Matthew Monday: Florida Beach

As I mentioned we were on vacation down on the Florida Panhandle at a town called Ft. Walton Beach.  Most people who go to Florida for vacation don’t go to the Panhandle area.  It’s a bit removed and it’s culture is more Alabama, Mississippi, and Louisiana than Florida.  The root purpose of our trip was to attend a wedding, but we extended our stay there for a week since we as a family haven’t had a real vacation in a while, especially with Matthew. 
 

I really liked the Florida Panhandle.  It’s not crowded, there’s good food around, there’s a good bit to do, and the beaches—did I mention the beaches?—the beaches are beautiful.  Close by were a strip of islands that are connected by bridges to form a beach front strip that’s no bigger than a quarter mile wide and in some places fifty yards wide.  That’s right, you can go from the bay on one side to the Mexican gulf on the other in less than fifty yards.  And the sand on the beaches is literally white as snow.  The first time we drove through there was a spot with sand dunes that seemed to have a dusting of snow on them.  But then we looked carefully and it wasn’t snow.  It was sand.   

Here are some pictures of Matthew on the beach.   

 

Yes, that’s the sand, and it was really fine.  I don’t think I’ve ever seen sand as fine and white as what we found there.  It was almost like baby powder.  Here's Matthew trying to build a castle, or is it a mountain?

 

And then sinking his arms into it.

 

We had sunny days throughout (except for the first and last days) and the temperatures ranged 70 to 75F (21-23C).  The water was a bit cold.  Not too many people ventured in.  It's still early in the season. 

The gulf water gets to be as warm as bath water by mid summer.  But the water was clear and wonderfully sea-green.

And finally Matthew burying his legs to the knees.

It was great to get away from this horrid winter we've had.