walking on a Sunday afternoon

Ya gotta sing it.
Think, Queen's "Lazing on a Sunday Afternoon", one of my favorites on the album, "A Night at the Opera". Yes, I am well aware that "Bohemian Rhapsody" is regarded as THE hit from that one. However, given my penchant for listening to an entire side of an album, not just a single song, I can assure you that all of the songs deserve more recognition.
Ahem. I digress, ramble, stray off topic, yet again.
As I am wont to do.
So there.
Um... let me see... what was I saying?
Oh! I see! I hadn't really started yet.
Good!
Today had started out overcast and a bit gray, as the weatherman had predicted. My niece Emily and her family came by around 10:30 AM, to visit. As we had not seen each other at Christmas, I gave her and her music-making husband two tickets for Afterlife Tours (garnered in a fundraiser for Savannah Stage Company). They immediately said "Date night event!" Major coolness!

Then I gave their darling daughter, my ocean-loving great-niece, her gift. Yeah! I had made (i.e., stuffed it myself) a turtle to cuddle, making sure it was extra cuddly, like her. I had left the blue-themed Hawaiian shirt and shorts off, to allow her the option of dressing him or not. (She started putting the clothes on him as soon as she saw them.) Then she named him: Scutzles, I think was the final name, though it may have morphed into Scuttles. Very nice!
They stayed and visited for a while, then life called and they had to leave. But not without first making plans to share dinner some Tuesday or Thursday in the near future. I will certainly look forward to that!

As they left, I noticed the day had brightened.
Not just figuratively.
No, literally.
The sun had muscled its way past the clouds, clearing a space for blue sky to arch above.
Well, then.
This was entirely too pretty a day to spend inside!
And it was reasonably warm, too!
This called for a trip to the real beach!
And so that is exactly what happened. I contacted my NK! Barbara, who had recently spoken of wanting to walk on the beach. No better time than the present! She was at my house within the hour and we were at Tybee Island's Atlantic Ocean sands shortly after. Yeah!

We were not the only ones on those sands, either, basking in the glow of this glorious day in late December. Oh, no! Lots of folks were there, strolling along the water's edge, testing out new metal detectors, splashing in the surf, catching waves. Nice!
We stayed for two hours, until the time on the meter was up, then we dined at the The Flying Fish Bar & Grill on the way back to town. She had never been and I love the food there. Now, she knows another good place for shrimp! I highly recommend the appetizer sampler: fried shrimp, fried calamari, fried conch, and delicious shrimp salad - and five different sauces for dipping! Definitely a fun food!
What a thoroughly relaxing day!