Our 2025 30A Summer Beach Trip - Days 6, 7, & 8

Hey, y’all!  I’m sharing part three of our beach trip today.  If you missed part one, you can see it here, part two is here, and our by the numbers post is here…

Thursday, June 5

Thursday morning, we were up at 7 AM CST, Brian put out our chairs, and then he headed off to get one more round of donuts to finish off the trip.  While B was gone, I did my Bible study, and I also tidied the condo because it was getting a little sloppy.  Then when he got home, we all ate, I read on the balcony for a bit with my tea, and then it was time to head to the beach!

When we’d looked at the weather Wednesday night, there was a rain chance all day Thursday, but thankfully, it ended up being nice – 73 degrees and sunny when we got down there, and then it warmed up to 84 later in the afternoon.  We really got lucky with the weather on this trip!

We got down there around 9 AM CST, which is pretty standard for us.  In case you haven’t figured it out yet, our beach formula is wake, put out chairs, beach for a few hours, lunch in the condo, beach for a few more hours, shower, go do something touristy/dinner, and then sometimes back to the condo to watch the sun set on the beach.  Lots of relaxation + yummy food + a little exploring = perfection.

Shortly after we got down there, Brian and the kids caught a jellyfish in the net, and this one had tentacles and everything.  Most of the ones that we see down there look clear and round like little chunks of ice.  This was the first time we’d seen a big one with long tentacles.  It was dead, but we weren’t sure what to do with it as they can still sting after they die, so Brian ended up walking it waaaayyyy out into the ocean and dropping it back in. 

Mid-morning, Jacob and I headed out for a beach walk.  At this point in the trip, he was pretty much over the ocean and the sand… he can only take so much of it.  Haha.  On our walk, we talked about our dreams for future vacations, and we both agreed that we really want to go on a European vacation sometime.  It’s at the top of both of our bucket lists.

We headed up for lunch around 11:30 AM CST and then headed back down about an hour later.  I read, Brian and the kids played, Olivia boogie boarded with Evelyn, and it was just a gorgeous day.

We headed up to the condo around 3:30 CST because we were all sunned out for the day.  I’ve become allergic to all sunscreens on my face (and some on my arms and chest), so I decided to wear my hat and sit under the umbrella all day and not wear any sunscreen on my face.  Well, the sand in The Gulf is soooo white that it reflects the sun like crazy, and my face ended up getting soooo burned still.  The funny part was that it only burned my lower cheeks and jaw and chin, and it kind of looked like I had a beard.  Thank goodness for makeup!  Hahahaha.  I just can’t win with the face situation, though – I either wear sunscreen and get a nasty bumpy rash all over my face for days or I get burned.  Yikes.  Definitely going to have to talk to my dermatologist about this later this year when I go for my annual checkup.

Everyone got showered and ready, and then we left the condo at 5:30 PM CST because we had a 6 PM reservation at Mimmo’s in Blue Mountain Beach.  We had never been down that far on the 30A strip – we have only ever gone as far as Watercolor in that direction – so we got to do a bit of exploring.  Our neighbor who also vacations in the 30A area had highly recommended it, and we were so glad that we took her up on her suggestion because it was AMAZING. 

For starters, the ambiance in the restaurant is TOP NOTCH, and y’all know how I feel about ambiance… it’s almost as (maybe more??) important as the actual food itself, so we were off to a good start. 

Brian and I started out with a round of cocktails – a Quarter Life Crisis for him and a Black Manhattan for me – and we got an appetizer of their garlic knots.  OMGGGG just look at all the garlic buttery goodness on that plate!

For our entrees, I was torn between several different options, but I ultimately went with the Rigatoni with broccolini… it came with sausage in a cream sauce, and it was seriously incredible… maybe the best pasta dish I’ve ever had in my entire life, and that’s really saying something because I LOVE pasta, and I have had a lot of it in my day.  I could not stop eating, y’all. 

We were all STUFFED when we left.  It was just so, so good. 

When we got back home, we went for a walk on the beach to help our food digest, and there was another beautiful sunset.  Jacob grabbed this picture of Olivia, and I just think it’s the coolest thing!

Just as we were walking back up to the condo, some of our condo neighbors started doing fireworks on the beach, and it was just the best thing!  We watched them from our balcony, and everyone else on the balconies clapped when they were done. 

After the fireworks, we watched a little bit of America’s Got Talent, and then we headed to bed.

 

Friday, June 6

Friday, we were up around 7 AM CST, Brian put the chairs out, and we had leftover donuts for breakfast.  I did my Bible study on the balcony and then we headed down to the beach around 8:30 AM CST. 

