Wallet Card Wednesday: Flora-Bama Edition

It's getting cold here, guys. It got all the way down to the mid-50's last night - BRRRRRRRR! So here's a beach-themed Wallet Card Wednesday I've been holding back since the Summer specifically to post during cold weather.

Living on the Gulf Coast, we are very lucky to have relatively easy access to the great white sand beaches of Alabama and Florida. We make it out there once or twice a year, but this year was different. This is the year of the Wallet Card.

You can't really tell here, but this photo was taken in Florida looking into Alabama. Pretty trippy, right?

Here is the obligatory edge-of-the-surf shot which I took a step further by risking the safety of the Griffey:
 

I actually set it down in harm's way, then whipped it back up before the tide could claim it. This photo didn't turn out quite as dramatic as I though it would, but to put it into perspective...



Here's what almost took the card away forever. This photo was taken just a few seconds later. I mean it's not like I've ever been shy about getting this card wet/sticky/gross in general, but that water slips back out fast. Afterwards I nervously clutched the card to my chest like Lyra clutched her dæmon Pantalaimon after he was almost severed from her by the Gobblers (sorry - I'm nearly through The Golden Compass).
 

Here's a parasailer being pulled by a boat. If you've never done this, it's pretty fun. You get a great view of the whole beach, and the ride itself is surprisingly quiet and peaceful. Did I take the wallet card up and snap photos from hundreds of feet in the air? Nope. I screamed like a girl.



It wasn't all sunshine and rainbows. Sometimes it was clouds, dark and foreboding. It didn't rain - not once - but we got a great view of the storm system from the coast.
 

This is Flora-bama. The size of this place cannot be conveyed in one photo. Suffice it to say it is designed like a massive party mansion with multiple stages, numerous bars, a pool hall, an arcade, and a laissez-faire attitude. It is located right on the Florida-Alabama border, hence the name.
 

You can see the line between the "Flora" and "Bama," representative of the state border which, as legend has it, is right on that line. I'm always amused/enraged by the term "package," which refers to stores that sell alcohol. Back home in New Orleans, liquor and beer are sold at every grocery store and gas station 24/7. It seems that just about everywhere else we have to make a special trip just to get our swerve on. What gives? Anyway, Flora-bama is also a "package" or whatever. How silly.
 

I skimmed this and it looks like a country song, though I can't be sure. There are too many words that end with "-in" to be any other genre.
 

This is a Bushwhacker. Back home we would call it a chocolate daiquiri, but when in Rome...
 

Bras - thousands of them - hanging from rope across the dance floor in front of the main stage. BRAS.
 

Finally, here's a shot of the sunset over Perdido Key. I got a later photo, too, but the Griffey just looks like a rectangle of back-lit blackness. This one you can still kind of see.

That's it for this week. Everybody have a great Thanksgiving!