Saturday, November 01, 2008

Florida weddings, alligators and sharks and things.

Today my sister got married on the Florida beach. So now I am sorta an unofficial wedding photographer. I took a zillion pics, so I hope that means at least some turned out well. LOL

I cannot believe all of the seashells here. I am used to California beaches. When I would go to the beach a "whole" shell was indeed quite a find. I would have been mortified to step on a shell. The shells here are so plentiful you can't help but step on them. The sand appears to be made of them, in fact.

Earlier in the day, I went to a little (somewhat cheesy, but still kinda cool) place called, Wonder Gardens. It was really the only place I had time for. There was a cute little otter there named Mollie, and we saw lots of Alligators and crocodiles. I was able to pet a small alligator. I didn't get to actually hold it, though. I'm not quite as cool as Jon Scheck and Ethan Luck that way. LOL It really did feel interesting to touch it, much harder than I would have imagined. I do think I got a few cool croc pics, too.

Then we went to a big tourist souvenier shop so I could pick up a few Bonita Beach post cards (that's actually where I am, Bonita Beach.)

Then after a quick stop at my mom's hotel to pick up a garter we headed back for the big beach house. I took a zillion pics and watched the gals making Sushi, got dressed for the beach wedding in my pareo and took some before the wedding pics. I wanted to do more group shots, but it pretty much got put off until later, so I hope I have everyone in pics somewhere. The wedding was very nice indeed, and Eric did a wonderful job, even though I think he was nervous about remembering everything. He read from Ephesians and expounded just a little. It really was pretty.

Then we had the most amazing dinner. Fried shrimp, breaded chicken, some sort of beef, sushi, chow mein, fried rice, fresh fruit including some really yummy pineapple.

After dinner people visited and my nephew Tyler and Andrew were fishing. Tyler caught a small white fish, which he eventually threw back. Then a little later, they caught a "shark". We went back and forth on whether it was a shark or catfish because the whiskers looked catfish, but the fins didn't really. Then a little later they caught another one. Randy (my sister's new husband) said it looked like a sea cat. I figured he might be right since Tyler mentioned it's bones being hard... Sharks do not have gones, they have cartilige. So, I went to tell them what Randy said. They still thought it was a sand bar shark. So, a little later, Tyler came in with a nasty cut from being finned. I guess we know it's catfish now. Anyway, say a prayer that his hand will heal nicely with no infection. They are on the way back from the ER.

So, now I am just waiting. I figured I'd wait up. A bunch of us have to leave here for the airport at 3:45 a.m. It will be another long day. I have a long layover in Dallas, so my cousin is coming to see me with her baby. I'm looking forward to seeing her and her sweet little boy. :) IT's been a long while.

So, it's been a good day. Now I just have to figure out where to put my seashells so they don't get broken on the trip home. :)

Love, peace, beautiful weddings and loving the Florida beach,
Melanie

2 comments:

Allison said...

Gotta love Florida :)

Melanie said...

The beach was beautiful, and the sunsets were unbelievable. :)