Vacation Report: Day 7

The day began with superb beach weather. We loaded up all the beach equipment and hit it this morning. Thanks to a keen mind and complete mastery of the moon phases, gravitational physics and fluid dynamics, I was able to set up in the perfect location. At high tide, the water was just lapping at our toes. We were close enough to sit and feel comfortable as Ellie made her 97 trips to the ocean to either fill her sand castle bucket or wash the sand off of her only to plop right back down in it again. Although Paige doubted, fearing being inundated with the rolling waves, and had designs on pulling up the umbrella and changing locations, I stood my ground. It was a great final day on the beach. It was plenty warm, but with a nice breeze. As was the case all week, the beach and pool were very congested.

We made the decision that we would come in mid afternoon and get ready to go to Tybee Island. We have good friends who go there nearly every year to vacate and it was another one of those places that we needed to check out. So that we did.

We made it to Tybee about 6:15 and, on recommendation of the aforementioned friends, decided that we would dine at "Fannies On The Beach." It was a very interesting looking establishment right across the street from the beach and had two very large decks with outstanding views of the ocean. I let Paige and Ellie out while I went and found a place to park. When I arrived back at the restaurant I found that Paige and Ellie had already staked out a nice table on the deck, but Paige had a strange look on her face. "What's wrong?" I inquired.

"Just look around and let me know what you think," she replied.

Upon further investigation it did look like their were quite a few same sex couples sitting around with lots of children running amok... quite loudly I might add. There were also a few "traditional-looking" families, but we were a very small minority. Finally, our suspicions were validated when our waitress, somewhat apologetically, let us know that there was, in fact, a "gay men and women with children convention" going on and, furthermore, the owner of Fannies, who counted herself in that lot, was hosting this event.

The phrase "Well, isn't that special!" floated across my mind, but thankfully not across my tongue as the news hit my ear. How was I going to explain this to Ellie on the ride back home? Praise the Lord, Ellie cannot yet read because a little girl, who appeared to be about 3-years-old, went running by wearing a shirt which exclaimed, "My Mommies Rock!" It was fun trying to keep Ellie concentrating on the ships at sea and what we were going to do next so she wouldn't start trying to figure things out.

I could go on and on here as you can well imagine, but this is neither the time and I am not in the place to do so. I will save the further expansion on this theme for when I get back to the grindstone and want to get serious. I will, however, leave you with a few observations. As I sat and ate, I found myself wishing that certain family and friends had been there with me so we could share in the experience together. Then I began to thank Jesus that others were NOT there because I would probably end up having to fight my way out. I would have had no problem with the men, but a few of the "women" might have taken me in a fair fight. One might have thought that some of the German power lifters had made a stop over en route to Beijing for the Olympics.

Anyway, after dinner, we proceeded to go to the Tybee Island pier for a nice stroll out to see the fishermen. That was a nice cap off to a strange evening and then we headed back to HHI to start packing up. I greet you from a McDonald's where, once again, I have come to utilize their wifi. This time I came in and bought a shake rather than sit in my vehicle in the parking lot. When we get home tomorrow, I think I will post a week in review. Pray for us as we travel.

More later...