I was flipping the bod-ometer over into the 30's this weekend so my family went to Florida to relax and soak up some gulf air and sun.  My son got a little too much and ended up with a blister from sun burn.  Oops, d-fax, I promise, it won't happen again.   At least we learned on a short trip in February rather than the middle of summer.  We're now much more aware of how quickly little fair-skinned mini-people can burn.  Now I know what they mean by "the blistering sun"

Rosemary beach is really incredible!  I'll post some pics soon for all to see.  I was very impressed with this little oasis in Florida.  I've never been a big fan of the swampy state.  It all gets so cheesy.  I can't quite figure out why people have to have pink flamingos in their yard and seashells all over the house.  I even stayed somewhere once where the streets were paved with sea shells.  Oooh, great idea! until I found my beach path blocked by the rising tide and had to use the road with no sandals.  None of that in Rosemary beach!

The prices are a bit, um, premium.  You get what you pay for.  The Summer Kitchen (and Blus by Night) was a fabulous local dining spot.  You can literally eat there breakfast, lunch and dinner and never bore of it.  Its casual cafe early, fine dinner in the evening.  The salmon was out of this world and the breakfast was superb.  Apparently the owner/chef studied at Juliard in New York.  All I know is that sounds pretty posh.  The food is proof!  Don't hesitate to eat there no matter what mood you're in.

Seaside was nice.  They have a great market.  We ate at some seafood / po-boy restaurant with folk art on the walls.  Everything was fried.  It all tasted the same.  I asked for the tuna special and requested it rare, explaining I hated over-cooked fish.  It arrived grey, well-done, tasteless and nasty.  I ate a few bites and moved on to finish everyone's fried shrimp.  You can't screw up fried scrump!  So, back to Rosemary with us. 

Note to self: when prices are high, don't get the cheap wine.  I threw out a $17 bottle of wine.  It was acually a $6 bottle marked up a bit.  I should have gotten something a little better, then at least I'd have enjoyed it. 

The last two notes are the only things that went even remotely wrong, however.  Everything else was amazing.  The beach was clean and beautiful, the temperaure in the mid seventies - perfect.  Even the construction was fun, my boy loves "tucks". 

I did have some trouble with the kite I bought.  It took some re-engineering before it would fly.  I needed a challenge for the weekend.  I was very proud when I let the last of the line out and tied it to our rented wagon.  It hung out up there for about fifteen minutes before it crashed to the earth.  Big fun.

Well, back to the grind, I suppose.  Before I left, I thought, "what good is three days at the beach in Florida?  Too far to drive, to expensive to eat, I should just stay home instead."  I was wrong.  It might as well been a week.  I let off a lot of stress listening to the waves crawl gently up the sand.

One last thing: the moon on the night of the 19th was bizarre!  There was a halo around it that filled half the night sky.  I've never seen such a thing.  I pointed it out to some neighbors whose dog had gone nuts and ran into our house.  They hadn't even noticed.  They also hadn't ever seen such a thing.  I will always remember that night sky the night I was turning 30 (I actually turned on the 20th).  When I am 80 and I see it again, I can say, "oh my, 50 years ago when I was merely 30, the moon did that."  ...then I'll make up a story about a ufo and space creatures.  I'd like to do that when I'm old and acn get away with it.