won't let him off that easy. :)

We Are at the Beach

Artie, Logan & I are in Clearwater Beach, Florida for a much-needed break. I will blog more after we get back. :)

Beach, Part 2

In just 18 LONG days from now, I'll be back here for the second time this year:


With Artie & Logan both in school, and my hectic work schedule, it gets harder and harder to plan little getaways. Quality time with Logan is also more & more scarce. Artie wanted to take another short trip with just the three of us, so we saw the golden opportunity in Labor Day Weekend. We are flying back down to Clearwater on Friday afternoon and flying back home Monday night. Almost three full days of sun, sand, water and uninterrupted FAMILY TIME! I am very much looking forward to that. Logan wants to go deep-sea fishing, and maybe we'll parasail again, who knows? I'm just looking forward to having the time with my two favorite people in the world. No work, no school, just the three of us!
I think parents should take any opportunity they can to get away with their kids and spend some family bonding time! Spending time at home with them is one thing - a very good thing - but getting away to a special place, where there are fun activities to share together and memories to make together - is a whole other experience. I enjoyed our family vacation earlier this year with Mom, Kristi & her family, too, but this will be different. Just my little family on our own adventure. I am counting the days!

Mountains vs. Beach

Having recently returned from both a vacation at the beach and weekend in the mountains, this topic has been on my mind. Have you ever noticed how many people from Florida migrate to Tennessee, and many retirees migrate to Florida? When I was younger, I always wanted to live at the beach. In fact, Artie & I did job searches and had found an apartment in Clearwater many years ago, before Logan was born. We were planning to move to that area and get jobs in Tampa. People from Florida thought I was crazy to want to leave the beautiful, peaceful mountains of East Tennessee for the heat, humidity and tourist crowds at the beach.
Having been born and raised here, I guess I sometimes take the scenery for granted. I can look out my window from the office and see ridges, trees, mountains, and the river. The heat is really an issue this year even in Tennessee, but it's still manageable. When I am in Clearwater, I can look out my window and see beautiful white sand, the ocean stretching as far as the eye can see, with the different hues of green and blue in the water. I can hear sea gulls and feel the sea breeze when I step outside. There is a beautiful sunset on the horizon almost every night. How do you compare two beautiful places? God created them both and they each have different things to offer.
We did live in Virginia Beach for a couple of years when we first married and Artie was in the Navy. Being further north on the Atlantic Coast was a little different than being in the Gulf of Mexico, but we hardly ever actually went to the beach when we lived there.
I'll probably never give up on my dream of living at the beach, but for now, the mountains are fine with me. Do you have a preference? I'd love to hear any comments.

Sand Dollar Fun

While we were at the beach this year, we found over 300 sand dollars while digging with our toes out on the sand bar. Logan would dive and bring up 8 to 10 at a time. It was a sand dollar BOUNTY! :) So Kristi & I decided we would decorate some. I haven't seen any of Kristi's yet, but here are some of my "masterpieces" of sand dollar art. I doubt they will ever be in the Smithsonian or anything, but they are cute for a first try.
Artie & I are going to have a sand dollar Christmas tree this year for one of our many trees. We will use the plain, unadorned ones for that, but I have definitely been having fun playing with different ideas for these.
We just booked our Labor Day weekend trip, which means Artie, Logan & I are going back to Clearwater for the long weekend. We wanted one more "summer" getaway with just the 3 of us. I am very excited about it. More sand dollars are definitely in our future.