Thursday, August 16, 2012

Almost into a daily rhythm

Well, we've been here for about two weeks, and we've almost settled in to our daily rhythm.  Right now our pattern consists of a combination of the following: wake up, eat, beach, pool, eat, sleep, beach, pool, read, park, beach, eat, beach, pier/dock, beach, beach, beach, beach...  Interject some time for Kelly and I to do work on our virtual school jobs (which includes contacting kids and parents, holding chats, grading, and so forth) and you have a pretty good idea of what we do everyday.  So far we aren't tired of the beach, so this pattern suits us well.

Liam's routine on the beach is to pick up something new, put it in his mouth, eat all the sand on it, and then move on.  It looks like this stick is the next victim.

In every single photo of Amelie, she is running, jumping, or moving.  She is non-stop action, mainly because she loves the beach and everything a three-year old can do on one.

We do miss certain parts of Athens already.  If I had to sum up Gulf Shores in one phrase, it would be "tourist (redneck) trap".  Therefore, it is almost devoid of any type of identity or culture of it's own, unless you call condo-on-condo, fried seafood, and souvenir shops as identity.  The food culture, the coffee culture, the beer culture, the music culture, the townie culture, none of these things exist here.   I just assumed that everywhere was like Athens in that these cultural elements would be recreated in their own local fashion.  This includes Athens Church, too.  The lone church we've visited just didn't have passion for excellence that Athens Church has, and it's own parishioners informed me it doesn't get much better in the area.  I guess because we've been in Athens so long that I just took it for granted.  And this is more than an observation.  I've talked up the locals, looking for decent breakfast places, bakeries, locally roasted coffee, anything, and they either look at me like I'm an idiot or agree that I'm going to have to get out of Gulf Shores for anything like that.  Luckily, the rest of the Gulf is ripe with history and culture, and we are just a short ride from towns like Fairhope, AL and longer rides to places like New Orleans.  Also, I think that some of these places might exist in Gulf Shores, but I might have to just look extra hard for them.

 Fried oyster sandwich from Sea 'n Suds. Just about everything was fried, but low prices (for the area) made up for fairly generic menu.

Beignets from Cafe Beignet.  This is definitely regional food and was made famous by Cafe Du Monde in New Orleans.  This place was the perfect example of a breakfast place that would be worth revisiting if they had any atmosphere at all (or even coffee that was good).

We've had a lot of transition.  Up ending our lives, selling everything, changing jobs, moving, making new friends...the list goes on.  But it's fun, it's exciting, it's energizing.  We are loving being on a schedule that looks different everyday, in a place that is new, with a new setting and environment just a few months over the horizon.  There is no monotony or boredom except for that which we choose to create or allow to exist.  We feel like we are starting a chapter in our story that is exciting, that people will want to read, that our kids will want to tell.  Not that we were unhappy or tired of the previous chapters.  We loved writing them as well.  They made us who we are and got us where we are.  However, now the story has taken a turn that is more in line with our personalities, and we are excited to be a part of whatever happens next.

No comments: