Sam, Jesse, Katie and Casey inside the beach house

The kids in the surf outside
the Ocean’s Roar beach house

We just got back from nine days in Florida (true, four of them were spent in our van, Homer the Odyssey, driving between Minnesota and Alligator Point.) Below are some more photos from our beach vacation, which we shared again this year with our friends, the Terzichs (who live next door to us).

The Ocean’s Roar (with Homer the Odyssey in front)

Some highlights of the vacation:

* Our van not breaking down on the drive to or from Florida. We retired Vincent this year and bought Homer. No mechanical failures to report.
* We saw a young bald eagle fishing right over our beach house several days. One day, as it was flying in to shore from the gulf, the eagle was attacked in mid-air by an osprey. Apparently, ospreys are quite territorial (and missed that day in elementary school when we all learned the lesson about sharing our fish….)
* We watched dolphins swim by in massive pods every day at low tide. One day, there were a couple of dozen swimming and eating bait fish together. Three of them leapt from the water at the same time (just like the dolphin show at the Minnesota Zoo). Sometimes, the dolphins were in so close, we could almost wade in and touch them. But we didn’t.

Sunrise at Mashes Sands, near our beach house


* Celebrating Chris Terzich’s birthday at the beach house. We also celebrated Art’s former assistant Janet’s birthday (she now lives in Tallahassee and visited with us on Thursday).

Birthday celebration

* Eating at the Ming Tree Inn, one of our favorite Chinese restaurants (twice). This time, Chris did not confuse them with a question about the sweet and sour chicken.
* Sharing a plate of gator at The Landing, a new seafood joint in Panacea.
* Relaxing with a bag of books and a cooler of fine Summit ale from St. Paul. Yes, we brought our own. Can’t buy it down there.

Laurie relaxing

* Checking out the storm damage to all of the beach houses, many of which we’ve rented over the years.

Be careful what you book online
(this is the beach house four lots down from Ocean’s Roar)

* Seeing Jeni Terzich’s brother and his family, down from Milwaukee and renting a house out on Bald Point after Jeni talked it up so much. Shhhhhhh. This area is supposed to be our secret.

A fireplace? in Florida?

* And of course, spending time with Laurie’s Mom and Dad, who spent many days with us over at the beach house and who cooked a wonderful seafood feast for us at their house. The kids got to color easter eggs with Mema and both girls had a chance to spend a special night playing games with their grandparents.

Posted by Art