Sand and Waves and Beads, Oh My!

It's so good to feel right again.
After the gathering we picked up our friend Ben in Gainsville and headed out to the coast for some awesome wave jumping, shell searching, sandy play and stellar seafood.

I was amazed at how much the coast changes over such a short distance, and especially taken with the white sand and green waters on the Emerald Coast. Yowza! It was so beautiful!
Quinn and I charged the waves til the sun went down and we had to practically run back to the RV. So. Much. Fun.

Sandcastles were built, friends were made, pelicans were sighted, gulls where chased and some serious meditation was had.

We bopped along the coast all the way up and out through Pensacola. My favorite place was Henderson State Park in Destin, FL. Man, oh, Man! What a kickin spot that was!

Last night we made our way into New Orleans just in time to be stranded on the streets by a huge parade. 3 hours later we crossed the 2 miles to our spot amongst all the other RVs in the local jumbo store parking lot.

This morning we headed out into the Quarter for some truly fine food, coffee with chicory (yum!!) and bead catching.

Nichola watched silently from her buggy all day, content to just take it all in, and Quinn truly had the time of his life. The streets of Mardi Gras are very tame during the day and the people were awesome with the kids. The bead throwers on the balconies of Bourbon Street really worked to throw the beads very gently to Quinn who collected so many I thought he might fall over. Others still had gifts, dolls and plush toys to hand deliver to Nichola who was especially taken with the street musicians who were plentiful and full of the stuff that moves you.

Tomorrow, Fat Tuesday, is Nichola's 2nd birthday and we will be up at dawn to join Ben down at the Quarter to scope out the costumes and the Zulu parade. We're hoping to get in early enough to beat the unbelievable line at Cafe Du Monde.
Then Oh, Baby, Oh! Wednesday we'll take the streetcar into the Garden District and over to the breathtaking cemeteries.

For now, with a belly filled with Jeff's blackened shrimp, I'm headed off to bed so that tomorrow comes early and welcome.