Vacation Diary - With Pictures!

Hubby and I have been married for 7 years this July. This past week we finally went on a honeymoon. Seriously. And to be perfectly honest, I don't know that we would have enjoyed this kind of vacation if we had taken it right after the wedding. It's a lot easier to appreciate the break from reality when you've had a great big steaming dose of reality first. Think about it - the only reason either one of us knew anything at all about "real world living" was because Hubby quit school and got a job and an apartment the semester before we got married. So he had a whopping 6 months of reality and I had absolutely no experience with reality when we said "I do." Getting away from it all right after the wedding would have been nice, but I think the whole escape from reality would have been lost on me, at least. 7 years later, on the other hand, I can definitely appreciate a week in heaven.

I decided to keep a journal while we were gone, for 2 reasons. The main reason was so that I would always have a record of the week we spent together and all the amazing things we saw and did. The secondary reason? Well, I didn't have blogging access the entire time I was there, and this post was just begging to be written! So I present, for your reading pleasure, excerpts from my vacation diary.

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Saturday, May 5 - Vacation Day #1

7 hours in the car with one rest stop and one stop for gas. We packed a cooler with drinks and lunchmeat so we wouldn't have to stop for food. I dozed off a couple of times but miraculously stayed awake for the majority of the trip. After our 4th or 5th exit, Hubby pointed out that I had "woohoo!"d on every exit - totally subconsciously. I guess I was just a little excited, huh?

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Sunday, May 6 - Vacation Day #2

Meet Sandie the Sea Turtle. I made her myself. I know, I'm just a great big goofy kid. Hubby and I played in the waves and laid on the beach for an hour or so this morning - we're trying to take it easy on our pastey white flesh. We took a walk around the resort property and then went for a drive to explore Destin. We drove through the biggest outlet mall I've ever dreamed of seeing. Checked out the mall - a mall that can only be described as a city unto itself (seriously, the mall has it's own water tower). From there, we were suckered into a timeshare sales pitch. Not a total waste of the afternoon, though. We were rewarded for our determination to survive the ordeal with a $50 gift card to use at the mall and a free 3 day 2 night vacation. Not bad for a 2 hour investment.

It was raining when we made our escape from the "no high pressure sales tactics" presentation, and we were starving. We decided to splurge. $10 for a burger at Fudpucker's. Worth every penny. Fan-freakin'-tastic! And we got to see a ton of alligators, too.

We ended up going back to the mall to spend part of that gift card on a movie. Spiderman 3, by the way, is very much good. See it.

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Monday, May 7 - Vacation Day #3

Very windy all day long - red flag on the beach means no playing in the water. Boo. Perfect for just laying out, though. And checking out the heated indoor/outdoor pool. And going back to the mall for the world's best milkshakes. And wading along the shore, collecting shells and pieces of sand dollars.

I have to tell you about this adorable family we met at the pool. Mom, Dad, probably close to 4-year-old Garret, and the baby twins. Mom was sitting by the edge of the pool tending to the twins while Dad taught Garret how to swim. Watching them reminded me of how much I want children. Hubby would make an awesome dad. I could see him in my mind playing with kids in a pool just like Garret's daddy.

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Tuesday, May 8 - Vacation Day #4

Watching dolphins swim by while I'm eating Cheerios on the balcony is a surreal experience.

We spent a good portion of the morning laying out on the beach, walking along the shore, and playing in the waves. After lunch more of the same, followed by the realization that our pastey white flesh was beginning to turn lobster-red. Oops. Hurray for the blue gunk - aloe vera with lidocaine.

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Wednesday, May 9 - Vacation Day #5

Our sunburns kept us off the beach today. I was miserable, but not from the actual burn so much as the resultant inability to be out in such a beautiful day. We spent the morning cuddling on the couch and channel surfing. This afternoon we headed back to the mall (I know, we spent an awful lot of time there, didn't we?). Saw Disturbia (even better than we expected it to be, and we expected a pretty good film), compliments of the gift card from that horrific time share presentation. And bought the latest Ted Dekker novel, Skin.

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Thursday, May 10 - Vacation Day #6

With the calming of our sunburns came a renewed zeal for the life of a beach bum. Our "pool family" from Monday was on the beach with a family we had seen on the beach Sunday (Mom, Dad, and Kylie, somewhere around 18-24 months old). The 2 dads were trying to engage Garret in a sandcastle construction project, but Garret seemed content to supervise. From my vantage point on my beach towel, it looked like the 2 dads had become little kids again and Garret was the adult watching over them.

We went to AJs for supper - a bit on the expensive side, but very good. Right on the harbor so if you had a window table you would have a great view of all the ships coming in (we had a booth across the room, but we still caught a glimpse of a boat here and there).

I can't believe our vacation is almost over. One more full day on the beach and then we head back to reality. I'm so glad we did this. It's good to get away and spend real quality time together. Remember why you love somebody. Fall in love all over again.

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Friday, May 11 - Vacation Day #7

Another day spent enjoying the beach. The water was a lot scummier today than it had been all week. But if you could stomach wading through the gunk, there was plenty of clear ocean on the other side - still shallow enough that little ole' me could stand with my head above water (until a wave came along, at least).

I think I'm going to miss our evening walks along the shore more than any other part of this vacation. The colors, the smells, the sounds, the textures, combined with simply being with my soulmate in the moment. You just can't beat that.

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Saturday, May 12 - Vacation Day #8

Today is Hubby's 28th birthday. How did we celebrate? by packing up and spending the entire day in the car. I offered to help with the driving as my gift to him, but he declined. Whew! Dodged that bullet! The return trip ended up being over 9 hours long - 2 hours longer than the trip down. We stopped more, since we didn't pack the cooler this time around. One gas stop, one food stop, 3 rest stops, and one traffic jam because a jeep had caught fire. Yes, caught fire. The hood was scorched. Didn't look like anyone had been injured, so that's good. And my stellar navigation skills cost us about a half hour trying to get to a place to turn around and catch the exit we missed at one point. Oops.

It's good to be home, but I do miss being able to step out onto the balcony and watch the ocean. Something to look forward to for next year.

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