I recapped the first half of our beach trip earlier this week, and today I’m wrapping up the second half!
Tuesday, August 15
Worked out in the condo this morning, just wasn’t feeling the beach walk this time. Huxley stayed up at the condo this day, with him being just one years old going to the beach everyday can be a lot. Hadley and I chilled at the beach together, and then Kevin came down later with her. Kevin has always done the laundry when we’re on vacation, I don’t know what that’s all about, but I’ll take it. For dinner, we went to Boshamps! I saw this place on Instagram and wanted to dry a drink they have called “the dreamsicle.” The drink consisted of Titos vodka, vanilla ice cream, and orange juice. Even though I’m not a huge fruity drink fan, it was good! Kevin had a burger, and he said it was one of the best he’s had. He’s not a huge seafood guy, so yes, he got a burger at a seafood restaurant. I got a shrimp basket, it was good! They had a really cool place outside to hang while you waited for your table, sand for the kids to play in, big chairs, and could walk along the docks to see all the boats, it was fun.
Wednesday, August 16
We changed it up a little bit today and went to a pier! We found out about this place from a family we met at the condo pool. You pay $2 per person to go on the pier, and you literally see so much sea life! We went early, like eight in the morning, and there were already so many people fishing. We saw a few sharks, small fish, and jellyfish! It was so cool to see sharks so close up! After the pier, we stopped at a local cafe for breakfast. I tried my favorite chai tea latte, it was good! I love trying chai’s at different places! After breakfast, we headed back to the condo. Kevin and Hadley headed out for their day date, they did go karts, swings, water bumper cars, and just had fun being together just the two of them. After they got back to the condo, and Huxley took his nap, we went down to the pool to swim. We ate dinner at the condo, and then just hung out on the balcony. I could sit out there all night!
Thursday, August 17
We had an exciting day today! We headed out bright and early again, stopped for donuts for breakfast. We rented a pontoon boat and headed out to Crab Island. I don’t know if I’ll be able to say everything I want to about this day, but it was quite comical on the pontoon. You see the photo of Kevin talking to the guy about the pontoon, and how to get to Crab Island, etc. The trip to Crab Island should’ve taken twenty, maybe thirty minutes? It took us an hour. An HOUR! Let’s just nicely say, that my human MapQuest of a husband, is amazing at directions on the road, but on water? Not so much. After an hour of driving around, just enjoying the ride (lmao), we finally found the island filled with boats! It was so cool! A bunch of boats in shallow water, and a tiny little store in the middle of the water, where you can pay to bounce on a ton of floaties! The really terrible thing about the trip was the water was filled with jellyfish! Kevin got in, and dunked Huxley a few times to cool him off. Hadley and I did not get in, it was so hard, but I was not about to get stung. It was a huge bummer, because we rented this pontoon and barely stayed because of all the jellyfish. It was fun though! If there were no jellyfish, we would’ve stayed and swam until it was time to return the pontoon. Definitely doing that again, during the non-jellyfish season though!
After Crab Island, we got Chick-Fil-A for lunch on the way home, and then Huxley took a nap. Hadley and I went down to the pool, she swam with the friends she made earlier in the week. For dinner, we went to Jimmy Buffet’s Margaritaville restaurant. We sat outside and watched all the boats go in and out of the harbor. After dinner, we walked around the boardwalk. Hadley got frozen yogurt, and then we went back to the condo. Kevin put Huxley to bed, and Hadley and I walked on the beach. We saw a few sandcastles of mermaids and octopus. And then I came up to the condo, and Kevin and Hadley took a night swim in the pool and hot tub! She loved all the one-on-one time with each of us!
Friday, August 18
Our last full day! We started out the morning by eating breakfast on the balcony. Hadley loved the hanging seat! And Huxley’s travel seat was so easy to move around wherever. We basically just hung out at the beach and pool off and on all day. We would take turns with Hadley at the pool, and the other at the beach, or up at the condo with Huxley. At the pool, Hadley met these siblings that she had so much fun with all week. The parents were so nice too, they were from Connecticut! They didn’t want the night to end, they swam for so long together. When it was time to come up to the condo for the night, they both went to each other’s condos to check it out, and they exchanged home addresses in hopes to keep in touch! It was so cute!
We ate dinner in the condo, and then Kevin pretty much packed the van, so it was all ready to go in the morning. Hadley was so tired; she was out and looked so peaceful in bed I had to take a photo.
Saturday, August 19
Left the condo bright and early! We stopped at Subway for lunch, and I took a picture of Hadley because her eyes looked super blue, and she got so tan! I sat in the backseat the last few hours of the trip. We decided to push through, and just drive the entire way home instead of stopping at a hotel again. Hadley and Huxley were troopers on the way home.
We couldn’t have asked for better weather, and even better water on this trip! We had rain one time, but it was at night while we were sleeping. The water was sooo clear, it was gorgeous! I’m not sure I could ever go anywhere else, with the water as clear as it was. Just beautiful! It was a great vacation. As Huxley gets older, vacations will get easier. He did amazing sleeping in a pack ‘n play for a week too! We love the ocean, it’s so calming and relaxing, I never want to leave!
Thanks for following along our vacation journey!
Read about the first part of our trip by clicking here – 2023 Summer Beach Trip Days 1-4.
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We were at the Gulf Shore AL the same week and the jellyfish were terrible. I believe all of us got stung at one point.
That does sound like the perfect (somewhat) relaxing beach trip. Vacations aren’t always easy with little ones in tow but they are definitely worth it and you’re setting him up to be a better traveler as he grows too.