Home for a little while

I'm home from the beach and must unpack, settle in, process the mail, and so on.

The problem is, I leave Monday morning for Austin, so I also have to pack for a very different sort of trip.

And, I'm tired.

So, it's to bed for me.

The last night at the beach

is always odd, a time of mixed feelings, of increased appreciation of this place and of sad realization that it's time to return to the real world.  It's also a period of change.  Some folks have already left, while others, including me, hang on until the morning mandatory departure.  We return the house to its original state, in the process undoing all the little customizations that play key roles in our traditions.  We skip the late second movie due to the early morning wake-up time.  We load cars and empty cupboards.  We make ready to leave this lovely part of the world.

Beach life is fleeting life.

The mighty fall

The mighty BobCakes, that is, because today our beach team took down both the massive chocolate BobCake

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and the second of the CaBobCakes.

Beach life is dessert destruction life.

National Hot Dog Day extends to the beach

Of course it does!  Why would it not?  In keeping with this day of tube steak celebration, my lunch from my favorite local sandwich shop was their "Two Dogs Done Right."

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The dish was definitely messy, but it was also quite tasty.

The beach trip is winding to a close, and so, too, are the BobCakes.  The main BobCake is still standing, but it is now far the worse for wear.

The second CaBobCake is going down more gracefully, but it is nonetheless going down.

Beach life is food life.

Apes and dogs

Kyle and I headed today to the only cinema in the area to catch War for the Planet of the Apes, the latest (and pretty good) installment in this franchise.  The theater is a hot mess, but it's the only one in easy driving distance, so we visit it at least a couple of times each beach vacation.

On the way, we stopped for lunch at a drive-through hot dog stand, where we each enjoyed a bottle of water and two of these creations.

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Meet the pimento cheese bacon hot dog, truly a feast of rare beauty.

Beach life is animal life.

Today's BobCake update shows that we are not making very good progress against the mighty cakes of Bob.  The BobCake is resisting us,

while the second and final CaBobCake slowly succumbs to our attacks.

Beach life is dessert life.

Cloudy day

Every minute of today that I was outside, clouds in every shade of gray covered our world.  The air was a bit cooler than usual, and we had a very slight breeze.  From time to time, it gently rained.

We still managed to get in our usual two-mile walk, lunch out, and lunch errands, plus some splashing in the pool and other common beach activities.

Beach days are sometimes cloudy days, but I love them, too.

The beach, 6:45 p.m.

Two shots, one in each direction, from the same spot on the beach.

Looking east.

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Looking west.

I do love this place.  Being able to go to the beach and see no one who isn't with you reminds me of my teen years, when I loved Florida and thought it was the most beautiful place on Earth.

In more news of the beach, the BobCake is small but strong and seemingly impervious to our attempts to consume its final chunk.

The second CaBobCake, however, is now considerably smaller.

Will the BobCakes survive another day?

Tune in tomorrow to find out.