The Toohigs: Fall Break 2015: Alys Beach

Saturday, October 17, 2015

Fall Break 2015: Alys Beach

For Fall Break, HG was out of school from Friday through Wednesday, so we took a friend up on an offer to stay at his place in Alys Beach. Over the years, we’ve spent a lot of time in Destin or Orange Beach, so we were newbies to this area so far east on the Gulf coast, but we fell in love! Alys Beach is a small, quiet community with a killer high-end (albeit casual/comfortable) restaurant, George’s, and it’s a short bike ride away from Rosemary Beach, which is crawling with shops and restaurants (and people). It’s a short drive from Seaside and all the cuteness there too. My parents came down for a few days too, and it was such a nice break from reality. The weather was CHILLY and cloudy, but we enjoyed hanging out on the beach or riding bikes in long sleeve shirts and pants. We grew our sweatshirt collection a good bit too! But the sun finally came out on our last day, which was when we met up with some of our SAA friends that stayed about five miles down 30A- perfect timing for some beach fun!

On our way! (ATL airport)

We have arrived…this is the rooftop terrace

Pretty proud of herself

And a view of the living room and kitchen- gorgeous house!

Entrance to the beach at Alys

Finally have our toes in the sand

Checking out the pool

BRRRR…she insisted on getting her toes in… I was cuddled up on a lounge chair in a sweatshirt with a towel, although I was enjoying a delicious -virgin- pina colada, with my lip quivering

George’s for dinner on Friday

The perfect way to wake up on the first morning of vacation. She slept on a twin mattress in the master bedroom, and she loved wrapping the curtains around her to make her own little room.

Now she’s convinced she’s getting in the pool when it’s 65 degrees outside.

And she decided the hot tub was the best way to accomplish her mission.

We decided to give bike riding a try, and John was awfully brave! HG was a monster on this bike, riding without hands, standing up, pedaling like a maniac- wild about it!

Rosemary Beach’s shops were festive for Halloween and fun to explore as we waited for Spiffer and GD to explore.

Sugar Shak

Rosemary’s main drag

Spiffer and GD arrived! Time to explore the beach. John and HG found a friend.

Alys Beach has a great pavilion overlooking the beach

Duckies at Seaside

Sunday morning, HG and I walked over to get Charlie’s Donuts for breakfast.

This is totally normal.

The butterfly whisperer

After lunch at Cowgirl Kitchen at Rosemary

It was so cold that we were all layered up.

Something really funny was happening between these two.

As Spiffer pointed out, HG has been in three oceans this year: Atlantic in Ireland in May, Pacific in San Fran in Sept, and now the Gulf. It's been a good year!

HG found some mussels (or something) in the water, and when we put them in a cup of water, their antennas came out and they moved around. So neat!

Happy girl at the end of the day

Sea turtle nest!

GD took HG out on a kayak.

And then Daddy took her out on a paddleboard. Big day of adventures!

Fast forward to the end to see HG stand up on the board!

Just a PEEK of sunshine to tease us

Dinner at George’s on Sunday night…whispering her wishes to the penny she’s about the throw in the fountain.

This is how Spiffer and HG spent most of their vacation- playing ‘wedding’ as the coordinators.

Doesn’t she look like a teenager sitting like this??

On Monday, after Spiffer and GD left, we met up with some SAA friends that were staying nearby. It was the first day that was warm enough to warrant a swim suit, and the sun came out by the end of the afternoon!

We went to dinner together at La Cocina that night. While we waited, the girls busted moves on the dance floor and really got the party started. It was a fun end to a great trip!

Monday morning- this was her response to my telling her it was time to get out of bed and go home.

She was disappointed we didn’t get to SkyClub on the way there since John wasn’t with us, so he made sure to get her in on the way home. She was a happy girl.