Last week I went on vacation to Destin, Florida. Destin has gorgeous white sand beaches, and clear emerald water.
A few days before we left for vacation a cake idea came to me. I thought maybe I was crazy to try and get a cake decorated before leaving because departure was only about 3-4 days away. I purchased some fondant just in case an opportunity arose to let me actually complete the cake I was seeing in my head.
The day of packing and departure came, and I started to get bummed thinking that my only opportunity to take a photo of this cake I kept envisioning on the beach was rapidly coming to a close. All of our bags were packed and my husband wanted to leave at 2 am, which meant he needed a nap. “Ooh, a nap!”, I thought. This was my perfect opportunity to get this cake decorated.
At 6:30 p.m. the night we are supposed to be leaving for vacation, I decided to decorate a sea shell beach inspired cake. At first, I didn’t even know if I should take myself seriously. “OK, I’ll just make a few sea shells and see where this leads”, I thought. For about 2 hours I sat and made sea shells from molds I had only used once before. I bought the molds from First Impressions back in 2010 when I first started and never had a reason to use them again.
Here is the cake I made in 2010.
My sister-in-law came over and talked to me while I made sea shells. It was at the point when she was leaving that I knew I was committed to getting this cake completed and sitting on a beach somewhere!
By now I guess my husband, Jose, knows I’m a crazy cake lady. He woke up from his nap and asked me what I was doing. I told him making a cake, and he was like “Oh” and goes and chills on the couch while I finished. It was about another hour later that he realized this cake was going on vacation with us!
A few hours later, after a 3 hour nap, we get in the car and head for vacation. Our SUV was so loaded down with luggage that I ended up having to hold the cake in my lap the whole 9 hour drive. It was okay though, because I could still just see this cake sitting by the waves.
I didn’t immediately rush to the beach though. I was surprised at how crowded the beaches were, even though it is July. I quickly realized that I was going to have to take my photos at a time of day when people were either sleeping or leaving!
First, we headed to a public beach park where we had to pay $6 to get in as the sun is setting. People are all packing up their beach gear as I march out to the beach holding a cake. I didn’t have much light left so I decided to get some quick photos by the sand dunes.
Later, in our condo, there was a teal wall that looked pretty with the cake so of course another photo shoot was in order.
I scoped out a few possible locations for a beach shoot, but ultimately it came down to me getting up at 5:30 a.m. and using our condo’s beach access. I got to the beach about 6:00 a.m. and there were already people setting up their chairs and umbrellas. I still managed to have enough clear area to get a few pictures.
The best part of this was walking a fancy cake out to a beach, and all the heads that it turned. I’m sure most thought I was crazy. A few people would stop and make small talk. I even had a beach runner stop and take her “break” by me so she could see what I was doing.
One thing I don’t envy about Florida and cake decorating is the crazy heat. Anytime I would take this cake outside or near the beach the fondant would start to get sticky. They can keep that!
We had a fantastic trip, and the best part was that on the way home I wasn’t holding a cake!