Spring 2015

It's here!! 
Sweet tea awaiting ice.
Sweet "short stories" awaiting reading.
A sweet floral thought from hubby---quick to grab it off the Tri-State table.

Spring is definitely  in the air.

Righteous Food

Most of our recent beach vacation food was fish---natch!

But....we had one great non-fish mid-day treat at Preacher's Kitchen in Gulf Place on 30a. It's just 2 doors down from The Perfect Pig (a "praise the lard" type place)---which also has, familiar to the Liles, a Seagrove location---in Flip Flops former location. Both are owned by the same family.

We were drawn to Preacher's Kitchen because of the name. It's a counter service, build your own burger type place but we just got smoothies. Peach pina-colada was dynamo combo---delish.

"Righteous Food" sign above the counter had my mind whirring----"belly up" to the counter and get your fill. Satisfaction guaranteed!

The owner is also a preacher so I'm sure he, too, understood the spiritual implications.

We have access daily to "righteous food." We just need to open God's word and feast.

Your words were found and I ate them, And Your words became for me a joy and the delight of my heart; (Jeremiah 15:16)

Taste and see that the Lord is good. (Psalm 34:8) 

Truly satisfying righteous food.

FIRST THINGS FIRST

Pray---then plan. 

Is it because I think and even dream in alphabetical order that I tend to reverse this order, more often than not?

I need a reminder! In all caps, as it were. 

PRAY FIRST, THEN PLAN!!

Taken Aback

"Taken Aback". An idiom from my grandparents generation. (Probably.)

Yet, those 2 words came to mind as I walked past my bedroom chest of drawers. 

I realized (with a thud in my heart) that the picture on top was taken exactly 6 years ago tonight, with my pre-surgeries short hair. 

Taken with hubby and all three kids in the hospital "hotel " room the night before the beginning of my MAC surgeries....from excision to facial rebuilding.

This is the last picture of my "smiling" face, as I knew it, before I went under the knife. 

That "last picture" thought was what had me taken aback.

FOGGY FAREWELL TO 30A

PIX TO JOG MY MEMORY OF A GLORIOUS TIME BEACHSIDE!!
Even a few overcast skies could not dampen our days.

The sun always came out at some point.

Farewell fog. Welcome perfect cloud cover!!

Lunching a bunch on 30A...and beyond

So many choices for lunch on the Emerald Coast of Northwest Florida. Some better than others.

One "dining" consistency, regardless of time of day, throughout 30A and the beach roads beyond has been fantastic "wait staffs." Hospitable service makes lunching, dining or just munching more fun.
Local Catch was a fave for us---

 ---good food, homemade tortilla chips with my Mile 4 grouper salad* served  w/ the house white sauce. (Plus, I had the creamy balsamic on the side as well. Both were tasty!) Hubby's shrimp po boy came with the house habanero infused cocktail sauce. He loved it!!

*Featured in Southern Living Magazine, so the menu says.

Casey, our waitress, made the entire lunch a fun event----we left with extra chips, sauces and 30a coasters along with a rec for BBQ place we had to try----It was tasty---almost Memphis style BUT no slaw on the sandwich, just pickles. Who ever heard of such?

We also tried a "snack basket" of oysters and shrimp at Dusty's. The oysters were good but no better than Seafood Mkt Cafe which is a lot closer to our 30a condo.

Sometimes lunch consisted of a salad on the condo balcony. A plain salad that reached a new level when topped with shrimp from Goatfeathers, which they steamed for us. Following that with a piece of key lime pie was a perfect lunch.
Our final lunch out was at Great Southern Cafe in Seaside. My salad was good and hubby's warm pimiento cheese with pita was tasty. It was nice to sit on the porch but....he chef must not be from "The Real South" because the sweet tea was not sweet enough for this sweet tea aficionado.

Daughter Molly says she prefers Summer Kitchen Cafe in Rosemary Beach on 30a....but we'll have to save that for another trip.

Appetizers on 30A

An appetizer is to stimulate one's appetite----as if hubby and I need help for that. 

But....tonight we stumbled onto a "NEW to us" place, as Johnny Earle's Grayton Bar and Grill (in his old place, Criolla's) is closed indefinitely. Just around the corner we found Chanticleer Eatery off CR 283. What a find. 

We just had appetizers but we will be back----because they were delish!! 

Chicken Bruschetta Flatbread for hubby.

Guacamole Bites for me. 

Plus, "Ain't Too Proud to Beg" is on their playlist. It played. We danced.

We had to---it's the rule!!

What a fun staff who allowed it. Luckily we were in a front room by ourselves

Beach Warning ---30A Spring Break

Beach walks require sunscreen unless your wearing your "tennies."

Should have seen feet last night....before the aloe. 

In times past top of feet is always first place I slather with 50/SPF. A very scary memory lapse. Don't let it happen to you!

Today's walk was in tennis shoes........OUCH---when redness met the shoe/sock!

Breakfast and Brunch on 30A

FIRST THINGS FIRST---many restaurants are not open on Monday.

Many don't open for breakfast until 9 am when they do open. Beach time allows for sleeping in.....

 Of course, we had made a Donut Hole "run" on Day 1. So we had our favorite specialty bread on hand for our morning toast, not mention donuts and as well as a key lime pie to munch on all week.
Reminder: specialty breads sell out early in the day.

A Tuesday breakfast at Grayton Beach's Another Broken Egg had me "partially" eating a side order pancake that was the size of my head. Hubby had his weekly egg fix with an omelet---and the girl next to us (think size 0) was eating a cinnamon roll french toast covered in blueberries, strawberries and whipped cream.

Tomorrow's treat will be an "all the rage" cinnamon roll from La Loba's Bakery in the High Point area at Blue Mountain Beach. Signage is almost larger than the bakery tucked in the corner past Big Daddy's Bike Shop/Rentals.
We can walk to it from the beach....up the access steps at section 35.

Methodist Memories

The earth is the LORD'S, and the fulness thereof ...(Psalm 24:) The sea is His for He made it ...(Psalm 95:5)---both from my feeble memory.

Blue Mountain Beach, FL---first view captured on iPhone--too blue to even look real, but it is!

Those verses and the lyrics and melodies from these old hymns flooded my thoughts today as I was surrounded by the beauty of His creation.

All Creatures Of Our God And King (Hymn #62)

All creatures of our God and King, Lift up your voice and with us sing

Alleluia, Alleluia!

Thou burning sun with golden beam, Thou silver moon with softer gleam,

O praise Him, O praise Him, Alleluia, Alleluia, Alleluia!

For The Beauty Of The Earth (Hymn # 92)

For the beauty of the earth, For the glory of the skies,

For the love which from our birth,Over and around us lies;

Lord of all, to Thee we raise, This our hymn of grateful praise.

This is My Father's World (Hymn #144)

This is my Father's world and to my listening ears
all nature sings, and round me rings, the music of the spheres. 
This is my Father's world: I rest me in the thought
of rocks and trees, of skies and sees; His hand the wonders wrought.

View from our table at the Vue on 30a where we had Sunday brunch. Restaurant had jazz musican but my heart kept humming the old familiar hymns.