2020 30A Beach Trip - Days 6, 7, & 8

Let’s continue with our beach trip recap…

Thursday, June 11 (Day 90 of Quarantine)

On Thursday, we knew the weather was going to be gorgeous, so we got up, ate our Donut Hut leftovers from the previous morning, and we hightailed it to the beach.  The water was really murky and there was still a double red flag in the morning, but it eventually changed to a single red flag in the afternoon.  We spent the entire morning down there, and the kids spent most of their time looking for shells.  The water may have been yucky, but that also meant that all of the good shells were washing up!  The kids found tons!  We had a quick lunch in the condo, and then headed right back down to the beach where we spent the rest of the afternoon.  Eglin Air Force Base is right down the strip from our condo, so we got quite a show that day... tons of aircraft flew over throughout the day!

We headed up to the condo to get ready later that afternoon, and then we decided to spend the evening in Seaside.  Seaside is one of our favorite places in 30A, and evening in Seaside is magical, so it’s always a must. 

We ended up finding a parking spot fairly easily this time, and then we walked straight to Bud and Alley’s to have pizza on the patio.  There were only two other groups out there with us and everyone was spaced really far apart so we didn’t have to worry about germs spreading.  Our server also wore a mask the entire time so we felt very safe about being there.  The food was yummy, the beer was cold, and the kiddos were in rare form, so it was an enjoyable evening.

We had all dressed up that evening with the hope of getting our family pictures on the beach at sunset, but since we’d eaten dinner so early to beat the crowds, we had a lot of time to kill before then.  There is a massive green lawn right smack in the middle of Seaside, so B and I sat on the perimeter while the kids ran around in the grass for an hour or so.  There were lots of people there, but everyone was being really great about spacing out properly, so we never felt like we needed to move or leave.  The kids knew to avoid the other kids on the green and they managed to steer clear of everyone while they played.  It breaks my heart that we’re having to train our kids to avoid human contact right now, but it is what it is.

After about an hour of relaxing on the green, we walked to the car to grab the tripod, and then we headed down to the beach to take pictures.  As per usual, we found a good spot near the dunes, we set up the tripod, and we snap snap snapped all of our pictures using the timer on my camera.  Works like a charm every time!  And I'll have a separate post up for those pictures next week.  This post is already too long without them!

About halfway through, a young girl came trotting over and asked if we wanted her to snap some for us, and we obliged even though I was cringing thinking about possible germs getting on the camera.  Lol.  You should have seen me wipe that thing down with an antibacterial handwipe after she was done.  Haha.  She told us she’s an amateur photographer, and she actually did a great job framing it up… I can’t even tell you how many times someone has offered to take our family picture, only to find afterward that one of us is missing half of our head or something.  Lol.  

After we were done taking pictures, we lingered on the beach for a few more minutes to watch the sun sink beneath the waves, and then it was back to the square to grab some ice cream for dessert.  By that time, Seaside was getting crowded, so we took that as our cue to leave.  Nights in Seaside are always my favorite, but again, we were being very cautious since we were in a pandemic… unfortunately we couldn’t escape that while we were on vacation.  Wouldn’t that have been nice?

Friday, June 12 (Day 91 of Quarantine)

Friday was our last full day there and we had more gorgeous weather on tap.  We ate some cereal in the condo for breakfast and then headed straight to the beach to soak up one last day there.  The water was murky again, but there were no waves whatsoever, so the kids were able to find loads and loads of shells and pieces of sand dollars. 

Jacob was digging in the sand in the surf at one point, and all of a sudden, he started yelling and crying.  I went running over to see what in the world had happened and he told me that a crab had pinched him.  Lol.  I know I shouldn’t be laughing because I know it must have hurt, but what are the chances of getting pinched by a crab?!  Haha.  Bless his little heart, his finger was all red and you could see where the blood had come to the surface where the pincher had gotten him, but he didn’t let it deter him and he got right back out there.

We had lunch in the condo as we always do and then headed back down to the beach afterward to spend our final hours there.  It was really hot on Friday and there wasn’t much of a breeze, so I was actually ready to head back to the condo when the time came.  The kids… not so much.  They were so sad!

We got ready shortly after heading back, and then we decided to have one last dinner at The Hub.  We grabbed burgers from Duo’s again and then we hung around and listened to the music… they had a DJ that evening and he was playing some great songs, but once it started getting packed in there, it was time for us to leave.  Waaaahhhh.  I could have stayed all night!  Stupid pandemic.  (It was also stupid because we didn’t even get to see our friends who live there.  We get together with them every year when we go down there, but we just didn’t think it would be wise to see anyone since we hadn’t even been seeing our own parents at that point.  Sigh.  Stephanie, if you’re reading this, we can’t wait to hug and you and Bobbie next year… we missed y’all so much this year!  Olivia especially missed seeing her Bobbie.  Lol.)

When we got back to the condo, I started to do some packing so things wouldn’t be as hard in the morning, and then we headed back down to the beach for one last sunset along with some crabbing.  We ended up seeing two that evening, so we ended our last night with a bang!

Saturday, June 13 (Day 92 of Quarantine)

Saturday morning, we were up early to get ready, get packed, and head out of town.  On the way out, we stopped by Big Bad Breakfast to grab some French toast (theirs is so yummy) and then we hit the road! 

We made it back home without having to stop (except for gas, first time the whole trip), and then we all had a late lunch followed by lots and lots of unpacking and clothes washing.  I managed to get most everything put away (aside from the remaining mountain of dirty clothes) and then we had hot dogs for dinner since that’s all we had in the house.

After dinner, it was Mandalorian with the fam and lots of snuggling with Maui (we had missed her so much!), and then B and I watched the movie Breakthrough after the kids went to bed.  It was a little cheesy at times, but overall, I thought it was pretty good.  I enjoyed it even more when I found out that it’s based on a true story.  Wow!! 

And that was our 2020 beach trip during a pandemic!  I’m just so grateful that we were able to make it work, and I know we’ll cherish the memories forever.  It was surely one of the brightest parts of this crazy, unforgettable-for-all-the-wrong-reasons year.

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