Naked Hermit Crabs & Squirrel Tails

I have to tell you, I feel SO much better after our little weekend escape. It's amazing how good it is to get away even for such a short time, and soaking up the salt air just seems to ease my mind.

It was an interesting trip this time, so I just had to share some of the highlights with y'all!

The trip started out with a bang. We headed out Saturday morning and had been gone for about ten minutes when we heard, "Meow." John and I looked at each other and said "What was that?!" I turned the radio down and there it was again. "Meow." There was definitely a cat in our trunk!

We were on the highway so we didn't want to open the trunk there, in case he jumped out. So we turned around and went home. Sure enough, while John was packing the trunk, our cat Ozzie had jumped in. Leave it to MY cat to jump in the trunk; leave it to MY husband to shut the trunk with a cat inside! I guess he wanted to come with us! Too bad he got chicken and started crying. Heh.

So we finally made it to St Augustine. We headed to the outlet malls first, and this bargain shopping mama got some AWESOME deals. I was a happy camper! I got some necessities, I got some fun things, and I got Valentine's Day gifts for the kids. (Yes, I love Valentine's Day!) I also love having a husband who loves to shop! No, he is not for rent, sorry.

Then we headed to St. George Street. Every time we go to St Augustine, I have to have clam chowder from Florida Cracker Cafe. It's fantastic!

We also saw the Glass Harp player on St. George later in the evening.

We stayed in a cabin by a lake, near the beach. This was our fourth time staying there.

This morning when we got up, I heard on odd noise and looked up on the power lines to see three parrots! I almost couldn't believe my eyes. John was in the bathroom and by the time he came out they were gone, but one of the caretakers came by and confirmed that they do indeed have wild parrots in the area. He said they aren't sure where the first ones came from, but in recent years they have multiplied and there are now around forty parrots in that area. And of course, I did not have my camera nearby when I saw them! Argh!

On Sunday we slept in, then had lunch at another favorite restaurant, and then went to the beach. It was nice out; there were people surfing and lots of people just hanging around. I had fun taking pictures of the seagulls. I learned that they are camera-shy. They didn't like me much. Shrug.

As we were leaving, John noticed a big, pretty shell on top of a post, and then realized there was a hermit crab inside. Andrew has hermit crabs (ok, he has A hermit CRAB, one died but we didn't tell him). So we decided to take this hermit crab home with us. Whoever had put it on top of that post was nowhere around and we didn't want it to die there. So off we went.

It was time to head home. We had a Superbowl party at church tonight and I had to cook this awesome dip. It was a bummer to leave St. Augustine so quickly, but I'm so glad we went.

And we had a blast at the Superbowl party; the kids played with friends, the ladies talked, and the guys watched the game. And I seriously love party food; I could eat that all the time. It was all delicious!

I guess Ozzie the Stowaway Cat wanted to thank us for his little ride; when we came home there was a squirrel tail on the door steps. Gack!

Also, while we were at church, the hermit crab decided to remove himself from his shell (naked hermit crabs look WEIRD!!) and he then proceeded to die.

Woops.

Hope y'all had a great weekend that didn't involve insane cats, squirrel tails, or dead naked hermit crabs!