Peace and Quiet

Thanksgiving for me has always been a day centered around family and food. This year, I was hundreds of miles away from any family member and I did not cook a single thing all day. Oddly enough, it turned out to be a fantastic day.
Around noon, me and four other girls from my team piled in a van and headed out for Dauphin Island, about 30 minutes away. We planned on spending the day sunning ourselves on the beach, frolicing in the ocean, and playing in the sand. But as we drove in we couldn't help but notice that everyone around seemed to be wearing several more layers than we were. The forcast predicted upper 60s, but turns out beaches are windy and wind makes it colder. Who knew. We hit the beach in our shorts and sunglasses and watched a wave of goosebumps creep over the skin we had planned on turning bronze.
So, what do you do when you find yourself on a beautiful beach on a national holiday when your family is nowhere around and everyone else is wearing a parka? The only logical thing you can do-- you jump into the ocean. I admit, it was pretty cold at first, but after a few minutes it really wasn't so bad. And come on, we were swimming in the ocean on Thanksgiving. You can't really beat that. I think i'll just let the pictures do most of the talking today, I'm sure they can capture it much more concisly.


Alabama has some gorgeous beaches.

Dauphin Island doesn't appear to be a very popular Thanksgiving destination.

Really cold, but definitely worth it.

Me and Erin ended up running about two miles along the beach. I was pretty sure we wouldn't have time to see as much as I wanted to if we took a more leisurly pace.

So peaceful.

Thanksgiving seems to be a bad day for birds of all sorts.

I didn't touch him, but I got the feeling he wasn't napping either.

Never knew sand mushrooms existed so I figured it warranted a macro shot, but alas, I am not nearly so talented as the wonderful Ann.

I didn't play in the sand nearly as much as I had planned to, but I spent the last two minutes on the beach whipping up a hurried sand turkey.


We left the beach tired, hungry, cold...and very very happy. We ended our little outing at that classic holiday feast locale- Waffle House. And wow, it was delicious.


So that was my Thanksgiving. Nontraditional yes, but an entirely delightful day.

The next day resembled a much more orthodox turkey day, seeing as how it actually involved turkey. About ten people rented cars and headed to New Orleans for the break, and several others took off to see various friends or family. So, by Friday morning a mere five of us were left, and let me tell you, it is wonderful. We spent our day in the kitchen cooking away and listening to Christmas music. I made a rosemary and garlic turkey (a bit more dry than usual, but still really good) and Lindsey's wonderful green bean casserole and the others made mashed potatoes, sweet potato fries, pumpkin bread, dressing, rasberry jello, and apple pie. Everything was wonderful. We ended the day by all cramming on the couch and watching movies. Between the ample leftovers and the two more days of peace and quiet, it hasn't been hard to remember to be thankful.