Good morning! I hope you are enjoying a relaxing start to your Sunday. I just inhaled an apple fritter and some scrambled eggs and I’m on my fourth cup of coffee so I’m feeling extra peppy today! 😀

I woke up at 6:30 this morning and there was no way I was going back to sleep. It gets so bright so early here and my internal alarm said, “let’s go!” I was happy to wake up feeling good because I felt pretty rough for most of the day yesterday. I blame this.

I ran four (seemingly effortless and slow) miles yesterday morning but it was really hot and humid. I was drenched head to toe when I arrived back.

Even though I felt pretty good after my run, I knew I should be mindful of my hydration and electrolytes so I had an Ultima. This is my favorite electrolyte replacement for hot yoga and long runs. Despite my hydration efforts, I ended up with a bad headache around lunch that stayed with me until early evening.

I thought maybe food would help but not so much. Lunch yesterday was mayo, mustard, avocado, pastrami, spinach, tomatoes and cheddar on sourdough with kettle chips and watermelon.

I spent the afternoon on the beach reading and napping before finally coming in around 5 for a shower and more Excedrin. I finally started feeling better after my shower. I was thankful because we had plans to go out to one of our favorite restaurants for dinner.

When I was growing up we came to Destin for two weeks every summer. We rented the same condo, met up with the same friends, ate at the same restaurants, did the same activities every year. The tradition was really special to me. Our yearly beach trip was definitely the highlight of my year and I have so many good family memories from the trips. It feels kinda full-circle that my parents have moved down here. I’m happy for them.

The Louisiana Langiappe was our yearly restaurant tradition for the “nice dinner out.” It’s situated on the Destin Harbor with stunning harbor views, especially at sunset.

My parents have always encouraged us to be diverse and adventurous eaters so we never ate off the children’s menu here. My very favorite thing to order growing up was the Tournados of Beef (medallions of filet mignon topped with sautéed jumbo lump crab meat and shrimp, finished with béarnaise sauce).

My other favorite thing about eating at the Lagniappe (embarrassing story time) was the cute water boys. All of the servers are assigned assistants (a.k.a. water boys) who make sure that your drinks remain full and your table stays clear. My best friend started coming to the beach with me when we were in high school and my parents were forced to give us a limit on how much water we drank due to our sudden insatiable thirst that may or may not have had something to do with keeping the cute boys coming over to the table. Oh the teenage years. 😉

I behaved myself last night. Times have changed.

Although I did not behave myself around the hushpuppies. How can you?

Salad with house vinaigrette.