Fielder’s Choice
My feet are a little sore this morning (Monday), but it’s a good kind of sore.
It comes from walking barefoot on the beach five days last week.
The weather in Ft. Walton Beach, Fla., was just about perfect Thanksgiving week – highs around 70 and lows in the upper 40s, with lots of sunshine and not a drop of rain.
The Burlesons’ almost annual road trip for the holiday was once again relaxing, fun and just all-around successful. This time Pam and I were joined by oldest daughter Emma, youngest daughter Erin and Erin’s friend Melanie. Andy was busy on the job – banking in Pearl.
I tried to walk a little farther each day.
There was a pier a good distance from our condominium. I never made it all the way there.
Of course, Erin and Melanie did. They were geocaching.
No doubt about it, I would exercise a lot more if I just had access to a beach every day.
Almost every evening, around 4:30, I made the way to the balcony of the condo for another of my favorite activities – watching the sunset.
It has to be one of the most beautiful pictures of God’s creation.
This year we picked Ft. Walton. We had not been there in about seven or eight years and that was a quick trip, not for Thanksgiving week.
And Ft. Walton brings back lots of memories for yours truly. It is actually one of the first beach trips I ever made when just out of high school. I went with a good friend and it was also the first time I ever ate oysters on the half shell. I’ve loved them ever since.
The oysters on this trip, from the Original Waterfront Crab Shack Restaurant, were some of the best ever. There were five of us, and we ordered two dozen. They were gone fast – really fast.
Plus, some of us, including myself, followed that up with fried oysters, too.
Pam and I, in celebration of our 28th wedding anniversary (November 25), went to a familiar restaurant the night before to celebrate. We discovered the High Tide Seafood Restaurant and Oyster Bar several years ago and couldn’t wait to go back.
Pam had the stuffed, bacon-wrapped shrimp. I chose the flounder. Pam’s was better. But it was a great dinner.
I wish I had kept track of how many anniversaries we have celebrated on the coast during Thanksgiving. I would guess at least half, maybe more. I guess I need to go back and read all my columns from the past 28 years.
We tried other restaurants, too. Stewby’s Seafood Shanty, on our last night there, proved to be one of the best. And the prices were the best, too.
We watched a lot of football during the week, too – including the Egg Bowl and the Iron Bowl.
But my favorite of the week kept me up until about 1:30 a.m. It was a basketball game between Florida and Gonzaga that went into double overtime. It was one of the best games I’d ever seen.
It’s good to be home, sleeping in my own bed. But I can’t wait until the next trip south.