Vacation is so wierd, I'm not very good at it. I love the sound of the waves, though, when I can hear it, and looking at the ocean any time day or night. Somehow, I need to find a way to live where I can always see it. Swimming in it, walking on the beach are great, but seeing and hearing it are really wonderful. Now I can look out the window at the pinkening sky and see the water between the houses.

Yesterday we went swimming in the ocean before breakfast. My parents had been and gone and Ray was walking along the beach. There were other people down the way, but I had the ocean to myself for a few minutes. The waves were gentle. I floated between them and held my breath when one crashed over me. At some point, when I was standing, I looked down and a skate was fleeing out to sea. I fled onto land and waited until Ray was there to protect me before I went back in the water.

After a dip in the pool, shower and breakfast, a lot of sitting around until lunchtime. We drove to the south end of the island, past the posh homes of Amelia Island Plantation and back up to Fernandina Beach, the historic town on the northern end. We were looking for a specific restaurant that had been recommended, Espana. We stopped and the Captain go out and talked to a man at a gift shop, Slightly Off Center. He directed us, but the restaurant did not serve lunch. Neither did several others we walked to. The heat was strong and we were not. We found one place that served lunch, but it was a 15 minute wait for an inside table. It reminded me a little of a place we have eaten breakfast with Barbara on the Cape--not surprising for a beach resort. I had one of the best meals I've had in a long time--steak salad and blueberry square for dessert. Just enough good dressing, the steak cut into small enough pieces, tasty and not too tough. The blueberry square was served with warm blueberry compote and vanilla ice cream. Yum.

After lunch, more sitting around, napping for some. I called a few restaurants to find out about trivia and found one that was Monday night: Beef O'Brady's, at 7:30. That didn't leave us much time for dinner, but we weren't very hungry anyway, and ate leftovers from the fridge, as well as drinking mojitos. We got there early and ordered some beer and onion rings. At first, we didn't do very well, but in the end we came in third, after losing a tiebreaker: What year was LSD first proven to be hallucinogenic? We won a $10 gift certificate to Beef O'Brady's...I don't think there is one in Athens; we might have to use it this week. Trivia at a different restaurant tonight...it is kind of sad to be at the beach with no sisters or kids...and not really know what to do with myself. Plus it's really hot.