Vacation 2012 recap.

My goal was to finish blogging our big Florida vacation before the one-year anniversary of that trip. Just days shy of our departure date this time last year, I have FINALLY posted the last recap!  The 2012 vacation daily summaries are all posted and back-dated:

July 5: The saga begins... (lost dog, New Orleans)
July 6: No place but NOLA (French Quarter, Cafe du Monde, wax museum)
July 6: Road to Orange Beach (Mississippi welcome center, beach hotel, fireworks)
July 7: Orange Beach (beach time, LuLu's)
July 8: Florida (Universal CityWalk, dinner with friends)
July 9: Universal Orlando (Wizarding World of Harry Potter)
July 10: Wild About Harry (return to Islands of Adventure)
July 10: Universal and Disney resort
July 11: Epcot
July 12: Magic Kingdom (park, Disney, resort arcade)
July 12: More MK
July 13: Hollywood Studios
July 13: Even more MK (Extra Magic Hours)
July 14: Animal Kingdom
July 15: Homeward bound (Tallahassee, Destin)
July 16: Texas! (Tyler, Chuy's, cemetery)
July 16: Survivor encounter

Whew! What a great trip!

I'm so thankful for our health and safe travels. I'm also thankful for the loved ones who made this trip possible. This vacation never could've happened if it weren't for some invaluable help. We are indebted to Brett's parents for taking care of our pets while we were gone and checking on the ol' homestead for the nearly two weeks we were gone. We were also blessed to have friends and family checking in on Memaw throughout our absence. They visited, took her gifts, sent us photos and texted updates. Because of Mom's dementia, we were so afraid she would forget why we were gone (and she did), but her many visitors did a wonderful job reminding her how much she's loved.

Of course, everyone's efforts to care for Mom showed us how blessed we are, too. Thanks to our "angels" here at home, we were able to take a break from the world of nursing homes and hospitals and escape to another world. It was MAGICAL.

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Vacation 2012: Back to the beach.

Day 11: Tallahassee to Destin to Baton Rouge
Miles driven: 468

Westward ho!

We woke up to a gorgeous Tally morning. On our way back to the interstate, we saw the Florida State Capitol. Interesting juxtaposition, eh? Every capitol building I see just makes me love ours all the more.

Our "real" beach time was on the way to Florida, but we knew we couldn't be that close to the coast and not stop on the way home. This time we stopped in Destin, a place many of our friends visit each summer.

Check out that blue water! 

Since this was one of our "long haul" days, it was nice to just soak up the sun and feel those ocean breezes for a few hours.

The only way you'll ever see a photo
of my toes: If they're covered up!

Such a lovely place! The surf was a little rougher than what we'd seen at Orange Beach just a bit to the west. 

After rinsing off, we were on our way. Next stop: Baton Rouge, Louisiana.

Pit stop!

Funny how lovely a storm can be when it's far from our car!

We originally planned to stay in Mississippi at the end of this leg, but big plans for the next day pushed us to mosey farther west before stopping for the night. We were all excited to get home, but one of us was over-the-top ecstatic to get to our next destination!

Vacation 2012: Life's a beach.

Day 3: Orange Beach

How awesome to wake up to this view!

While the kids slept, Brett and I enjoyed an early walk.

Our umbrella

Notice our name? "Brady" is our
go-to pseudonym.

Muscle Beach, this time without the
embarrassed teenaged daughter!

After a full day in the sun, we drove into Gulf Shores to dine at LuLu's. Since the main restaurant had an hour wait, we took the shortcut and ate at the Sunset Grill.

Fun place to eat!

I LOVED the crab melt! As we were leaving LuLu's, I noticed
a friend's Facebook comment advising me to order the crab
melt. So glad I did, Laurie!

We loved the sauces! We even bought a bottle
of the Mean Green to take home with us.

Ropes course, sand volleyball,

...live music: Lots to do there!

Marina

This reminds me of another vacation shot.

Another diversion outside the restaurant

My man

After dinner Brett and I wanted to get in one more walk along the beach.

Full disclosure: We didn't make this!
(But isn't it amazing?)

Another view of our hotel

Before we had even rinsed the sand off our feet, Brett and I decided we would return here someday. What a gorgeous, relaxing place!

Vacation 2012: On our way to the waves.

Day 2, part 2: NOLA to Orange Beach, AL
Miles driven: 198

After walking all over the French Quarter, we were nasty sweaty. When Brett discovered that the M&Ms back in the car were pretty hot, too, he found a creative way to cool them off in a hurry!

As we drove along I-10, we saw remnants of the now-closed (and spooky) Six Flags New Orleans, and then we found ourselves in a nice summer shower.

Since the next day was our beach day, I had been obsessively checking weather forecasts for days, hoping that our one day on the sand would be sunny. Fortunately, we drove right through this storm before getting to our destination.

Another day, another state line!

This Mississippi rest area is adjacent
to a new space center.

NASA used the lunar lander displayed here for training.

Way back in February when I began mapping out our route, I noticed that there was a Lambert's Cafe in Foley, Alabama, on our way to Orange Beach. Since Lambert's is the "home of the throwed rolls," I knew I wanted us to visit there. (Dozens of billboards along I-10 helped reinforce this idea.) After driving for most of the afternoon, we finally pulled in to Foley, only to find the Lambert's parking lot filled to overflowing. Our hunger and our eagerness to get to the beach kept us from riding out the wait, but, as luck would have it, a Krispy Kreme doughnut store was right next door.

Our son, the donut fan, was thrilled! We ended up chowing down on some donuts and waiting until we got to the hotel for another picnic dinner.

Brett is decked out at the toll plaza.

From Foley it was a short trip across a toll bridge to get to Perdido Beach Boulevard in Orange Beach. Once in our hotel room, we threw open the sliding glass door to see this:

AHHHHHH!

 It was early evening, so we put on our suits and hit the beach.

"Muscleman" pose...

...that Katie did NOT want to see!

It was so weird to wade in the Gulf with such small waves.

We were able to go way out into that clear water. 

The view from the sand

The view to our left...

...and to our right

Not a bad way to spend a Friday night!

The ocean side of our hotel, Sleep Inn on the Beach

Because we left home early on July 5th, we didn't get to watch any big fireworks shows on the 4th. Fortunately, one of the big resorts down the beach hosted a fireworks extravaganza on the Friday night of our arrival. Perfect!

Fireworks over the Gulf

 It was a great start to our beach pit stop en route to Florida.