Sunday, July 04, 2010

Independence Day

Happy Independence Day to all USA readers of the blog! The spousal unit and I took an early morning drive east and found ourselves in the picturesque little hamlet of Seaside, Florida. It's a pretty little seaside town, aptly named. This is their post office and it made my heart sing when I saw it all decked out in it's Fourth of July finery. I don't have a lot of red, white and blue in my home but I do love 1776 and all that jazz. BUT this morning seeing this sweet little post office and all the people representing in their red, white and blue, I almost cried because what I saw in Seaside was what the American experience used to be. They must have had a parade at 8 a.m. We didn't know anything about it and just drove in that direction. It was small town America at it's absolute best. People were smiling, laughing, the bookstore and all the local businesses were open, this was like 8:30 on a Sunday, in the South, and it was pretty cool.
Below you can see a shot of the beach at Seaside. Their shoreline is a bit different than ours. They have the white sands but have left their dunes untouched even with the building of homes and businesses. They have worked hard to leave as much of the natural world untouched as possible and still build a thriving little tourist town around it. While I am not a huge supporter of planned communites because I do believe to each his own Seaside does it quite well, mixing in the planned neighborhood along with funky eateries and art shops. If we ever win the lottery we are moving here. That's about the only way we will ever get there but we love the 30A lifestyle.
A couple of weeks of ago my friend Pam and I went to an estate sale. She scored a stack of art books and on the cover of one titled Artist's Journal there was a painting I loved. The original artwork was by JoSonja in 1997. Since the art magazine was all about learning to copy the art inside the magazine I hope JoSonja doesn't mind that I begged the Spousal Unit to please paint me that painting. Since it's Uncle Sam and Mermaids it seemed quite appropriate. Also he painted it for me, not to sell or anything and the only copyright notice I found was not to mechanically copy or reprint the artwork so I hope his painting doesn't violate any copyrights.


This was the best picture I could get this morning. I think he did a pretty great job!
Last week I went to my momma's to check on her. She had been in a rehab facility learning how to cope with her COPD and when she came home she was a bit overwhelmed so I went home for a week. I had intended to rent a car for the trip because we have kind of old vehicles and it's a long drive. Unfortunately the line at Enterprise Rent-a-car was really long, so we went to lunch. Somehow over club sandwiches and fries we went from renting a car to buying a new one. We pulled into the Kia lot thinking to buy a Sorrento, we love that sock monkey, and then we saw Enik! Six hours later he was coming home with us and then two days later I drove him to Tennessee. I hate how much I love this car.


For your viewing pleasure:
I tried to add the video to my blog but couldn't make it work so a link it is.
Have a happy and safe 4th!

13 comments:

Sharon said...

Happy 4th of July to you, Melissa. Great pics of Seaside, Florida. What a nice little town it must be. Glad you are home safe and sound. Hope your mom continues to improve. I just love your painting, Harry did a great job, I just love the patriotic/mermaid thing. how sweet for a florida girl. :) I am so happy for you that you got a new car, ENIK is indeed handsome. Enjoy!!
Thank you once again for the wonderful package you sent me. You are so sweet, I posted pics on my blog to share. Love Ya xoxox

Anna van Schurman said...

The painting is brill!

Kim said...

LOVE the spousal unit's painting! Love the idea of Seaside, FL! And your new ride...fabbo! Happy 4th Melissa!

Glenna said...

What wonderful photos--the blues just jumped out of the screen at me. And the white beach.... And your hubby did a great job with the painting. Enik is such a cutie.

Siobhán said...

Okay, seriously, I love love love that Harry P Original!! That is so cool. You need to set him up with his own sweat shop and have him crank out a bunch of those to tourists, and use the proceeds to buy a place in Seaside!! LOL Seriously, that is an amazing painting. I loved the pics of Seaside--it looks so cool. I'm glad you had a good trip to TN, and I hope you get many blissful (and repair free) years from Enik. :)

Siobhán said...

... I meant to SELL to tourists... ahem. Sorry. I shouldn't type before I've consumed at least one cup of coffee.

Oh, I also meant to tell you that we were watching an old Prime Time show... think that's the name of it. Something on CBS Reality that was about ten years old and about true crime. It was about a guy who killed his wife in Kalamazoo, MI and then moved to Navarre and had his own car repair business. It showed some shots of Navarre, which was neat--even showed the post office. :) I know, it's the little things that get me...

Barb said...

Seaside looks lovely, cute car and the video was great! I kept expecting those hamsters to pop out of that toaster.

Deb said...

Those pics of Seaside look wonderful. I love towns like that. Makes you feel like you've stepped back in time. Love the painting your husband did. I mean I really love it! How cool - he did a wonderful job. And congrats on the new set of wheels. Very cute.

Meadows08 said...

Love the painting of Uncle Sam and the Mermaids! Your hubby is super talented!

Michelle said...

Love the painting!!! So glad you had such a good time and I know you love Enik too!

MyLifesAStitch said...

Wow!!!??!!!! Your DH painted that?? That's amazing! Really!!! My hat's off to him! He did a great job, I'd say. You lucky girl!

Thanks for the pics of Seaside - it looks Rockwellesque. I'd love to live in a small town like that. Ahh to have unlimited resources.

And, Congrats on the new car! I too love the KIA commercials. Whoever came up with that concept deserves a raise.

Have a great weekend!

MyLifesAStitch said...

Duh... I totally forgot to say: I hope your mom is feeling not quite so overwhelmed after your visit and the tlc you gave her!

Kimmie said...

Gorgeous pics!!!!