FFFF - One of My Favorite Places

Since I was a baby I have spent my summer vacations at one beach. I've only once in my life beached anywhere other than here, and this place holds many memories for me. My husband and I even chose to get married here, because he loved the place as well and felt it would be a fitting place to start our wedded lives.

I've since passed this tradition on to Livers, and I hope that she grows up with the same love for this place as I have.

Last week Livers and I spent a few days at my favorite beach with my parents. We'd already gone to the beach with neighbors, but I love the beach very much and would hate to go another year without visiting the one from my childhood. To commemorate this trip I am posting pictures from our visit to one of my favorite places on earth. Happy Friday Foto Finish Fiesta!



Early morning the first full day at the beach.


My budding beach bum contemplating throwing her shoes in the ocean.

She instead chose to drink the water. To each her own.

Washing her salty mouth out with some of her Bompa's Coke.

I love sea gulls, and so does Livers. It's one of the few birds that she can call by name. We enjoyed feeding them pretzels, Chex Mix, and whatever else we had on hand. Here are some of my favorite shots.

This species of gull always looks so pissed. I don't know what he's got to be angry about. He lives at the beach.



Livers had some apples and was trying to feed them to the sea gulls. They were not fans.



The second and last day we were on the beach it was incredibly windy. A front had moved through after our first day on the beach, producing some huge thunderstorms and keeping it overcast and cold the next day. I was afraid to go in the water, because I'm pretty sure there would've been rip currents.


My mom, like me, hates getting her picture taken. She'll probably be mad that I put this one up, but it was too funny to pass up.

The frighteningly rough surf.



Livers pondering the ocean. Either that or looking for a sea gull to harass.


These are sanderlings. They are incredibly small, and not all that shy. They would scoot almost to your toes to pick up food you had thrown down. Livers called them "teenie tiny birds".



One of my dad and my favorite places to visit is one of the local marinas. We always have enjoyed going in the late afternoon to see what the charter fishing boats have brought in from the Gulf Stream. Unfortunately for us, on this day they did not go out (likely because tourist season is over and it wasn't worth it), so we were disappointed. We instead walked on the walkways over the inlet. These are a few shots from the walk.



Livers loved this giant fish. She kept petting it and giving it hugs.


They have a "goat island" in the marsh. Seriously, it has a bunch of goats that live on it (and a few peacocks) and they eat all of the marsh reeds. They're a hoot to watch.


The last place we went was to the pier. I always love a good sign, and this sure got my attention.


This bird isn't all that spectacular, but for me it is the quintessential beach bird (more so than gulls). It is a Boat-tailed Grackle, and it has a very distinct call that reminds me of the beach. I always think of the beach whenever I hear it.


I managed to take a pretty decent shot of the moon rising on our last night. I liked how it was rising red, and you can actually see some of the craters in the moon.


I hope you enjoyed your tour of our beach trip! If you would like to see any other photos, stop on by Candid Carrie's Friday Foto Finish Fiesta and check them out!