From Destin to Gautier-it's Mardi Gras Time

We had such a great time with our friends Les and Kathy Shanteau. from Super Bowl celebrations to shopping to gallery visits. In only 4 days we did so much.  But the best part was cementing a  new friendship. We met Kathy and Les through our group Facebook page: Roadtreking The Group.  A few weeks ago they were passing through Cape San Blas , stopped into see us and the beginning of a beautiful friendship was formed.

Kathy,Justin and moi

They were  such wonderful hosts to us while we were in Destin and I know we will keep in touch. Kathy and I are both artists so the visit to Justin Gaffrey's Gallery was the absolute highlight of our  visit.  If you are anywhere near Grayton beach take a detour to his gallery. His work is breathtaking,the photos don't even come close to doing his work justice.  He was inspired by my favorite artist Vincent Van Gogh.  And did I mention before Justin became a painter he was a chef, it's no wonder I like him and his work so much.

Another home run in restaurants from Kathy and Les's recommendation-we had dinner at The Boat House and I have now become addicted to Amberjack fish.  It runs a close second to my all time favorite-Halibut.  This is another place for you to stop when in Destin.

Sunset on Henderson Beach, Destin

Les and Kathy suggested we take the scenic route to Gautier,MS and we did.  The drive took us along Navarre Beach-one of the most beautiful beaches in Florida.

From Navarre Beach we headed towards Gautier,MS.  We were enroute to meet up with a large group of friends to celebrate Mardi Gras in Gautier.

All checked in at Shephard State Park and ready to party

Well, almost ready to party, I still had those cupcakes to make since I volunteered to bring cupcakes and deviled eggs to the celebration.  So Jim joined the revelers for a dinner out and I stayed behind and made carmelized banana pastry cream. Hmm,sound interesting ?  Stay tuned, I'll be publishing the recipe for my Banana Foster Cupcakes soon. In the meantime. Happy Trails and safe travels to all my friends, old and new.

Back in the Groove

Here it is February 2nd 2015  and we are back on the road again !  Our first day on the road was a mix of sadness and excitement.  We left Cape San Blas and Bring Back the Magic with a beautiful sunrise shining on us .  It made me feel like the whole world was opening up to us. I don't mean to sound like a broken record but I can't say it enough-we are so very blessed and I thank God, the Universe and Buddha every single day.

As we drove away from what has been our home for the past 13 months we giggled and laughed and asked each other, are we sure about this ?  Are we ever sure about anything ?  No, you just have to do what your heart tells you and that is what we are doing.

 Sweet little Seaside

We made a little detour along the way on the advice of Les and Kathy Shanteau,fellow Roadtrekers.  When they stopped by Cape San Blas in January they gave us a list of restaurants to stop at as we passed through Destin.  One of those was The Great Southern Cafe.  It's in Seaside which is a sweet little town made up of pastel colored beach houses and very friendly people.  It was kind of "brunch" time when we arrived so we opted for breakfast.

 I had bacon pecan waffles-oh my goodness-I had to keep slapping Jim's hand as he tried to steal the bacon and pecan crumbles from my waffles !  Jim had eggs,delicious grits with Gouda,buttermilk biscuits and sage sausage.  Everything was absolutely delicious. If Les and Kathy ever to tell you stop at a restaurant-listen to them, they know their food!

 Perfect fit for a Roadtrek !

A little kiss for luck from the duck !

After eating we walked around the the little square,checked out the 29year old general store; the Airstream food trucks and just a few of the homes along the street. We were both pretty tired since we hadn't slept well from the excitement of a new adventure so we headed out towards our next destination-Henderson Beach State Park.

It did not look like this when we checked in ,but all is well that ends well.

No sooner did we make the turn into the park the sky opened and dumped a ton of rain on is and it wasn't letting up.  Jim barely made it outside to turn on the propane so we could run the refrigerator on that instead of running down the battery.  He was not going outside in the typhoon to hook up electric and water !

We had made plans with Les and Kathy to meet up and watch the Superbowl..since it was only about 1pm we talked to them , made plans to meet later, and Jim and I promptly took a long afternoon nap.We probably could have slept all night but then we would have missed that crazy Superbowl.

We ended up meeting Les and Kathy and following them to the pizza joint - -Helen Back.  Another recommendation by these two , and it was outstanding.  We only watched the first quarter and then went back to their condo to watch the rest of the game. Kathy had prepared a spread that would put any caterer to shame-and it caused me to add on some extra walking time when I hit the beach today !

By the time we headed back to the campground,we were stuffed and ready for bed. Good news-the rain had stopped so hooking up electric and water was no problem for my sweetie.  No sooner did he get it hooked up -the rains started again.  It was so peaceful falling asleep to the rain on the roof.  It's like we never had a break in our camping experience.

A beautiful day for a walk on the beach

We had a lazy morning breakfast of sliced apples and Havarti cheese-I fired up the Nespresso machine and we had hot "wake you up" espresso shots. It was a nice way to start the day.   Jim took off walking Hailey and I took off in search of the beach.  It was about 60 degrees,bright blue skies,sunshine and strong winds. The beach was perfect with that pearly white sand and almost complete deserted. I walked a little extra to counter the food from the night before.

We're both back in Ruby with another espresso  sitting in the warm sun that is coming in through the windows-reading and watching this crazy little bird that keeps trying to come in through our windows.  I think he wants to join us on the road.  It really feels like we picked up where we left off before our layover at the condo.   We'll be here for a few days and then heading to Mardi Gras in Gautier Mississippi.  I always love spelling that state -it's almost like singing a song.

So dinner needs to be made and since we didn't break open the champagne last night-we will be walking down to the beach tonight with it to toast the sunset and our good fortune.  Happy Trails y'all.