Tag Archives: Okaloosa Island

Pictures of the Adventure, RV Life, The Adventure

Some Beachy Thoughts

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Sigh.
We’ve returned from our lovely two-week beach respite – and it was just what the doctor ordered. For two weeks we slept as long as we wanted (which means until 5:30 am for Gary and 8 am for me!), lingered over 1000-piece jigsaw puzzles, read books, and sat on the balcony watching brave folks shivering on the beach. It was great! Here are some thoughts and observations from those two sweet weeks –
Architecture
Beach housing is very diverse! Most days we would take our walk along Santa Rosa Blvd, which runs along the Okaloosa Island spit. On the beach side of the road, it’s all about the Condo!
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I’m not averse to those condos – after all, we were staying in one!
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But I was really intrigued by the great variety of single (ish) family dwellings on the other side of the street! There were the fancy ones with fountains and impressive plasterwork –
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There were the tall ones
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and some very short ones.
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There were a couple of creative A-frames –
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a geodome variation
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and then there was this “I wonder what the inspiration was?” house.
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Checking out all of the interesting houses (and thinking about all the interesting people that might live in them!) made our sidewalk jaunts always interesting.
Nature Walks
We tried to get a good walk in every day, and one day – to mix it up a bit – we took our walk on the Turkey Creek Nature Trail over in Niceville.
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It was a lovely mile-long boardwalk along Turkey Creek, which apparently is quite the tubing spot in the summer!
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It was a beautiful way to get in our steps!
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The Beach
We really aren’t “Beach People”. Gary especially is not a fan of sand. What we do love is the ocean, and that makes our beachfront condo rental just perfect. We could watch the ocean (and even dolphins one day!), hear the waves, and enjoy the sea air – but never get our toes sandy! But even though we walked mostly on the sidewalk, we did occasionally hop over to the beach to finish getting our steps in.
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And while it was never warm enough to tempt us to officially get in the water, we did manage to at least get our feet wet (and document it even!).
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Those walks on the beach were always a treasure!
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(Even if we did have jackets and hats on!).
In summary –
From sunrise  the first photo of the day

to sunset –

it was a grand string of laidback, mostly sunshiny days for which we are both very thankful!

Tonight we are back home, mostly unpacked (emphasis on mostly), and getting ready to pull in the slides and bungee down the coffee pot first thing in the morning to begin our drive to our January SOWER project. It’s good to be home – but man, those were some sweet weeks at the beach! If you’d like to see some more photos of our time at the beach you can check them out HERE!

Thanks for stopping by –

 

Beach girl Steph

=)

 

The Adventure

Good Morning, Sunshine!

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It’s so lovely when the first day of vacation starts with bright sunshine (and no alarms, of course!). 
Good morning!
We arrived at our Gulf View condo last night, unloaded the truck (so much stuff!!!!), turned up the heat, and promptly took a nap.
Ft Walton beach day one
But guys – look at that view!! For the next two weeks that will be feeding our souls. We have absolutely no plans (except for a big ol’ Zoom call with the kids on Christmas Day), already have leftover pizza in the fridge (hey, we couldn’t get into the condo until after 2:00), and enough snack foods to ensure that we won’t waste away. I brought my sewing projects, picked up a jigsaw puzzle from the local thrift store (for $1!!), and have several good books that have been waiting to be read. I also packed a warm jacket, my hat and gloves, and walking shoes – so whether it’s on the sand or sidewalk, I’m hoping to get in lots of steps!
So it could be quiet here – or it could be chatty! Who knows? Certainly not me!
Happy Four Days until Christmas, friends! Don’t forget to check out the “Where are we Now” page for more details of our location!
Steph

PS – Here’s the sunset from last night. God is showing off again!
Ft Walton beach day one

Pictures of the Adventure, RV Life, The Adventure

A few last beachy thoughts

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Gary and I have been home a couple of days now, and we’re generally unpacked and settling in back to ‘real life’. But I wanted to share a couple of “Beach Therapy” thoughts before too many more days go by!
1. We’re not really beach people. Gary especially is not a fan of sand. But sitting on our little balcony and watching the surf roll in did our hearts good.
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And we didn’t track in any of that white gritty stuff as long as we stayed on the balcony!
2. Even on less than perfect days, that surf never let us down!
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3. If I happened to get up super early I could actually catch a beautiful sunrise through palm trees.

