Steinhatchee, FL

For the past several years my family has been vacationing in the BIG town of Steinhatchee, FL (pronounced : STEEN-Hatch-EE).  Actually, Steinhatchee barely makes the map.  This town consists of a Hungry Howie's, a Dollar General, gas station/grocery store, two seafood restaurants, a couple of marinas and a few hotels and condos.  It is a very small scale vacationing spot that mostly consists of locals.  We love the place though.  It has this sort of peace and quiet about it that you can't get anywhere else.  There are really only two reasons to go to Steinhatchee: fishing and scalloping.  My family usually does both.  Scallops are small, clam/oyster like things that you snorkle and dive for and get out the grass.  There is a small ball of meat inside the shell that is good fried or with pasta.

I absolutely, love, love, love to fish.  Scalloping is fun but I freak myself out a little bit while snorkeling in the water.  I am a scaredy cat when it comes to sharks, stingrays and jellyfish.  This year I didn't do either, though.  Both Mom and Matt offered to watch Norah Kate while I went, but I felt pretty guilty about leaving her. 

Almost every day a thunderstorm would roll in.  One day it rained all day long!

Needless to say, I got stir crazy.  Norah Kate was not her normal self either.  She was incredibly fussy, did not sleep through the night any during the whole week we were there and pretty much refused to sleep in her pack and play.  She slept with me every night, which meant this mama didn't sleep.  I would try to put her in her pack and play but she would wake up and cry everytime I laid her down. I could hardly put her down during the day without her falling to pieces.  To top it all off, I think we went through a growth spurt because she was nursing throughout the night too.  Bless her heart, she was all out of sorts.

Matt came down later in the week and gave me some relief.  On Saturday, he watched her for me so I could get some much needed R&R.  I laid out by the pool and read The Lucky One by Nicholas Sparks.  Matt would put her in her stroller and roll her around outside.  She would go to sleep every time!  I wish I could have found out that trick earlier in the week!

We cooked and ate a lot while we were there. I got addicted to the TV show Criminal Minds and watched The Vow. I fell in love with pluots (a cross between a plum and an apricot), and relearned to play the card game Speed. I went running one afternoon in the misting rain (which was much cooler than running in the blazing sun!) and almost got bit by a dog.

Saturday afternoon, me, Matt, and Norah Kate went for a ride to check out the local scenery.  Norah Kate got the best nap while riding in the truck; she slept the whole ride.  We stopped for ice cream, which has seemed to start up our new ice cream habit because I have had ice cream every day since then.  Saturday night, Mama and Daddy watched Norah Kate so that Matt, my brother, his girlfriend and myself could go to dinner.

Overall, it was nice to have some good quality time with my family and just to be somewhere with different scenery.  I am looking foward to vacation in August with Matt's family!