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| Another Heron Morning |
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| 6:22 |
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| 6:24 |
Well, it's a cloudy morning here at the beach and I was out and about by 6:05, hoping for a sunrise but to no avail. So I walked the beach for about 20 minutes, the only soul out at this hour except for a solitary heron and some sandpipers. I then drove around the area for about forty-five minutes, familiarizing myself with Seaside, a town about two miles from us. It's a neat community of similar beach style homes and was the setting for THE TRUMAN SHOW. It was just waking up as I drove by, with bikers and walkers out enjoying the cool morning of 64º. Because we may have some rain today, we will have no firm plans other than walking the beach and exploring the area.
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| Our Steps To The Beach |
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| Sandpipers |
We left Nashville about 8:30, figuring it would take us close to eight hours to get to Grayton Beach and we were fairly accurate. We had little trouble getting out of Nashville, as most of the traffic was coming into the city, not leaving like us and the four lanes both in and out of the city help. We were hoping for a sunny day but we got more of the same, clouds, some drizzle, a bit of fog until we literally entered Florida about 3:30 and the sun came out albeit briefly but it did show itself. So it was a boring ride until Montgomery, Alabama when I got off the Interstate #65, just outside of Montgomery and got on # 331, a minor road which took us right into Grayton Beach. It was a much more enjoyable ride as there were things to see, lots of rural Alabama, with run down shacks, abandoned farms and businesses, pasture lands, junkyards, one light towns, cotton fields and nary a fast food place.
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| Cotton Fields Forever |
We loved driving it, enough to stop at a restaurant called "It Don't Matter Family Restaurant," to get real Southern food. Well, we will never stop, again, at a place called "It Don't Matter."
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| It DOES Matter |
When we got near our destination, our GPS gave us a wrong turn so we wandered around until it reversed itself and sent us to our apartment, about a minute walk from an amazing white sand beach. We had little time to enjoy it as the storm seemed to be coming in and the sun was setting, around 5:00 and we needed to unpack. I have to admit that though I was someone who could drive all over Europe, into the great cities like Athens, Rome, Paris, and Munich with just a map and rarely get lost. I couldn't imagine doing it again which is why I depend on the GPS, even if it sends me the wrong way occasionally.
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| Late Afternoon Wednesday |
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| Stormy Weather |
We relaxed until 7:00 although I had to go down to the beach and see what it looked like as a storm threatened although it never did materialize, just filled the sky with ominous looking clouds. We were surprised by how warm it was, the humidity and, fortunately, knew where we wanted to eat, Red's Bar, a much loved and recommended eating establishment in Grayton Beach. We were a bit worried about getting a seat but had no trouble finding a seat at the bar and struck up a conversation with Georgie, the bartender for the past twenty years. The restaurant/bar was founded by two guys from Belgium 24 years ago and they are obvious collectors because there is not a space on any of the walls without something on it.
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| Red's Music Nook |
And when you walk in, on your left is a small lounge which looks like a living room with couches where they have music most nights. It's definitely a cool place and I am sure we will be back at least once if not more. I had eggplant stuffed with seafood and squash, covered with cheese and a great salad for 16 bucks. It was enough for both of us. We did not linger because we were both whooped from our shenanigans on Tuesday night in Nashville and the eight-hour drive to the beach. We will recover tomorrow.
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