The Beach!

We just got back from a week at Perdido Key, FL. It was beautiful weather and the boys, and us, had a wonderful time. We drove down the long way (Hwy 55) in order to eat at our favorite restaurant, Mama Hamils, in Madison, MS. It is truly homecooking at its best. They have a huge buffet that is filled with every veggie you've ever known (including rutabagas), along with ribs, fried chicken, and much more. It is worth the extra time going this way to experience it. We found this while we were in college and we keep going back. Next we stopped at the Collins Zoo, which is a little zoo along 55. It is a little scary since the animals are only contained by chainlinked fences, but you know Baxter, we can't pass up a zoo. This is another college find that we routinely return to. We finally made it, 10.5 hours later to Perdido Key. During the week, Baxter, Charlie and Billy (bax's dad) went inshore fishing on a charter boat. We started doing this a few years ago when the deep sea fishing limits were cut to almost nothing that it wasn't worth going. Charlie had so much fun. He caught 5 fish in one hour and handed the captain the live shrimp bait throughout the trip. He only went for one hour and Baxter and Billy went for the remaining 3. We also took the whole family on a oyster, crapping, shrimping trip. This did not go quite as well. It is never a good idea to put an already fussy 1 year old in a full life jacket. He screamed most of the 2 hours. Charlie started not feeling well and fell asleep on my lap. The captain's shrimp net broke, so we went back empty handed. But, the next day the captain called back and let us go back out to shrimp. Baxter, Charlie and Billy went and brought back about 3 lbs of shrimp which we ate and it was delicious. We also went to the Gulf Breeze zoo, which allows you to feed most animals, including giraffes. It also had a train ride safari which we saw free roaming animals. We of course ate lots of good food, along with a trip to Lamberts which isn't great food but is always entertaining! One of my favorite things is eating my favorite sandwich, BLT, at lunch everyday when I come in from the beach, along with a scoop of homemade pimento cheese. I love it! I indulge all week. We also fit in a trip to Homegoods in Pensacola, which I found several home accessories and shoes, and a trip to a great decorator shop called Duh's. It was another great trip to the beach!