4. And oh, those sunsets….


5. While we didn’t spend a lot of time on the beach, when we did – it was oh-so-lovely!

6. Sometimes when you plan two weeks at the beach, and you’re not really into sand, you bring your sewing machine along and combine that ‘beach therapy’ with some ‘sewing therapy’.
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And that was lots of fun!
7. Just because we had no interest in making a big deal out of New Years Eve, doesn’t mean we can enjoy a nice New Years Eve lunch
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and take in a round of mini-golf!
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8. And about that mini-golf! There are lots of option for mini-golf in the touristy area. Some of them are ultra fancy with waterfalls and mountains, and caves. This one, Goofy Golf,
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was built in 1958 and I’m pretty sure some of the holes are original! Like the one where you have to hit the ball into an outhouse to get down to the hole.
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What we really like was that it was a two-holer outhouse (just like at our cabin)
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and I even hit it into my favorite side! (Sorry if that’s TMI!) 🙂
To say this was an old school course might be a bit of an understatement
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but the price was certainly right – $3.00 for adults, $1.50 for kids!! So fun!
9. Whether you’re a beach addict or a beach enthusiast or a beach just-let-me-listen-to-the-waves person, taking two weeks off from your regular life to recharge and refresh is a good, good thing!
10. And we’re so hopeful that next year will be a grand family Christmastime at the beach kind of year!
Kings Castle Destin, FL

Family and Friends, Pictures of the Adventure, RV Life, The Adventure

Thank you, Facebook

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Don’t get me wrong. There are LOTS OF PROBLEMS with Facebook.  But today was an example of how Facebook actually helps us stay connected in a very unexpected way! Earlier this week I noticed on FB that a cousin of Gary’s was headed to Florida. Hmmm, I thought. I wonder where in FL? The next day she posted her morning view which looked surprisingly like mine. Turns out that while she and her sweet family weren’t exactly next door, they were vacationing in a condo only about 15 miles east of us!! It was such a delight to meet up with them for lunch today and catch up over delicious seafood!
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And without so many shadows –
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So good to connect with these guys – and it never would’ve happened with that goofy Facebook connection!
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After lunch Gary and I headed off to Destin to track down a “Little Free Library“. Gary loves LFL’s – to get rid of books that he’s read and to maybe find a new one!
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The internet told us there was one in this huge shopping village
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and while the LFL was a bust for Gary’s book quest, it was located right outside an ice cream shop.
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So, all in all, a good stop!

An unexpected visit with dear Cousins, delicious seafood, yummy ice cream, and and at the end of the day a beautiful evening sky –
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Beach therapy at its best!

Pictures of the Adventure, RV Life

Christmas Day at the Beach

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Starts with coffee on the balcony.
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Nice.
Instead of homemade sticky buns (a Conrad tradition), we went with fresh hot waffles.
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Seemed to do the trick.
Since we didn’t exchange gifts (this condo was our gift to each other), I spent a little time sewing.
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Love the view, right?
The best part of the day was, of course, our four family zoom call!
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So thankful for technology! Not as good as hugs, but better than nothin’!
We had a little beach time
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on a perfectly beautiful day!
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Afternoon naps were interrupted by this –
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Yep, a fire alarm sounded, and sounded, and sounded and sounded.
Thankfully, it was a false alarm. Phew.  But we did get to greet the neighbors!
The day ended with a beautiful God paintingUntitled
and then we snuggled in to watch “It’s a Wonderful Life.” Ah…..

For us, for this year, it was a lovely Christmas.

I have to say I’m already researching for next year.   However,  it will have to sleep 20, ’cause I’m not sure I can do Christmas without family more than two years in a row! Conrad Family Destination Christmas 2022 is in the planning stages! Start saving up, kids!