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one tourist chronicles

nodilberthere avatar
nodilberthereBeach Fanatic
7,253 views
Two weeks in SoWal again was not even close to being enough. :cry:

I have a few observations. Skip this part if you are easily bored by tourist meaderings.

We stayed a block from Ed Walline in a pet-friendly house with a pool near Sunrise. We liked it fine, but found the beaches were not as pristine and clean as in previous years at Grayton. There were cigarette butts and trash all over the beach, maybe because we were near the public beach access? I picked up what I could but to see a family of idiots leaving butts and bottle tops every day under their big old plastic beach monstrosity really was an aggravation that I could have done without. I think cigarettes should be banned on beaches. We ended up packing the car and driving to Grayton most days. Grayton seemed different this year, they roped off the dunes so the beach was not as wide, but still pretty. After the tropical storm, (Ana ?) the beaches were blackish and not looking so great :shock:

This year, two of our best days were spent outside of Sowal. We rented a pontoon to Shell Island, which has become a tradition after 5 years. It is such a beautiful beach and perfect way to spend the day. I made fried chicken, potato salad and blueberry bars the night before and we had a picnic lunch on the beach. There was nobody around and the water and weather were PERFECT! There is nothing in this world that I like to do better than this day, wandering around with nothing to do but swim, read, and wander around looking at all the beautiful shells. I'm not sure, but we had heard that the body of the guy who went missing from his sailboat was found the day we were there....not sure if that's true, but there were a lot of emergency vehicles there in the park.

On a whim, we took a ride to Pensacola, thru Navarre and Gulf Islands National Seashore. Wow. What a beautiful place. We spent the day at the beach, had a picnic with Underwood Deviled Chicken spread sandwiches and pickle potato chips at Fort Pickens, then finished up with dinner at Peg Leg Pete's. This will be the day I will use when I need to transport myself to a happy place in my mind. A perfectly perfect day.

There are no finer pastries on this earth than at Fabrice. We went every morning (except Mondays) with our dog for a cup of coffee and an almond croissant -- okay, we split every pastry in the case, every day. Fabrice and his wife were really cool people, and the chocolate croissant elevated him to God-like status in my book. View attachment 14150 My dog enjoyed the flaky pastry crumbs, as well.

We had brinner at the Donut Hole twice. Consistently great food, love the diet plate. The people working there are sooo nice.
Had the absolute worst Spaghetti and Meatballs of my entire life at Angelina's. I'm not sure how they made such a bad meatball, but we're talking epically bad here, and the pasta was watery. Sorry, Angelina's fans.

We had lunch at Cowgirl Kitchen one day, the meatloaf sandwich was tasty. I left hungry after riding my bike for what seemed like 150 miles to get there, but the prices were very reasonable.
We had a free meal at Olive Garden with gift cards we got at Christmas, and as expected, it sucked. But it was free.

We had dinner at the Back Porch in Destin and it was good, the tuna dip is tasty. Grilled amberjack is pretty tasteless but dipped in butter, anything tastes good, right? Eating here feels like a very touristy thing to do, and we love it. I'm sure there are better places, but we come here yearly on our next-to-last night.

Seaside holds no magic for us anymore. The homes by the beach are piled on top of each other and it seems every year they squeeze in a few more. I still buy a new cookbook every year at Sundog, wine at Modica and funky jewelry at Perscipasity, but a few hours was enough time spent here this year.

The ripoff of the year was had in Wharftowne at a place called the Raspberry Rhino, where we spent 12 dollars for two Red Bulls for our kids, and 36 dollars for two gin martinis. I live near New York City and am accustomed to paying premium for booze, but this was tourist abuse in my book. They didn't even have Goldfish or peanuts at the bar.:idontno:

For beach shade, we use a contraption my husband made out of four tent poles and a shower curtain. It weighs about 2 pounds and takes 3 minutes to set up. We're pretty pround of our invention😀. View attachment 14151

