Monday April 6th

Monday April 6th – we had a slow relaxing morning and late morning we took off with Jeremy and Kristin Gates – what a special day we had! They took us all over the area – all down 98 and 30 A – this area is perfectly beautiful. We ate a delicious breakfast at The Donut Hole and then went to Seaside, so I can now check that off my list. Here are some photos of this beautiful place. 

Jeremy, Kristin and Miranda Gates

 Some of the beautiful homes at Seaside....

 Check out this rosemary plant!  Wow - they're all over the place, and smell delightful.

 Check out the PRICES at Seaside!

 Wherever we go, we love finding quaint bookstores.

 Awesome iron work on a large gate leading to a grassy park-like area.

 

 So glad we didn’t try to take the RV down there – way way too congested! We came back to Navarre, after stopping at the beach for a while. I don’t think I’d ever get tired of looking at this emerald water. Just breathtaking. I was curious what makes the water here so green, so we researched it. The sands that compose the beaches of the Emerald Coast are among the whitest and cleanest in the world, and the perfect oval shape of each grain of sand makes the beach “squeak” when you walk on it. We can thank the Apalachicola River, 130 miles east of Ft. Walton Beach, for the type of sand found here. The quartz-sand material, delivered to the Gulf of Mexico from the Appalachians via the river was deposited along the shores when Santa Rosa Island began to extend like an arm from Destin. This extension continues today as these small, white quartz grains move to the west before reaching their final destination at Pensacola Pass. Interesting, huh? 

Dinner was delightful at a Mexican restaurant (you know I’d love that!) and then back to their RV for us to see it, and then finally ending at ours, looking at photos of their mission trip to Haiti. They have such a passion for Haiti and the mission work there. We loved hearing their stories. We enjoyed the day so much we were talking about they set the bar awful high for all that is to come. We are so blessed by good friendships. 

We left Emerald Beach on Tuesday, to head west. Had to stop to get a few groceries and just on a lark drove through a RV park just a few miles away that happened to have a place available right on the water, so we impulsively decided to stay here for a few more days. I think we found paradise for sure – temps about 75, breezy and sunny and the water glistens all around us. 

Feeling incredibly grateful for this amazing opportunity, we just “chilled” here, grilling out -hot dogs for lunch and grilled chicken and asparagus with wild rice for dinner and eating here at the RV, reading by the hour as we sat outside overlooking the water. I think Heaven might be just a little bit like this. Today we head to Louisiana.