March 29th, 2021

So it's been a week since I've seen you guys!  Feels like longer doesn't it?  How have you been?  We had a really nice "staycation"!  We had mostly nice weather (just a few days of grey).  We had no specific agenda most of the time. Accomplished very few things on the gotta-do list.  And all we had a lot of fun. As we go through this week, I will tell you some of the highlights of last week.  Hope that's ok with you.

First of all, one of the best parts of a staycation is that you don't have to worry about dealing with schedules or deadlines, or packing.  No concerns about hurrying up to wait in lines at airports, no TSA nonsense, no worries about suitcases being over weight or people who insist on reclining into your lap or screaming babies in a very enclosed space  or bathrooms the size of broom closets.

One of the weird parts of a staycation, especially one that begins on a Saturday is that it just feels like an ordinary weekend, not a vacation.  Not that there is anything wrong with a weekend, no siree!  I do love me a good weekend :)  And then staycation Monday rolls around and it still feels like the weekend, ditto for Tuesday, Wednesday etc until it actually is the weekend again.  And then, by Saturday, I'm left wondering if I'm actually on vacation or is it just the weekend. Yeah, I know, I'm kind of strange.  This is not news.

I suppose it doesn't really  matter at all. The important part is that we had a great time every single day.  Even though it started out chilly and damp and grey and Very windy.

It was so windy in fact that when we went to the beach,  birds were literally stalled in midair while trying to fly.  They just hung there as if they were waiting for me to pluck them out of the sky.  It did make taking their pictures much easier than usual though :)

This particular day of the weekend, we headed to the beach specifically because it was a grey windy damp chilly day.  We knew (from experience) that even though this is High Season, there would be few tourists around. The only people I know who truly enjoy the beach on non-traditional beach days are Tim and I.  Yes, partly we love the fact that there are far fewer people around but also just because it can get a little more exciting on a bad weather day.

We saw dolphins frolicking

Lots of sailboats,

Loads of pelicans of course and a little splash

A beach crow  ??!!   (there is a first time for everything I suppose)

 And then we headed down to  Sharkey's Pier to see what was happening down there.  There are always more people there because there are two beach front restaurants, a food truck, a board walk and a pier. But even so, not nearly as people-y as usual.  Mostly it was just beautiful. But then, it always is.

Eventually we headed back up the pier to leave and on the way noticed this:

Tim remarked that someone must have had a beach wedding recently.  And as we were admiring it all, just standing there, leaning on the railing, being buffeted by the wind, bundled in sweat jackets,  we suddenly see people,  looking far more dressed up than usual beach goers, heading toward the arbour!  The wedding started right then!  Wow!  Well of course we stopped and watched.  I love a good wedding.

It was a very small group but everyone looked so very happy.  The bride looked beautiful but I bet she was freezing in her pretty dress.  That's the thing about planning and outside wedding, you just never know for sure what's going to happen weather-wise.  But they were brave and carried on.

I think getting to be unofficial guests at a beach wedding was probably the highlight of that day.  I do love weddings and this one, as small and simple and non-weather friendly as it was, made me smile for the rest of the day.

​But surprises are like that :)