this post is overdue, as are most

at the beginning of september i had the opportunity to go to florida and visit cathy for a much needed long weekend. on sunday we were able to get away by ourselves for awhile and drove across aligator alley to the gulf coast near venice. after driving around for a bit, and stopping in the nicest mcdonalds on the planet (i kid you not, there was a fireplace, sofas, and a flat screen tv), we found ourselves at vanderbilt beach.

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it was a very pleasant day, there was a storm that we watched come in and move to the south of us, which kept up a nice breeze, not to mention some waves. and the scattered clouds kept you from feeling like you were frying, even if you were. : ) it was a hotel area but where we were there were just palms and mangroves, very tropical feeling. the sand was super white and powdery, with all kinds of shell bits mixed in. we got to chat a bunch, and just hang out. it had been so long since i'd been able to just hang out with cathy, in that - we're-just-sitting-here-not-even-talking-kind-of-way. sooo good.

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i went for a walk down the beach and was SO exciting to find my favorite beach creature - little coquina clams!!!!! i first saw them when cat and i were visiting the siesta key beach area in college or our "florida excursion" (back then who would have thought you'd move to fl, cat!). i just absolutely love these things. the shells are about a half inch and come in every color imaginable. they live right where to water breaks, so if you scoop away some sand just after a wave recedes you expose them and can watch them scurry back down into the sand. i spose i'm amused by simple things. : ) lemme tell ya it tickles if they try to dig down through your toes!

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afterwards cat and i discovered that what seemed like a lot of stones were were stepping on our in the water were actually tons and tons on sanddollars! i hadn't seen a live one before, so we spent a bunch of time picking them up and looking at them- it was very cool, and defintely made for an awesome day - discovering something like that.

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oh, not to mention that we some some dolphins as well!