Day 4 of our Thanksgiving reunion/beach vacation began a bit tamer than the previous ones. We had a leisurely breakfast and marveled at the glassy Gulf: the calmest we’ve seen it yet. The smooth water allowed us a perfect view of the passing marine life and while we watched from the balcony we saw a couple schools of stingrays and one small pod of dolphins amble by.
Kelly had promised Hallie a walk together on the beach, so they left before Travis and I went out for a walk as well. Travis and I ran into my brother and his kids and chatted a bit before continuing. The beach was surprisingly warm, which I attribute to the lack of wind.
After we had stopped a few times for Travis to study shells, I began to write silly messages in the sand in the hopes that Kelly and Hallie would see them on their return trip. We continued this all the way down the beach. I came up with a Burma Shave theme (“Happiness, is within reach, while you’re walking, on the beach”) and a few other amusing messages while Travis drew interesting animal shapes.
When we approached the jetties at the end of the beach, we passed a large hill of freshly-added sand that paralleled the shore. It was packed hard enough to provide a smooth vertical surface and some earlier travelers had written their names in the sand. It was a sand billboard! As we walked I began to recognize Hallie and Kelly’s messages to us and left a few of my own, too.
Travis and I had reached the jetties and turned around about the time Kelly called and let me know they had just stepped away and would be meeting up with us soon. We then spent the rest of the walk back together, adding more messages to the “vertical beach” as I called it, and scrawling other whimsical notes in the sand as we went. Hallie and Travis clearly delighted in this and took things to a whole new level. Kelly and I were both shaking our heads at how much they clearly love the beach.
We returned to get a bite to eat before meeting at my parents’ condo, where a bunch of relatives and friends had gathered. After visiting for a little while we got lunch and then headed out to the pool.
Kelly had told Hallie she would take her out to the sand bar and let her wade around. She then asked me if I would like to take her, and I agreed. About that time Hallie’s Shelby cousins arrived and she was in no hurry to go out, so I walked out to the beach myself. As I waded on the sand bar, no less than three groups of stingrays swam by me, some of them within arm’s reach! Later, a lone ray swam along the sand bar near me. I got very still and was rewarded when it glided right up next to me for a friendly look!
These are amazingly graceful creatures. it was a treat to be so close to them.
Hallie soon joined me on the sand bar and together we walked around, looking for more rays. It took at least ten minutes of patient waiting but soon a few swam by. Hallie was as captivated as I was with these animals. It was fun getting her up close and personal with the marine life. She got excited when I told her when she’s old enough she can take scuba lessons and swim with marine life as much as she wants!
After the pool and beach time, we went back inside for a little “down time.” We got cleaned up and met folks for an early dinner at Schooners: a favorite beach club nearby. The kids danced to the house band almost the whole time we were there, though everyone commented at how they looked like they would collapse at any minute. We managed to get them home before that happened, though, and now they’re recharging their batteries for a fun Thanksgiving Day tomorrow.