50 years of love

My first photos of Randy were on our wedding day. We'd only met about 5 months earlier and at that time nobody documented every day with photos. 

The photographer said "look at each other". So in love!

My last photos of Randy were of us enjoying a day with friends at Three Sisters manatee refuge, at Pudgy's tenderloin restaurant, and enjoying the Christmas lights at Venetian Springs. In between these two sets photos is over 50 years of a wonderful life together! Thank God for his amazing gifts and mercy!

Saturday means goodbye to Panama City Beach

Randy woke me up to  watch the dolphins play - what a wonderful way to say goodbye to the beach. 

We finished packing and headed to Parlor Donuts one last time where we bought 12 because we are sharing with Kathy, Terry, Lynn, and our neighbors. But when we got back into the car we decided we just couldn't leave without more! So we pulled around to the drive-thru to get delicious little donut bites.

Then we went to Whataburger one more time. I got a breakfast sandwich but Randy got a the super-sized double cheeseburger. Great start to a long drive home.

This was a wonderful vacation - we definitely want the come back.

Friday

It was a rough start today but some pain meds, a long jacuzzi bath, and a trip to Genes Oyster Bar helped. This time there was another guy behind the bar, Johnathan. He was very friendly and quickly shucked a dozen oysters for us, followed by another six. Excellent breakfast! 

Next stop was Parlor Donuts because we had run out, and a day without Parlor Donuts is inconceivable. 

After the obligatory afternoon nap we drove over to World Market. Haven't seen one of those for a while and it seemed like it seemed like a good afternoon idea. And wow, it sure was! We stocked up a bit.

Back at the hotel we packed up some of our stuff, and then it was time for dinner again. This time we went to American Charlie Grill and Tavern. We weren't very hungry so it was just gumbo for Randy and shrimp and fries for me. 

Back at the hotel we sat outside and watched the sun setting. So beautiful and peaceful, watching the sky and listening to the surf roll in.

And then it was time for donuts.

Thursday already?

Another beautiful, peaceful morning with an amazing view.

Today for a surprise we were ready for breakfast before 10:00 so we went to the All-American Diner for actual breakfast food. They have a breakfast buffet but we ordered a regular breakfast, which was pretty good. Their decor was cute, too.

Afterwards we drove a short distance to St. Andrews State Park which is home of the Jetties. Way back in 1995 we visited here with friends Toni and Jeff (that seems like 400 years ago). I was a little afraid that it had been developed since then but it was just as natural and unspoiled as it was back then. Once again, the ocean called to Randy. Medically he shouldn't go swimming so he did the next best thing.

And there was another reason for not swimming; jellyfish were out today. Most were so clear that we could only find them by seeing their shadows, but some of the larger ones were colorful.

It was so wonderful, and afterwards the combination of sun and sea made going back to the hotel for a nap the most logical thing in the world. 

When it was time for dinner we met up with church friends Lois and Bill, who moved to this area couple of years ago. They suggested we eat at Bayou On The Beach and that was a great idea. I had cheese grits and shrimp, Randy had fried shrimp, and we all shared a plate of 4-Cheese oysters, and a tray of beignets.  We definitely overate but everything was so good. Even better than the food was catching up with dear friends!

A quiet, lovely Wednesday

It was another delightfully late start to the day today. I woke up a little earlier than Randy so I got to enjoy watching dolphins playing near the shore, and two big trucks, looking like overgrown Tonka toys in the big beach, widening the culvert to the drainage system. Amazing how they kept those big machines working right on the edge of sand without falling over. 

When we were ready to go out we drove straight to What-A-Burger. It's been a long time since I've been to one and I'd forgotten how huge the double burger is, especially with fries. It was tough to finish it, but it was worth it! Afterwards we discussed what to do next, and the winning idea was to head right back to the hotel and take a long nap. At one point I worked in a short walk on the beach but it was too hot to do much of that. When Randy woke up we did a little shopping at Bath and Body Works, and then it was time to head for dinner at Captain Anderson. I've been wanting She Crab Chowder and they had a good version here, very creamy with crab meat on top. Randy's entree was grouper with crab meat, and I had shrimp with crabmeat dressing. This time Randy's meal was better than mine, but we both had a great meal. 

Today was lovely day of waking up when we wanted, getting a cup of coffee, and sitting out on the little balcony.  Our balcony faces east so we don't see sunrises, but this morning the clouds gave us a different kind of sunrise.

Eventually we decided to take a walk on the beach, which Randy transformed into a walk in the ocean.  This is the way to start every day! 

By the time we were ready to go out it was 10:30, which seemed more like lunchtime. Following a recommendation from the hotel lady who checked us in, we drove across the bridge to Panama City, looking for Genes Oyster Bar. She mentioned it was kind of a hole in the wall but had really good food - sounds like our kind of place!

The nice man behind the counter brought out a bucket full of oysters that he said were delivered 2 hours ago and started shucking them for us. Seems about as fresh as you can get, short of getting them yourself!

And they were really good! The dozen oysters we ordered turned into 18, and we only quit because we were full.

Next we thought it'd be a good idea to stop by Parlor Donuts again, to make sure we had donuts for dessert. Or for breakfast. Or for any reason.

We went for a pedicure before going to Rocket Lanes to say hi to Heather and check out the place. Next we went cruising along Front Beach Drive. Around 3:30 we were ready to eat so we drove to Captain Anderson. They weren't open yet so instead we went to the nearby Blue Marlin. My order of Maryland Crab Cake was really good, and better than Randy's Shrimp and Grits. Afterwards we walked along the dock, admiring boats before heading back to the hotel to enjoy some of those Parlor Donuts. 

Panama City Beach!

We went to pick up our rental truck but Enterprise didn't actually have a truck, so  they upgraded us to a Genesis GV80. Great, Randy wanted to test drive one of those anyway! We dropped our truck off at Hudson's (that cracked radiator is going to cost a lot) then on to Panama City Beach! With a couple of pit stops along the way it took us 6 hours to get there and our first stop, even before we got to the hotel, was Parlor Donuts! Well worth the stop (even if we didn't get a full box like this)! 

Then we went to the hotel and checked in, went to Walmart for essentials like beer and soda, then to The Shrimp basket for dinner - so good! The sun was setting so back at the condo we put on our flip-flops and went for a walk on the beach - how wonderful. The white sand still squeaks here just like it the first time we were here, 30 years ago. Less wonderful was not realizing that we needed a code to go through the gates to get off the beach. Fortunately some folks waiting for the elevator gave us the code; otherwise I think we would have had to spend the night on the beach. Also, less wonderful was when I rinsed my feet off and turned the spigot too far, causing the overhead shower to burst on. Nice cold half of a shower. But small "oops" cannot diminish the joy of being here!