Fireworks in Destin

I am excited to join 2 Wednesday parties! Outdoor Wednesday is hosted by Susan at

http://asoutherndaydreamer.blogspot.com/

Today, Debbie is hosting the very first transformation party at

http://debbie-debbiedoos.blogspot.com/

If you want to see more fun posts, be sure to visit our lovely hosts.

For my contribution to Debbie's new meme, I would like to show you Destin Beach last year and this past weekend. We just got back from Destin for John's meeting and to celebrate the 4th of July. Last year, we were also there on the same dates for the same reasons.

Can you tell the difference in the color of the water? Destin Beaches has always been my favorites. The water color has always been a pretty green that is is why it is called the Emerald Coast. But this year, it's different. Some part of it is dark brown to black. Although the beach was packed, very few people were swimming. Most of them were just sun bathing or lounging on the chairs and white sand.

The top picture of the mosaic below was taken last year. The bottom one was taken this past weekend.

The Red beach warning flag was up, meaning "High Hazard". The weather was perfect so I assume the high hazard is because of the oil spill. The smell was apparent too. We did not swim. We went to the beach just for me to take the pictures.

Before getting to Destin, we stopped by Pensacola to visit and take John's dad and step mom out to lunch. We passed by the gulf there too and saw the booms in place. Pensacola Beach is closed to the public and John's stepmom said the beach looks terrible with a lot of tar balls.

We stayed in SanDestin.

Bike Trail in Sandestin

This is the conference center where the meeting was held. We also had a reception and dinner there.

The view was spectacular!

Here's AJ enjoying it with me. BTW, so many of you have been curious as to the answer of her question about how mermaids have babies as seen on my last post before this. When John came home, she started to ask him the question and then stopped and said, nevermind, she will just find out herself. She left and went to her Mac laptop and then came back. She said she found out the answer and that mermaids are just like fish so they lay eggs. LOL!

There you are, if your kids or grandkids ever ask the same question, remember that answer so you will be ready to give it to them.

My daughter Rochelle, who is AJ's mom and stepson drove to join us there.
It's an ideal place for us to meet because it is half way in between where we all live. We all left Sandestin yesterday and they took AJ back with them. Boo hoo hoo! Kinda depressing and quiet here at home now.

3 Generations

We went to Baytowne Wharf , which is right behind the Sandestin Conference Center and of course AJ had to go on the zip line. It went high over the water.

She was really enjoying it.

She also tried the Jungle gym.

Baytowne Wharf at night is really spectacular!

We went back to Baytowne Wharf to watch the Fireworks on Independence Day. Last year, we watched the fireworks from a dinner cruise boat but those were all cancelled this year. So much business is lost because of the oil spill. I hope and pray that they find a solution soon.

I hope you enjoyed our 4th of July celebration and I hope you all celebrated joyfully too. Thank you so much for stopping by. And thanks to Susan and Debbie for hosting these 2 fun memes.