Tuesday, May 26, 2009

BEACHED

There is so much to say about my trip to the beach! It rained every day and was not "sunny" until the very last day. As in, after we'd checked out and loaded the car with everything except our cooler, towels and a book. We were prepared to stay the day, and we stayed on the beach until 5 pm - they literally had to take my rented chair away from me.

But I am getting ahead of myself. I will start at the beginning.

Remember I had been sick all week. Did I mention that? I left work early on Wednesday and had a 100° fever that night. I could barely pack. But I took some medicine and pressed on.

We left at noon on Thursday. After a stop at a bookstore for two books for me, some Mad Libs (shout out if you love Mad Libs too), and an audio book for us both, followed by a quick lunch, we were southbound!

We made great time to Birmingham and stopped to have a McFlurry with Mom. She had a great surprise waiting for me - a terrycloth lounge chair cover, just in time for the beach! Yay! Thanks Mom!

We made it to the beach at 9:30. The second leg of drive went quickly, thanks to our audio book. I thought Freakonomics would be about money (boring!) but I was surprised at how engaged I was with it. It shed some light on some topics such as standardized testing, real estate transactions, gang organization and more. It was a very interesting read/listen. I recommend it if you are looking for something thought-provoking but not boring.

So we checked in, unloaded and headed next door to a bar/restaurant. After some drinks and an appetizer, we discover 17th Floor is playing there that night... after a "Foam Party" that was currently underway. Yuck. If you know me well, you know I don't like getting dirty or messy, and in my mind, nothing is dirtier than 60 kids on their senior trip grinding all over each other in the middle of a Foam Party. Nasty. So we steered clear of the foam, hanging back just to watch (and make fun) until 17th Floor went on at 11:30.

Just one problem - we were the oldest ones there and I wasn't feeling so well again. We danced a little bit, but mostly crept further and further away from the crowd, staying for a total of about 45 minutes of 17th Floor before calling it a night.

Friday morning we grabbed breakfast, ran to Publix and called Evan before hitting the beach. It was sunny in the morning, but by the time we got to the beach, some clouds had rolled in. We stayed out until the last possible second before the rain came. We went to the Back Porch for dinner and decided we were both too exhausted to go do much else.

Same story on Saturday. It was pretty rainy that morning, but we went for a beach stroll when the rain stopped and noticed the clouds were clearing up a tiny bit. We lugged our stuff back out there and hung out as long as we could before having to pack up and clear out because of the rain... again! We ate out and were going to go enjoy some nightlife, but once again declared ourselves too tired to go out. This pattern of behavior is unheard of, FYI.

Sunday, the day we were to leave, was lovely of course. We sat out for a two hours, then had to go pack and load our things. The plan was to stay around until we got bored, the rain came back, or both. Turns out we didn't get bored nor did the rain come back. We even got in the pool for a little bit before I parked myself on the rented beach chair, where I remained until they had to come and ask me to get up so they could close up for the day. We took that as a hint, and bid farewell to the beach until next time.
Even though the weather wasn't ideal, it was still a great trip. Nothing beats some rest and relaxation with the wind in your hair and the sand in your toes (and everywhere else). I was sad to come back but I know a fantastic summer is just beginning!

1 comment:

  1. L.O.V.E. MadLibs! Jealous of your beach trip and the upcoming trip to Vegas.

    ReplyDelete

Oh goody!

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