Replies

40
nodilberthere avatar
nodilberthereBeach FanaticAuthor
#27
Wow, it's been two years, sounds like I really had a great time on this trip. Thanks for the post,
Ghost-of-Vacations-Past-Nodilbert.
Kurt avatar
KurtAdmin
#28
Hope you've hit the beach since!
nodilberthere avatar
nodilberthereBeach FanaticAuthor
#29
Nope, but 2 weeks next year, baby!
Scooter avatar
ScooterBeach Fanatic
#30
Skip the donut hole next time and go to Another Broken Egg in Uptown Grayton!!!!!
WekickBeach Comber
#31
I love to cook on vacation and I look forward to it all year. It's so relaxing, nobody's in a rush to run out anywhere and I don't count calories :yikes:so I'll make things I would never make here at home. This year the kitchen in our rental was not not stocked well at all, no cooking utensils, really cheap-o pots and pans, no pitcher, one wine glass, no margarita glasses, etc.....and it was old and dirty in the cabinets, so it took the fun out of making meals.

I love to cook too and always bring my travel kitchen. a 6" victorinox knife in sheath, skillet,a few spices, pepper grinder, can opener, corkscrew, coffee grinder
florida girl avatar
florida girlBeach Fanatic
#32
The black sand isn't naturally occurring all over the beach. It started when the clean up workers for BP drove their vehicles through the *** and tracked it all over, particularly from the waters edge to the access. It never was like that.
nodilberthere avatar
nodilberthereBeach FanaticAuthor
#33
The black sand isn't naturally occurring all over the beach. It started when the clean up workers for BP drove their vehicles through the *** and tracked it all over, particularly from the waters edge to the access. It never was like that.

Well, this post was two years ago, pre-BP.......
tailwagger avatar
tailwaggerBeach Fanatic
#34
There's plenty of dark sand on the beach. Beachsio2 has explained it before. I knew the ill-informed would start claiming it was oil.
BeachSiO2 avatar
BeachSiO2Beach Fanatic
#35
Well, this post was two years ago, pre-BP.......

There's plenty of dark sand on the beach. Beachsio2 has explained it before. I knew the ill-informed would start claiming it was oil.

You rang...... Here's the thread.

http://sowal.com/bb/showthread.php/25159-black-in-sand

Check post #8.
buster avatar
busterBeach Fanatic
#36
Not closet geologist, but close enough. I actually get paid. 😀



Mica's are typically much softer and lighter, and are "sheet-like" so they don't survive the beach energy that well.

It's a mineral called ilmenite. The reason you see it in layers is because it is heavier then quartz and as hard. It makes up about 2-3% of the sand on the beach. So, when storms come in and "re-work" all the sand on the beach, the lighter sand is pulled offshore (quartz) and typically a thin layer or crust forms on top of the remaining sand. Then as the quartz makes its way back on shore, it covers up that crust forming the layers. You can actually get an idea of storm history and smaller erosional and accretional events based on those layers.

As for peat, it does underly our beaches and is also dark/black. The reason is just what was posted earlier, there use to be a marsh where our beaches are now. The difference is that the peat is oily to the touch and typically requires mineral spirits to remove. In many areas the peat is only a few feet (less than 3) under the white sandy beaches. So, if you are seeing it in layers and it feels like sand, it is likely ilmenite. If it is in clumps and is oily, it is likely peat.

If you want to see the peat, go look in the dunes in Seacrest in front of Tranquility by the Sea, or the beach in the Seacrest area after a hurricane or tropical storm.

Good stuff!
nodilberthere avatar
nodilberthereBeach FanaticAuthor
#37
Skip the donut hole next time and go to Another Broken Egg in Uptown Grayton!!!!!


Love love LOVE the Broken Egg, but the kids like Donut Hole. Gotta keep the youngsters happy.
nodilberthere avatar
nodilberthereBeach FanaticAuthor
#38
There's plenty of dark sand on the beach. Beachsio2 has explained it before. I knew the ill-informed would start claiming it was oil.


How do the beaches in Grayton look now, are the Dunes still roped off?
nodilberthere avatar
nodilberthereBeach FanaticAuthor
#39
There was no rental agency, the rental that year was a VRBO.
Jim Tucker avatar
Jim TuckerBeach Fanatic
#40
How do the beaches in Grayton look now, are the Dunes still roped off?

The dunes are always off limits but if you mean the state park yes they have those roped off with bird nesting signs and those dunes are really getting high. They were flattened over there after storms.

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