Grayton Beach State Park, Florida

November 30, 2023

Our next stop was a special one, as we were getting together with Julie's sister and her family for Thanksgiving, and our kids were going to fly in as well. 

We were on a bit of a tight schedule when we arrived at Grayton Beach State Park on the Panhandle of Florida. We got set up, did a bit of cleaning, and then we were off to the Destin airport to pick up the kids.

On the way to the airport to pick up the kids

Grayton Beach is on the Emerald Coast of Florida, and the sand and water are just gorgeous here. The first full day we were there the weather was very nice--sunny and mid 70s. (Subsequent days were more iffy.) We took a walk that day along the beach to the quaint town of Seaside (where "The Truman Show" movie was filmed).

A path off the campground

Western Lake

Such white sand!

The water was on the cool side, but quite comfortable

The house from "The Truman Show" 

"Good Morning! Oh, and in case I don't see ya... good afternoon, good evening, and good night!"

Unexpected bit of autumn here in Seaside

A kindler, gentler way to enforce parking restrictions

The oft photographed Seaside Post Office

Walking the nature paths of Seaside

Since Andrew and Alan happened to own the same sandles, Audrey added some embroidered embellishments to Alan's to distinguish them apart

Just about every afternoon and/or evening, we drove about 20 minutes to Julie's sister's beachside condo. We spent a lot of enjoyable time with her family playing games, hanging on the beach, watching sunsets, and just catching up. 

Beach Bocce Ball

Not a bad setting!

We were treated to some gorgeous sunsets!

Birthday Girl

Birthday gnome for Rebecca, courtesy of Audrey

An unusual headrest

Thanksgiving morning

A moody (and chilly) Thanksgiving afternoon

On this chilly day, the wet sand (and surf) actually felt warm

Amateurs un-molding Grandma's jello mold

Success!

Canned "cranberry sauce" is an old family tradition going way back to the 1970s

In retrospect, this was probably not the best-timed photo

Because you can never have too many sunset shots 😊

After five fun days of familypalooza, we said good-bye to the relatives, and had a couple of quieter days to ourselves, just hanging out at the campsite and the beach with the kids before taking them back to the airport. Oh, and we made a trip to Waffle House because Alan has always wanted to go there for some reason, and they don't have them up north. 

A warm thank-you to Stephanie and Eric for being such gracious hosts this past week. The home-made shrimp and grits as well as "pizza on the beach" were especially nice treats. We had a lot of fun!

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