May, 2019: Two Weeks in Our Florida Paradise

After being on the road for four days, it was fantastic to finally arrive at Grayton Beach State Park on Florida's Panhandle, a place we've been returning to every summer for at least ten years. Shortly after we checked into a cabin that would be our home away from home for the next two weeks, we hightailed it down to the beach, just a short walk from our cabin!

We were so thrilled to see the cabin selected for us as it had been substantially renovated compared to all the previous ones we'd stayed in during past years at the park. For the first time, there were end tables and a table lamp on both sides of the couch, attractive new beadboard panelling in the main room, much prettier pictures on the wall, etc. 

We'd always loved the park's stunning locale and the most beautiful beach we'd ever seen but each of the cabins we'd stayed in had extremely frustrating maintenance issues that always necessitated  our contacting park management because of the fridge not being cold enough and having to be replaced, missing shelves in the fridge door or the freezer, and too many other items to recite here. 

Wow - a new table and chairs this year - things indeed were looking up! We brought our TV from home every year as the cabins had none nor wifi but have decided when we return next year not to bother again as poor Steven always spends so many hours fiddling with the rabbit ears out back to try and get some reception. That has been so spotty to not make it worth the effort going forward.

A few days later, while relaxing on the beach we were both heartened to see the same 'old man' slowly walking up and down the beach. We felt like we were home again as we have seen this fellow walking back and forth almost every day, every year, we return to Grayton. What a sad time it will be one visit when we no longer see him.

We never used the grill out back but the table was the perfect place for the rabbit ears!

Grayton Beach is located on Florida's Emerald Coast and is often recognized as having one of the most beautiful beaches in the country, including Hawaii!

Until a couple of years ago, we would lug two beach umbrellas down to the beach for some much needed sun protection. Then we discovered this popup cabana which I stay in virtually the entire time we're at the beach. Steven, though, likes the sun more than I so lathers himself in sunscreen and sits on his chair or on his towel all day long.

One day, while walking on the beach, we came across a number of jellyfish. Luckily we didn't see them in the water. 

I wonder how long this shell-encrusted football had been in the Gulf of Mexico before making its way ashore. If Tom Hanks had seen it on his deserted island in Cast Away, it may have become his friend rather than Wilson!

Every year while at Grayton, we see a few deer who make their home in the forests between the cabins and the short walk to the beach. 

Our state park beach is to the right in this photo. Every afternoon, we'd stroll along the beach past this little inlet where young kids would always frolic in the shallow water to continue toward the development at the end in the photo before turning around.

This was the first year we'd ever seen an artist painting in plein air at the beach. He was in the same spot for a good ten days or so in a row.

My beach babe!

With view like this from our spot on the beach, you can see why we keep wanting to come back year after year!

I always loved watching the shore birds skittering just to the water's edge before quickly rushing away when a wave came in.

Another view of our cabana and Steven: we both love reading so our days at the beach took on the same pattern, virtually day after day with spending three hours or so each morning at our little piece of paradise on the beach, returning for lunch at the cabin for an hour or so, then more R&R at the beach. We played catch with a small ball in the surf at least once a day and also did our daily beach walks in the late afternoon before returning to the cabin. That routine may seem boring to others but we relished in the sameness and the utter peace. 

Returning to the beach after lunch one day, I could see our cabana on the far right, well away from anyone else on the beach.

Ahh, not surprising that the young, attractive beach painter was soon the center of attention himself by young beach beauties! I wonder where he sold his paintings and for what cost.

We enjoyed walking past the public beach each day and seeing the colorful array of umbrellas and chairs. It wasn't uncommon seeing people kayaking or using small sailboats in the emerald green waters of the Gulf. Just last week, though, we saw on the news about lots of sharks at Grayton Beach so hope no one was hurt. We normally see dolphins each year but only very small sharks.

One afternoon, we walked in the opposite direction a long way toward the camping beach at the state park as we'd spent may years staying in that part of the park when we pulled a trailer behind our large van. Since Grayton Beach State Park held a very special place in our hearts right from the very beginning, we wanted to give back to the park and donated money to have this bench built.

Perhaps I should call myself 'Curly' as I always get a 'free perm' while staying near the beach!

One afternoon walk along the beach beyond the park cabins' boundary brought us to a large group of adults staying at condos on the beach beginning to build something pretty large that required all these buckets. Too bad we didn't see their finished masterpiece!

With gorgeous vistas like these, you can realize why we keep returning to the state park and its cabins every year! The cabin beach is far away from the camping beach with several fairly small developments and the town of Grayton in between.

We always loved coming down the long walkway over the dunes to the beach each day, in part to see which magnolia were blooming in the bushes just before we caught sight of the beach.

An almost sunset walk along the beach:

I always loved seeing what creations kids AND kids at heart made while playing at the beach.

There's never been a summer where there've not been ferocious rain storms while staying at Grayton but we were really lucky our first two weeks at Grayton as we only had one gullywasher, surely a record! Steven and I always sort of looked forward to the storms as it meant we would just have to escape to the outlet mall about thirty miles away rather than being cooped up in our cabin. This time, though, we went outlet shopping one day to escape the ever-present sun and the beach!

After the rain stopped, we went back to the beach and discovered sand that had no footprints on it, a very rare occurrence.

Some people staying at the cabins come in pretty large groups and they often hang out all together under several canopies as close as possible to the walkway over the dunes so they don't have as far to walk to their cabins. Steven and I always prefer to get away from the 'crowds' and walk down the beach to be as private as possible.

One group was all lined up to watch the sunset!

The beach at sunset was the perfect time for a wedding, don't you agree?!

Often, when walking along the beach, we had to duck under  fishing poles stuck in the sand with the fishing line extended out in the water. That had to be the lazy way to fish, I thought! Others waded into the water to try their hand at fishing or stood on the shore.

People can only stay at any state park in Florida for two weeks at a time and then must leave for a minimum of three days before returning for up to another two weeks. It was sad leaving after our allotted time on June 2nd but we knew we'd soon be back for another two blissful weeks after a few days in and around Mobile, Alabama.

Next post: Baseball in Pensacola and time away in Mobile.

Posted on August 9th, 2019, from our 'real' home in Littleton, Colorado!

5/18: Flooding in Missouri & Mississippi's Vicksburg Military Park

As we continued our drive from Kansas City, Missouri, toward the Florida Panhandle for our annual summer vacation at a state park, we drove through some of the back roads in the west and central part of the state where we encountered huge swaths of land that had flooded because of the nonstop rains. How sad seeing such devastation to farms and homes.

From southern Missouri we continued heading south through Arkansas toward Mississippi where we broke up the drive by stopping at the Vicksburg Military Park located just over the state's border that we'd last seen ten or more years ago also en route to Florida. The park preserved the site of the Battle of Vicksburg which waged from March 29th to July 4th, 1863. President Jefferson Davis knew how important Vicksburg, overlooking a bend in the Mississippi River, was to the Confederacy at the beginning of the Civil War. The city could also be considered the North's lifeline because Federal troops and supplies could pass into the South by road, river or rail. As the war progressed, Federal naval and military forces gained control of more of the Mississippi River, fighting south from Illinois and north from the Gulf as they moved in on Vicksburg. President Abraham Lincoln knew Vicksburg was the key to the Union, writing that "The war can never be brought to a close until it is in our pocket."

The Memorial Arch was the beginning of our 16-mile long mostly driving tour of the military park.

The Minnesota Memorial:

It seemed almost impossible to contemplate the men having to fight on this hilly terrain to save the city.

The park included a mind-numbing 1,300 plus historic monuments and markers, 20 miles of historic trenches and earthworks and 144 cannons. We weren't such committed history or Civil War buffs to want to take the time to see even a tenth of all of them. We chose instead to get a sense of the magnitude of the battlefield from both the Union and Confederate viewpoints and to learn what transpired during the 47-day long siege of Vicksburg that ended with Union control of the Mississippi River.

During the war, the hillside next to the Shirley House was completely transformed into a vast network of dugouts or makeshift shelters to protect Union soldiers from oppressive summer heat and the threat of nearby Confederate guns. Although the home's owners owned 25 slaves, they were Union sympathizers and their teenage son joined the troops fighting the Confederates on his doorstep. When the siege ended, the home was badly damaged and then abandoned. After being restored to its pre-war appearance, the stately home became the only remaining wartime building inside the military park.

The Illinois State Memorial, dedicated in October, 1906, had 47 steps, one for every day Vicksburg was besieged. It was modeled after Rome's Temple of Minerva Medica and the Pantheon. 

On May 19th, 1863, the 55th Illinois Infantry was pinned down by enemy fire and was running out of ammunition. When 14-year old Orion Howe volunteered to run back and get more, he was severely wounded but was still able to ask General Sherman for the required cartridges. Howe became one of the youngest recipients of the Medal of Honor for his heroic run.

When Union forces arrived at Vicksburg, Union General Ulysses S. Grant chose a wood frame house near here as his headquarters. However, the house was dismantled as the wood was needed to build a bridge over a deep trench for a battle in late May, 1863. Union headquarters was re-established in tents.

The statue honored Grant.

This impressive monument saluted the US Navy's role in the success at Vicksburg. In the spring of 1863, Grant needed to change tactics as he'd failed to penetrate Confederate defenses north of Vicksburg. He wanted to move his large army across the Mississippi River but had no authority over the Navy and the government in DC would likely deny such a bold plan. 

Admiral David Dixon Porter saw the merits of Grant's strategy and agreed to allow his fleet to run past Vicksburg's mighty guns and meet Grant's army south of the city. As Grant's army blocked Vicksburg from the east, Porter's navy sealed off the city along the river side. Navy guns and mortars joined the army's bombardment of the besieged city so that the troops and supplies could be safely transported across the river. 

Porter:

The restored gunboat USS Cairo, also known as the "Hardluck Ironclad," was the first U.S. ship to be sunk by a torpedo/mine. 

Of the nearly 17,000 Union soldiers buried at the Vicksburg National Cemetery that was established in 1866, about 13,000 were unknown. The cemetery, located across from the battlefield, was also the final resting place for veterans of the Spanish-American War, World Wars I and II and the Korean War. Many Confederates who died during the siege were buried nearby.

The Here Brothers Fought Memorial brought home to me how at Vicksburg, and across every Civil War battlefield, men who had once been friends faced off as enemies. Neighbors and even family members found themselves on opposite sides, fighting for different ideals. The Civil War wasn't a struggle to fend off a foreign power, but a war of Americans fighting Americans.

I found the Arkansas Memorial especially moving as it was dedicated to the Confederate Arkansas soldiers and sailors, "part of a nation divided by the sword and reunited at the altar of faith." That, I felt, was a sentiment that could be applied to all the brave men who fought for their ideals on both sides of the war.

Next post: Photo essay of our R&R at a cabin at Grayton Beach State Park on the Florida Panhandle.

Posted on August 5th, 2019, from Littleton, Colorado, a day after hearing of the tragic, sudden death of my friend, Christine, whom I had the joy of knowing for over 50 years and fortunately just saw a couple of weeks ago at her son's wedding in Canada.