Fall At The Cape 2020

I love the Cape any time, but if forced to pick a time September/October on the Cape would be my favorite.  Maybe because this was the time of year we first discovered and fell in love with this area, but I love the Cape in the fall.  We booked our fall Cape trip way back on New Year's Eve so we have been counting down and looking forward to this trip ALLLLL year long. And it did not disappoint.

Here's our "we're on our way" picture!

Yes, that is Duke!  He got to come to the beach with us.  It's a dog friendly beach and our townhouse allows dogs (with a fee), so we were thrilled to bring along our Duke Dog.

We made it into the town of PSJ where we purchased our groceries for the week, and then we headed out to the Cape.  We made it in time to enjoy the beach this day! This is our "we've arrived at the beach!" picture.

I can't  tell you how much the kids and Duke loved just running on the beach.

Duke was such a chill pup at the beach.  He was happy to sit and watch the waves and us play.

There's Carter and Clayton in the background...always digging in the sand!

The second day we were there was John's birthday!  What a perfect place to be on your birthday.  Even though we usually cook in most of the time when we are at the beach, we decided to go out to dinner to celebrate his birthday.  Indian Pass Raw bar was delicious!  The kids were all excited to sit in these tall chairs and get special drinks while we waited.

When we got back to our townhouse, we continued the party by serving John birthday cupcakes.  We baked them in Alabama and transported them since there aren't really any places to purchase a cake at the beach.  Then we did gifts.

Last fall when we were at the Cape, Dawson and Nora Kate hiked with me to see the ship wrecked Donna Kay.  Carter has wished that he had gone with us, so this year all 6 of us went to see the Donna Kay.  Even Clayton was a trooper walking along the beach over all the trees that make the Stump Hole a jungle to navigate.  

And there is the Donna Kay....

This is the first view you get of her as you round the beach at the point.

This area is so beautiful.

Donna Kay

More digging in the sand!

You can tell someone was enjoying this more than someone else.

Our townhouse has a kayak so we try to take full advantage of that and use it frequently.

So fun! Dawson probably enjoys kayaking more than anyone else.  Carter's favorite is probably digging in the sand.

Evening walks on the beach are beautiful.

Duke got to take part in our beach tradition of walking on the beach in the dark wearing glow sticks.

Crab!

Could this area be any prettier?!

Mermaid Nora Kate

View from our living room balcony.

One thing we love about the place we always stay is that it's four floors so we can spread out. The bottom level is the laundry room and some storage, the next level is the dining room, bathroom, kitchen, and living room and the balcony where we took this picture.  The third level up is two bedrooms and two bathrooms and another balcony.  Then the 4th level is the master bed/bath and another balcony.  Fantastic views on every level.

Dawson loves catching fish in Pop's casting net.

Of course, we had to visit the State Park.  This is the end of the cape from the state park and the bay side.

Carter catching fish in his little scoop net.

Dawson

Clayton looking for hermit crabs.

I finally got to do something I have wanted to do for 3 years! Paddle Board!  I have been talking about doing this for FOREVER! It was so fun, and I want to do it again when we go back.  I got better about balancing and let Nora Kate join me, then Dawson, Carter, and Clayton.  

My beach girl

4 of my favorite people with my favorite pup at my favorite place

More running on the beach.

My other favorite person in my favorite place...photo bombed by Duke.

Dawson and Carter got a sailing lesson one afternoon on this really neat tri-maran! So cool.  Ever since Carter refuses to use the terms left and right, only using starboard and port.

There they are headed out to sea.

The annual picture in the Cape San Blas chair!

I could stay here forever.

Duke made an awesome beach dog.  He loved the sand.

The bay in the evening.  Even though the sun rises over the bay and sets over the sea, the sky over the bay at sunset is still beautiful.

We were excited to explore these newly finished boardwalks to better view the bay.  Some of it definitely looked like alligator territory, but it was so pretty.

We had a fantastic time at the Cape, as always, and we were so sad to have to come home.  This was a much needed vacation after the craziness of the pandemic this year, John's busyness with work, and the amount of schoolwork the kids have had this year.  It was a much needed break from reality.  We stayed until the very last minute on the day we checked out. This was such a fun, relaxing vacation that we cannot wait to go back.