Vilano Beach

We have had a bit of rain here in northern Florida lately and with Matt's crazy work schedule, we haven't been able to get out to the beach as much as we had wanted.  So Saturday, we decided we were going to head out and explore a new beach (since Florida is full of them).  We headed over to Vilano beach and were amazed at how quaint the area is. For my NY family/friends, it's like a more tropical Breezy Point.  We parked headed to the beach where we discovered we could drive our car right onto the beach and set up camp. That sounded great considering we were carrying a boatload of beach paraphenalia and trying to wrangle Mia.  Matt went back and got the car.  As soon as we parked, we noticed the sand was pretty soft and while the tires were acting like they were stuck, I guess we just figured we would deal with it later. The surf was up and Makaela couldn't wait to get into the waves.

Getting some salty kisses

Mia getting super sandy

 No sooner than we set up shop, it starts pouring. We pack up the car, get ready to leave and the rain stops.  Unpack the car.  Start playing.  The rain starts again.  Run for cover.  Sun comes out...get the picture?  The girls had a great time though.  By the third time the clouds rolled in, we realized the rain was not going to be abated.  We were heading home after 45 minutes at the shore.

Notice all the rain clouds coming in

So we started up the car to realize we were stuck- really stuck in the sand.  We have a big Acadia, so I thought it would have enough power to get us out of the sand, but I guess the front end is too heavy and appearantly, we don't have 4 wheel drive.  Matt worked tirelessly through the pouring rain to pack down the sand and get us out, but we were going nowhere (I was having visions of 2009 Easter in Haiku Valley).  When the rain lessened another group of beach goers, tied our car to their Range Rover and pulled us out. Another case in point of Southern hospitality. 

      I don't think this has deterred our use of the beach, but next time we will probably keep the car in the parking lot or on the packed down sand next to where all the civics and camrys park :-)