Homesick for Florida

     I just returned from my annual family vacation to St. George Island, Florida.  That's an 18 hour drive (one way) from Oklahoma to the panhandle of Florida, quite the trip over the years with my 3 younger brothers and myself in the backseat.  A lot of fighting, laughing, crying, farting and punching, but those 2 days of close quarters are worth every moment we spend sitting on that white sand.  Aside from my family's roots in the area, Apalachicola and St. George feel like home after years of each anxiously awaited beach pilgrimage.  We've watched the towns change and grow ever so slightly; for the most part, the communities have remained quaint and tied to the locals.  The quiet beaches are my family's escape and peace; our chance each year to just slow down and breathe.
     Now that I'm living in Portland, I have the privilege of flying across country to join the troops along the way.  I have to say- I really missed being there for all our little traditions and stops on our route.
But the special treat of this year was having my young niece and nephew in tow and seeing the beach through their eyes.  The dolphins were in fine form this year, more at once than we've ever seen before.  They played and jumped right next to us on our boat trip for shelling and dolphin-watching.  My niece was pointing and squealing with glee at every dolphin that surfaced.
     We did plenty of cooking, eating, and drinking with the Haney family at our house, but we also hit up all the local joints for our favorite meals.  Oysters, shrimp, crabcrakes, and corn fritters at Boss Oyster.  Nothing better than knowing that the boats tied up to the dock off the restaurant's patio just hauled in the fish we are eating.  More boiled shrimp and cocktail sauce from Dave's shrimp truck.  Then grilled shrimp, fried shrimp, soft shell crab, and more at Owl Cafe.   We had crabcake sandwiches, conch fritters, grouper, burgers, and lots more shrimp at Blue Parrot right on the beach.  Hard to keep the kids in their seats with the sand so close.  We had our favorite chicken and bacon pizza from B.J.'s after a rowdy good time playing bingo at the firehouse.  Dad was a big winner, and we won a giant watermelon in door prizes!  I think I was the most excited about the enormous watermelon.  And as the bright pink and orange sun slowly set on our boat trip, we ate oysters straight out of the water with a little tabasco and saltines.
"We"- well, at least the 3 of us willing to slurp down an oyster.
      It was a perfect, beautiful week relaxing on the beach, and quite a shock to return home to a 50 degree and rainy Portland.  I'm homesick already, but know I'll be back before long.