Things looked good as we made our way down the wooden walkway toward the water. Darcy had heard that the beach was gone, but although the tide was higher than normal it looked good from where we were crossing. Right before the end of the walkway there was a sign that warned us of a drop off and sure enough the walkway ended and we had to jump to reach the sand. I was quite confused wondering where the steps were, but Kelly told me there hadn't ever been steps just a sandy slope that was no longer there.
She then pointed to the sand ledge where once the sand had been this packed. Ah, erosion. I guess I expected the water to be as high as the walkway and the beach completely gone? I'm not sure what I was thinking, but since it was obviously more dire than what we saw I was pleasantly surprised.
This was the drop off from the other end which doesn't look so drastic, but when you are an overweight, middle aged woman with a bad knee trust me it was more so than it appears in this photo. It did make for a nice place to sit and watch the sun drop though.
The gulf is usually very calm (although I always post pictures when it isn't - I realized that after typing that sentence). The waves weren't as high as they had been on Monday, but it was still choppy. Darcy had spent the day again on Clearwater beach and was allowed in the water with only a caution flag flying. She said there wasn't much of an undertow and I didn't find much of one while wading in this water.
The big thing to do on the beach this week has been to build big holes, according to Darcy. We found this one right off to the right of the walkway. Because it fills with water, kids seem to like digging to China. Kelly wanted to get in the hole, but was concerned an animal was down there or that she would be sucked down into Asia. I assured her that if she started sinking I would seek immediate help from the people down the beach. When she inquired why I wouldn't be pulling her out myself, I told her, "Because I'll be taking pictures for the blog, silly!"
So Kelly talked Darcy into stepping into the hole. She is sort of like the Mikey kid from the cereal commercial. "Let's get Darcy. She'll do it!"
Then Kelly told her she should sit down in it like a hot tub so she did. She lasted less than a minute before the walls began caving in covering her in sand. She had to spend quite some time at the showers to get herself clean again.
We left the beach before the sun went down in search of a place to eat. I wanted to try something new where we could sit outside and enjoy the view (much to Kelly's dismay), and we settled on a new place that had taken over for a really popular restaurant in the next beach town. Madison went in and got us a menu to peruse beforehand, and I made the decision to try it. We ate outside and enjoyed the above view.
The food was so so. My fish tacos were excellent and just the right amount, but the side of black beans and spicy rice was almost cold and from a package. Darcy's caesar salad wasn't made with romaine lettuce, but iceberg. Her side of garlic red potatoes, however, were good. Madison's meal of a Cuban sandwich was not quite up to the par of Cuba, but her fries were tasty. Kelly's fish chowder was hot, a tad spicy, and quite tasty. She also order the scallops ceviche which turned out to be fish instead of scallops (called the Daily Ceviche on our bill) and it came with a huge pile of saltine crackers instead of the chips that it said on the menu. Kelly complained nicely and the waitress brought her out a small plate of multi-colored chips.
There was music playing inside the first seating area and it was very loud so I'm not sure how anyone could communicate if sitting there. Outside we could hear the same music at a better volume and it was pleasant. About ten minutes into our evening, a man's voice came over the speakers telling us the storm had past, and suddenly he broke out in song. It was so rough and off key that we thought it must be karaoke night, but since he continued throughout our meal we realized he was the night's entertainment. So we made the most of it singing and swaying along to his version of the oldies. He appreciated us, telling us folks on the patio to continue joining in, but the rest of the diners eyed us suspiciously.
It isn't a place I'll return to anytime soon, but perhaps I'll give it another shot when I'm looking for a place to sit outside and have a drink. Although Kelly's jack and coke cost $6.50 for a juice glass portion so maybe not... But it was a nice ending to our little evening beach excursion.
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