make time take time

Note: I'm just gonna publish this post. If it seems unfinished, well, it is. But, I gotta make room for new posts. Something happened to me post-vacation. I feel like the Dude. Just puttering along, man. Onward, onward!
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Last week, ATM & I joined his mom & stepfather in Perdido Key, Florida for much needed R & R. Lots of hanging around on the beach, eating, sleeping, eating & sleeping. Beach.

No need to get wordy about this lot of photos:









But, these might need some 'splainin:

Flora-bama. A literal shanty/tent town. Attracts the wooooo! crowd. Smells like Pizza Don'ts. Makes a stiff pina colada.



Ye olde bra toss:





ATM got a little (clay) court time in. It's vacation! And we kept up with the US Open.


On our last full day, we drove into Pensacola & explored their precious downtown. Pensacola totally got the Spanish/French treatment a la New Orleans & Mobile, AL. The next time we are in the area, there are some restaurants & dives I'd like to check out. We went to their art museum that is housed in a building that used to be a jail. It's not a big museum; they only had two exhibits. 1. Passport to Paris with sketches and etches. And 2. Art of Africa, which featured beautiful pieces from some guy's personal collection. I can only imagine what his house looks like. And is it just artifacts from Africa?



This stool could be in the MOMA catalog:

Stairwell in museum:


It's a ten hour drive from NLR to Perdido Key, FL. By the time we rolled into Florida, it was dark & we were a kind of exhausted , tempered with total spaz. We ate, briefly faced the ocean & then went to our room to retire. We needed to decompress, so we turned on the television & immediately caught a second wind. Why? We realized that we were in Mark Ghormley territory! We watched The Unchartered Zone (UZ to REAL fans). It did not fail to entertain. No Mark Ghormley, but they did feature lots and lots of other local "talent". Thank you, Collin, for introducing us to Mr. Ghormley. Keiko made me laugh heartily when she told me that her little bean moved with an intensity while she was watching Brad Pitt on the silver screen. AND MARK GHORMLEY (on the computer screen)! Precious. Too bad they only show it one night a week.

I failed at documenting the foods and meals that we consumed, but I was on vacation from this blog, too, you know? I love this photo:

We were about to dig into our last breakfast before we hit the road home. There sits a tall, cold glass of milk. No one I know drinks milk like that any more. Sign of the times?

Tech-junkies make terrible vacationers. I checked my email & the usual sites nearly everyday. And I'm glad I did! Autumn has an online business called Avante Tarte. She will list what she's b/making, take orders by a certain date/time, and then she will deliver them to you. I love it. And she is some kind of baker! I got my order in before I left Florida. True Blood Season Finale pie: Black cherry rhubarb with blood orange merlot(te) sauce, and pâte brisée crust.



I don't even have to tell you it was good because your heart already knows! If you live in the NLR/LR area, get in on this madness!

Oh, ugh, the vacation totally set back the self-improvement plan. I ate whatever I wanted in FL. I've been back home for 6 days now & I have been good, but only 50% of the time. Pie & making runs with my lady folks to Hot Springs to eat @ Rolando's (with gelato afterwards) is not helping matters. But, I digress. These are the noteworthy, memorable & delicious things, not the vegan boca burger w/ salsa, no cheese that I forced myself to eat for lunch. I get it. You can't self-improve on vacation. I'm still sulking, though. Poo poo.