Monday afternoon arrival
We intended to leave home and arrive close to the 4pm checkin time. I had a small bit of work at the office that took much longer due to a coworker's home emergency preventing him from taking over my task. Thus, it was more like 7pm that we made it to our destination.
Home for a week
Finally settling in, we decided our condo rental was refreshing and modern, but still with a touch of the good kind of "shabby."
Monday sunset
Spent a little time at dusk on the beach.
First beach day
A lot of Tuesday was spent sleeping in and getting odds and ends in order, including some shopping trips. Didn't get down to the beach until later in the afternoon, by which time I was able to sit in the shade of the seawall without needing the beach umbrella.
Cool shadow streaks from the setting sun
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Beach fauna
Not sure what kind of bird this is. Not a traditional seagull. But the poor thing was missing a foot and was hobbling around on just a stump on one leg. 🙁
Stormy evening
I don't remember the rain ever reaching us, but I used the opportunity to take some artful license with filters to create this shot.
Wednesday sunrise
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Wednesday sunrise
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Wednesday sunrise
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Wednesday sunrise
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Wednesday sunrise
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Anniversary day on the beach
In spite of the heat advisories, there was a blatant difference in temperature under any kind of shade, and the sea breeze made it tolerable.
Anniversary lunch
A wonderful midweek treat of a meal for our 13th anniversary.
Local ice cream shop
Cool Treats for NSB was in the shopping plaza across the street from our condo. The hand-make all their own ice cream. I had delicious salted caramel and Lori had a dairy-free chocolate chip that she said was perfect.
Ice cream solves everything
It must be true. It's right there on a neon sign!
Shuffleboard game
I truly have no clue the last time I played. Took a while to remember it takes a lot less force than you think to slide the pucks to the opposite side.
I won the shuffleboard game
Okay, let's get some things straight. First of all, yes, that's a *negative* 71 on Lori's score. Second, I'm not completely sure we were following proper scoring rules, but we were consistent on what we decided. I truly think she and I played similarly well. The only deciding factor was that I apparently and repeatedly knocked her pucks into negative scoring zones. For all I know, the other player might not actually lose points for that, only if they slide the puck into a negative area themselves. Either way, I steadfastly acknowledge, in spite of the score, we played just about as well as each other.
Sundown sky
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New Smyrna Island
Funny, but unintentional—my panorama shot made the beach look like an island!
Anniversary sunset
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Thursday sunrise
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Thursday sunrise
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Thursday sunrise
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Thursday sunrise
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Thursday sunrise
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Thursday sunrise
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Thursday sunrise
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Thursday sunrise
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Excursion to Daytona Beach for putt golf
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Congo River Jeep
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Taking aim
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Hole 17
If you know us, you know the number 17 is very meaningful to us.
I won the putt putt game
Just as with the shuffleboard game yesterday, Lori and I played pretty much equally well. I'll explain further in the next photo's description
Score tally
I won by 4 points, but truly, between a few silly off-course trajectories sending Lori's ball into water troughs alongside the courses, and the silly little spinner handicap thingies on some holes, I landed on a spot to deduct one stroke from the hole.
Scavenger hunt
We found all the artifacts.
Beautiful sunset over Congo River
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Thursday sunset
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Thursday sunset
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Smyrna Beach was most definitely not "ew"
Screen printing mistake on this pair of beach shorts.
Falcon 9 launch—2X speed
We watched the SpaceX Falcon 9 launch early Friday morning, 1:17am. The rocket deployed 22 Starling internet satellites.
Disclosure: the rocket was visible for approximately two minutes. For this video, it kinda dragged on, so I exported it at double speed and added some nebulous spacey music.
Friday evening storm
The radar made it seem like this rain was headed straight for us, but ultimately only passed to the north. Another storm cell, however, did cause a downpour during the night after we'd gone to bed.
Condo courtyard
Our unit overlooked a beautifully landscaped courtyard. Unfortunately, it was just too hot to make use of the seating area at the end of the boardwalk.
Condo property
This panorama includes a bit of the the courtyard area from the prior photo, adding the oceanfront pool and beach beyond.
Beach panorama
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Saturday sunrise
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Saturday sunrise
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Dolphin sighting
Any time I spend more than just a couple hours on Florida's east coast, my hope is to spot at least one dolphin. I was not disappointed this time.
Saturday sunset
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Saturday sunset selfie
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Sunday sunrise
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Sunday sunrise
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Sunday sunrise
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Sunday sunrise
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Sunday sunrise
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Sunday sunrise
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Sunday sunrise
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Sunday sunrise
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Sunday sunrise
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Sunday sunrise
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Sunday sunrise
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Sunday sunrise
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Sunday sunrise surrounded by structure
I waited till the end of this album to admit, I was absolutely bombarded with no-see-ums during the week. Not so much during the day while on the beach, but they are particularly bad at dawn and dusk. For this last sunrise of the trip, I shot from the top of a stairwell instead. Though diminished, several of these biting nuisances still found me up here!
Home again home again
Originally thinking to pack up and have a little more time on the beach before leaving, we realized there simply wasn't time before our 10am checkout. Made it home and, soon after, was visited by my dad returning our dog, Chloe, who he'd been caring for during our trip.
Peaceful ending
The reunited furballs wasted no time settling right back into their routines and enjoyed some couch cuddles.
