The Madings went down to Georgia

We made it to Tybee Island, GA today. We are staying at the River’s End Campground with many amenities, close to the beach and a lighthouse. Our last day in Florida we went on a boat ride, the boat was called the “Sea Screamer.” It was quite windy, but we still had a blast. “Captain Z” and his ‘first mate’ Shane were very entertaining. We got to see many dolphins swimming right next to our boat. The kids got to drive the boat, get dolphin tattoos, feed seagulls and even hold a blue crab! We did not get out into the ‘Gulf of Whatever we are calling it now’ due to the wind. I can’t imagine what it would have been like, the swells in the bay were already huge. We went to a restaurant called “Uncle Ernie’s” for lunch- a recommendation from Captain Z. Rye had the best shrimp and grits he’s ever had and I had some amazing, fresh fish tacos. We topped the day off with some ice cream at “Sweet Cone Alabama”- we all stood looking at the flavors for a ridiculous amount of time trying to decide what to go with, lots of options and every one we tried was incredible. Ben met a friend on the docks on Sunday night and they let him try out their fishing pole. On the second cast, he caught a pompano fish!

We have outrun the weather for the most part this trip but it caught up to us Sunday night. There was a good lightning storm in Panama City on our last night and the following morning. We got on the road to Valdosta, GA yesterday and it was an absolute downpour. It rained cats and dogs for hours with wind, thunder and lightning. We were all thankful we had already planned on staying in a hotel that night. When we got to Valdosta we found out there was a tornado warning for the next few hours. Luckily, all there was was heavy rain. We woke up to a beautiful, clear blue sky today. We are looking forward to some more beach time, exploring Savannah, and visiting some museums!