Back from the Sunshine State

Hello blogland friends!  I’m back from our family vacation and what a trip it was!  We went to the Florida beaches (Atlantic side) for 10 days and stayed in a fantastic hotel that couldn’t be any closer to the water – the view was amazing.  However, the trip didn’t feel long enough…I could have stayed another 10 days and not felt homesick.  We had lots of fun collecting seashells that washed up on the shore and enjoyed the sound of the waves crashing at night.  One afternoon, a HUGE amount of shells washed up on shore and I found a beautiful 2 part shell (kind of like a clam) that was white and deep purple inside.  I of course checked to make sure nothing was living in it before adding it to our seashell collection.

This was the view of Melbourne Beach from the 7th floor of our hotel room.  Our room had floor to ceiling windows and 2 sliding doors that went onto a balcony.

I did a little shopping in the area and came across some very reasonably priced items.  First stop was at  Bealls Outlet where I found lots of great shoes (some Brazilian made) ranging from $15 to $39.  This shop sells clothing, shoes, accessories, and home fashion.  It’s part of the Bealls chain but I happen to visit the outlet version (I’m guessing if you are from Florida you are well aware of this shop due to its multiple locations).

If you are into under water finds was Shell World was definitely the place.  We happen to be visiting at the right time as they were moving to a new location and so everything in the store was 50% off.  I bought some larger shells and coral that I ended up having to hand carry home (I was really afraid they would break in our luggage).

This was such a great trip that we are thinking about going back for 3 or 4 days in the early Fall.  But we will see how that works out.

I missed you guys!

Images:  House of Many Hues