...12.14...the surprise destination...

...a whole bunch of photos in this post...because...what else am I going to do while the Man is driving...except oooh and ahhh over the pretty countryside...take lots of photos and try to figure out where we're going...

...it was overcast as we started out...and we passed a lot of cotton fields...

...brimming with fluffy white cotton bolls...

...and we passed a lot of pecan groves as well...

...with the trees neatly lined up in rows so that they can harvest them with machinery...

...as we got further south...the cotton fields have already been harvested...

...and baled in these adorable bales..we saw two colours...yellow and bright pink...

...and then as we continued south...we started to see Spanish moss hanging in the trees...

...the sky cleared...

...and it was such a pretty day for a drive...

...these are just regular hay bales...

...we drove into a little town...where the fire station was all decked out for Christmas...

...we had only had coffee at the hotel when we got up...and so we stopped at McD's and got little cups of oatmeal...just ordered with no cream and no butter...it comes with fruit and raisins...and it's a pretty good travel breakfast...

...the countryside was starting to get a lot wetter...

...and we crossed the state line into Florida...

...really pretty swampy now...

...but as we got closer to the coast things got sandier and drier...

...and we passed Eglin Air Base...we'd visited here before when I was pregnant with Our Airman...

...and we had toured the museum there...but this time we just drove past...

...and we crossed a bayou...

...and drove into the town of Fort Walton...so I assumed that was the destination...

...there were palm trees everywhere...

...and the Man said that we'd better go ahead and stop and get groceries...so we did...further making me think that we had arrived...

...but then we continued driving...for a bit...we crossed the intercoastal waterway...

...and then we really did arrive at out destination...Okaloosa Island...YAY!

...up to the third floor ocean front condo...with a gorgeous ocean view...the Man always finds the BEST AirBnB's...

...our bedroom...remdinded me of a ship's berth...with all the built-ins...

...the downstairs bathroom...

...there's another bedroom and bathroom upstairs...but we probably won't use those at all...

...out onto the balcony...a gorgeous view...

...beside the elevator they had these carts you could use to tote things up to our condo...

...so we made quick work of that...

...got the groceries sorted and stowed away...we'll not eat out again...

...so now it's time for our first beach walk...

...it's really nice out...very few people on the beach...

...the water's really pretty...and it's really warm...

...there was this little school of mantas...

...that followed us playing up the beach...

...so we walked toward the setting sun...

...it always amazes me how quickly the sun sets at the beach...

...just a few minutes have passed and the sun is touching the water...

...and then it sinks below the horizon...

...going...going...

...gone...

~Have a lovely day!