Destin, FL – The scent of cinnamon and maple syrup greeted our nostrils this morning when we woke up. We had picked up a decadent loaf of sugar-glazed cinnamon bread at the bakery yesterday and noticed on the menu in the café part of the shop “cinnamon bread French toast”, so Scott suggested we try it at home.
Fabulous idea. Thick slabs of heavily-spiced sweet bread soaked in egg batter and fried to a golden brown were the perfect start to the day! And the sun was actually shining outside, flashing silver on the curling waves we could see from the condo patio doors.
To cancel out some of those early-morning calories, we set out for a stroll along the beach – a miles-long expanse of beautiful white sand. The waves were still quite large, as the strong winds we’d experienced the last couple of days hadn’t quite died down totally, and great tongues of white foam slid up near our feet as we walked.
One such wave caught Val by surprise, soaking his running shoes and socks. I stayed a few yards further from the surf, so my feet were spared. We must have covered a couple of miles, watching plovers and sanderlings running along the sand and gulls flying overhead. Val and Scott stopped to chat with a fisherman to find out what he was using for bait (shrimp) and if he was having any luck (not yet). We even saw three brave souls in wet suits out in the waves, surfing!
Mary Jane observed Val’s squishy wet feet and told us about her waterproof sandals, with sturdy rubber treads and arch supports, and how useful they were for the beach, rainy days and boating. We decided they’d be great for us to use with our kayaks, so after we set Val’s shoes out in the sun to dry and had some lunch, the four of us went to one of the many shopping malls in the area to find some.
One huge store we visited, dedicated to “fishers, hunters and other liars” according to the marquee, was full of every kind of fishing rod, reel, hook, line and sinker you could imagine, and was decorated with sharks, swordfish, deer and other creatures, as well as a large Plexiglas tank with great silvery fish gliding around inside. They had the brand of sandals we were looking for, but Mary Jane said we could probably find a better price at the outlet mall next door.
She was right! And our timing was perfect; the saleswoman said they were just opening a new shipment of the sandals, and found three pairs in the right sizes for me, Val and Scott. They were immediately comfortable on our feet, and we’re planning to test them on the beach tomorrow.
We got back to the condo in time to watch a spectacular sunset, orange and pink and gold reflected on the wet sand. Beautiful! As was the delicious dinner we then sat down to enjoy, enhanced by a great yacking session on all manner of interesting topics. A lovely day from start to finish.
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