The flags were red and purple indicating that the water was a little rougher than previous days, and we could tell because there were more waves than there had been all week.  Brian and the kids spent a lot of time playing with our skip ball in the water while I read.  There was a random popup shower over us even though the skies were blue and the sun was shining, but we just stayed out in it because it was so brief and so tiny. 

We headed up at 12:15 PM CST for lunch and then went back down an hour later.  I went for a walk with Jacob, and we saw a purple and clear jellyfish on the beach.  I did some reading and hung out in the water for a bit, and Olivia played forever on her boogie board with Evelyn.  Friday was our last beach day, and the last day Olivia would see Evelyn for a whole year, so we lingered a little later than usual, and she and Evelyn said their goodbyes.

After we were all showered, we had some time to kill before our 5:45 PM CST reservation at Old Florida Fish House, so I washed and dried all of the towels, and I got a bunch of the swimsuits in the wash, too.  I also got a lot of stuff packed since we were leaving the next day. 

I don’t ever do laundry when we vacation, but I think I may always wash the towels and swimsuits before we leave going forward, because it was so nice to not have to pack up gross towels and swimsuits, and it cut down on the amount of laundry I had to do when we got back!

Old Florida Fish House is just right down the road from our condo, so we didn’t have far to drive.  On the way in, we had to get some pictures, and then we were seated immediately since we had a reservation.  Unfortunately, our seats weren’t in an ideal place for the sun – since it was setting, it was setting behind Brian and me, but it was shining right on the kids the whole time.  The high was only 85, so it wasn’t terrible, but after you’ve been outside in the sun all day, 85 feels hot, so we were wishing for some shade.

The kids took it in stride, though, and they wanted to take a bunch of funny pictures of themselves doing their “Chad” faces.  I swear, that is the only face both of them made on this entire trip.  Lol.  I had to let them do their Chad face pictures and then tell them, “Okay, do a normal smile now,” for every picture we took on the whole trip.  Haha.

For dinner, Brian and I had a round of cocktails.  We both opted for the Grounded Flight, which was bourbon, Aperol, and lemon, and they were just okay.  It wasn’t my favorite cocktail we’d ever had.  Brian got a filet, and I got their chicken with whipped potatoes, green beans, and carrots.  It was DELICIOUS.  I thought I’d regret not getting a filet, but the chicken was so good, I shockingly didn’t.

After dinner, we walked around the property a bit.  Old Florida Fish House is HUGE, and they have some shops at the front, so we went in a couple of those, and then we grabbed the car from the valet to head out in search of dessert since it was our last night there.

We ended up at Nigel’s in Inlet Beach which is a place that has a bunch of dessert options that they dip in chocolate that hardens.  Their famous dessert is the chocolate dipped banana, so I got one of those, Brian got the chocolate dipped cheesecake, Jacob got the chocolate dipped vanilla ice cream, and Olivia got gelato with nutter butter topping. 

After that, we headed back to the condo, flipped the swimsuits to the dryer, packed some more, and finished America’s Got Talent.

 

Saturday, June 7

Saturday morning, we were up and out early so we could be home by lunchtime.  It was a smooth and easy drive, and even though I love the beach so much, it was so nice to be HOME.

It was another unforgettable trip – tons of relaxation, lots of sleep, slow mornings, low stress, lots of yummy food, a bunch of beach walks, and good quality time with my lovies!

Happy Monday, y’all!

July 4, 2025

I love this country, and I have always loved any excuse to celebrate it – especially on The Fourth.  We usually throw a big party complete with grilled burgers and hot dogs, fireworks, red, white, and blue everything, and an all-American playlist. 

This year, however, as our nation heads in a very dangerous direction under the current administration, I guess you could say that I’m not feeling very celebratory on this 249th birthday of The United States.

Today (and every day), I pray for the leaders of our country to have a change of heart.  To do what’s right and just for the people of this country.  To have mercy on those who are vulnerable or less fortunate.  And to treat all humans with the dignity and respect that they deserve whether they are male, female, white, Black, gay, straight, Christian, atheist, rich, poor, immigrant, or citizen, and all the other unique characteristics that make up the people of our very diverse country.

To those of you doing the good work – volunteering, donating to good causes, supporting small businesses, calling your representatives, peacefully protesting, collecting items for those in need, caring for the sick, and advocating for the marginalized – every single action you take to make our country a better place no matter how small makes a difference, so do. not. give. up.

Happy birthday, America.  

We will never give up on making you a better place, and not just for billionaires, but for everyone.

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