PHOTO DIARY FEBRUARY 2018: AWAY FROM HOME

What's the longest you've ever been away from home?

Other than college, the longest I've been away was eight weeks,
way, WAY back when I was a counselor at sleepaway camp. 
As an adult, the longest stretch was 2 1/2 weeks,
when we went to South Carolina in the summer of 2014. 

This winter, Mr. Goo Shoes and I beat our "personal best."
We rented a little bungalow in Pompano Beach, Florida for the month of February.
We packed up the car, and the three of us -- the third being Sadie --
headed south down Interstate 95.
We took our time, stopping in Virginia for one night,
and Savannah, GA for two nights.
I wanted a full day to see the iconic southern city 
which has long been on my bucket list. 
Driving back, we made the same two stops,
stretching our time away from home to just about five weeks.

It was glorious to escape the usual scenery and winter weather!
Weirdly, it didn't feel exactly like a vacation, 
because we weren't being pampered at a hotel,
and had to do things like food shopping, laundry, and tidying the house.
Yet, it surely was a welcomed escape from everyday life.
And so, snaps from Savannah and Florida make up my 
"Away From Home" photo diary for February.

Technically, these photos from Savannah are from the end of January. Our first night's dinner was at the renowned Olde Pink House Restaurant. The mansion housing the restaurant was built in 1771. Food was as good as the restaurant is pretty!

Savannah was as much about the food for me, as were the sights (isn't that always the case???). Therefore, breakfast was considered an important meal, and the Bay Street veggie scramble accompanied with a scrumptious biscuit at B. Matthew's, did not disappoint.

We had one day to see as much of Savannah as possible. The weather was perfect -- sunny and in the 60's. According to my Fitbit, I logged 19,000 steps (8.23 miles)! Mr. GS and Sadie didn't do quite that much.

Our hotel was in the historic district, near the Savannah River. Gorgeous live oaks, with hanging Spanish moss, had me snapping pictures at every corner.

On February 1, we started our final stretch down I-95. As highways go, it's pretty boring, but this made me do a double-take. No, that truck isn't going the wrong way, it's hitched to the one in front of it.

Another eye-catcher was an enormous amount of smoke off I-95 in Brevard County. Apparently, it was a "prescribed burn" of 1700 acres. I had to google why that would be done. It's to reduce the brush and overgrowth that would otherwise fuel a dangerous wildfire. Yikes, that was scary!

Are we there yet? Almost! Palm trees and warmer temperatures greeted us in Florida.

We chose our rental based on its proximity to the beach - just a half block away! It was a treat to walk to the beach and see the ocean whenever we wanted to.

The weather was perfect for the entire month - sunny every single day but one. 




A minor bummer was that it was extremely windy at our beach. The first day, our umbrella took off five minutes after we sat down (and, I might add, Mr. GS does know how to anchor an umbrella in the sand). The irony was that we had to drive to a less windy beach most days, instead of walking the half block to our own. Kite flyers were happy, though.

On the days we were able to spend at our beach, we had it almost to ourselves.

Lighthouse Point was not only visible from our beach in Pompano, but on our drive up A1A. I shot this out of the car window......not bad!

We spent most of our time at Deerfield Beach, which was a bit less windy (and truth be told, we liked it much better). The shade of the palm trees meant we didn't have to worry about putting up our umbrella and risk having it impale a fellow sunbather.

Sometimes you need to lie down on a beach towel and stare up at the palm trees.......and hope that a coconut doesn't fall on your head.




Our backyard was meh, and we spent little time in it. This green fellow liked it well enough, and was a regular visitor. He and Sadie were quite intrigued with each other.

I was a regular visitor to this green gym. There is no way I could be away for a month and not exercise........

Not if I was going to eat this..........

And drink this..........

And fit into my bathing suit. 
Mr. GS passed on the exercise program, and managed to maintain his boyish figure, 
bless his heart. "Dad Stud" was Junior GS' comment, when he saw this picture. I'd have to agree!

 

Last year, when we were in Deerfield, the beach was much wider. The water came up a lot higher this year, and covered the rocks.

Dramatic cloud formations, deep blue skies, and turquoise waters were the backdrops to most of our days.

We saw a bunch of friends and family while we were in Florida. Dining outside on the Intracoastal with good friends was living "la bonne vie." 

The month went by so quickly. Before we knew it, the sun was setting on our vacation, 
and we were packing up the car to head home.

Good night, moon.

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