Bye Bye Grayton Beach...On To New Orleans

Henry The Local Heron

6:07

6:10

6:11

6:19

Henry Hunkering

It was good to be able to be on the beach before 6:00, get a couple of photos of Henry the Heron, watch the sunrise, and get a hug and a happy, happy from our neighbor, the painter.  The two of us were the only ones on the beach until the charter boat arrived.  I guess to people who live here on the beach, a sunrise is no big deal.  We will miss Grayton Beach but having New Orleans as our next destination more than makes up for it.  It looks like a good five-hour ride to the French Market Inn, right in the heart of the French Quarter.

Beach Time

Before The Clouds

We were hoping for another beach day, so we were up and out for a walk on the beach by 9:30, one of the few people on this vast beach.   We made a circle walking down to the inlet which marks the beginning of Grayton State Park and then walked south to another park of sand dunes which is just beyond the beach where we swim and home.  We then got a bit organized, Evie made up some sandwiches for our lunch and we went down to the sunny and hot beach around 11:00,

Hello

Resting

Soon, however, the clouds started to arrive and we had partly cloudy skies until about 1:00.  We had our lunch, took a couple of walks and decided since the sky was cloudy, to go back to the condo, get some things done then drive into Seaside which was having a Wine Festival.  We were worried about finding a place to park but realized there's lots of parking back a street or two from the square.

Seaside Wine Festival

Enjoying The Wine Festival At Seaside

Seaside was very crowded with all of Seaside's finest, many dressed to the nines.  They have a small bandstand and a grassy knoll filled with umbrellas and mostly residents sitting in chairs, enjoying their wine and appetizers.  It looked like great fun.  Behind the knoll, was the U shaped shopping area, filled with tents where if you had a wine glass, you could sample wine all afternoon.  And there were lots of other offerings from the local merchants, like shrimp rolls, chocolates, burgers, hot dogs, even gelato.  It was packed of course and we stayed for a good hour or two, enjoying people watching, listening to the music and sampling some of the foods, no wine, however, because we forgot a glass, alas. We left around 4:00, glad that we went but ready to get back to our condo.

Seaside at 3:00

We were really worn out by the time we got home from Seaside.  I think the partying and drinking and going out to eat and beaching it caught up with us so we almost stayed home rather than go out to eat.  We decided, what the heck, let's try AJ's, a restaurant about a mile from us.  It's classic inside, every wall filled with memorabilia, stuff you never see on walls, like a row of old bikes, or sewing machines, or oars, or buoys, with pictures and signs on the walls and a chandelier in the middle.

AJ's Inside (one of four restaurants)

We got there early, around 6:00, so it was not hopping.  We sat at the bar, had a beer and ordered grouper for me (fair to middling) and a caesar salad for Evie with garlic bread.  This is not a three star Michelin Guide restaurant, just bar food like the kind we get in Chautauqua.  We left around 7:00 so we could get some packing done and relax before our drive to New Orleans this morning.

Our neighbor, the last of a breed.

Vintage 1926 Cabin