Summer…it was finally here and we were anticipating vacation time together at the beach. Months ago we had made the reservations to stay in a house this year at the beach, instead of a condo. We had also decided to stay closer to home near St. Theresa beach on the gulf in case either my daughter or I had to run back to Tallahassee for a meeting. But we were not prepared for some surprises.
Typically we head to the beautiful pristine beaches between Panama City and Destin, Florida. White sand, clear turquoise water. But always super expensive and crowded. So this year we decided to do something closer and more economical. And get a whole roomy house for half the price of a condo there.
We had decided that if we wanted a beautiful beach day, we could do a day trip to St. George Island, less than an hour from our rental house. And the housing development had a community pool, and we knew we had to drive to it.
So off we went – me, my daughter and my twin grandchildren, age nine and a barrel of fun.
Well, the first surprising thing I discovered when I arrived at the house was the distance from the beach and any other houses. The pictures had said it was a short walk to the beach. I could not see any sign of water. Just pine trees and palmetto bushes. And a very tall, attractive house with no houses around. In the woods (with paved roads.) A housing development that had fizzled in the real estate bust.
Frantically, I texted my daughter and said, “I can’t even see a beach!!” She reminded me it was supposed to be a short walk.
I made the decision right the that I would make the best of the situation – it was, after all, one week of precious time with my grandchildren.
Next surprise was lots of flights of stairs with a weeks’ worth of supplies. And no man to help. Not used to that, but surprisingly, despite my aching legs, it was good exercise (I told myself). Other than that, the house was great and had good wifi. We could hang out together or go off by ourselves.
That evening we all set off on the winding boardwalk, because we were determined to find the beach. We thought were getting close only to find the boardwalk winding parallel to where the water was. All we saw was coastal marshland. Which by the way, was surprisingly beautiful in its own way.
Eventually we found the “beach” near the end of the boardwalk. It was longer than a five minute walk, but that walk on the boardwalk turned out to be a nightly walk we did together. Surprise – we did not have to be right on the water. The beach was narrow and the water not as nice as near Destin, but the kids found giant crabs and other kinds of sea life on the edge of the water, so it was surprisingly unique.
One night we had a couple of big surprises on our walk – we saw several osprey, an armadillo, and a snake slithering through the sand. Not something we would see at Destin.
Back at the house, we discovered that we could not get the DVD player to work. Surprise! We had brought a bunch of movies, as you do with kids on vacation. But guess what? We really didn’t need them. We settled on watching the Food Network, one we all enjoyed. I normally do not watch that channel much, but surprisingly, it was very entertaining.
And guess what else? We played board games and Charades. Planned a surprise birthday celebration for my daughter. Hung out by the pool which was a lot less trouble than hauling everything to the beach. Visited a coastal marine lab. Saw some turtles being released back into the gulf. Had a little fun lunch and shopping trip into Apalachicola. And we shared family stories about our pasts.
I guess the most wonderful surprise was how much fun we had just being together without the trappings of a tourist destination. What was not surprising was how much I missed them when I got home. But so grateful for that time in the woods with the grandkids and my daughter……With our busy lives, those memories are irreplaceable…
Have you ever had surprises on vacation with your kids and grandkids? I’d love to hear about them in the comments below.
Jane Springer is a certified Life, Wellness and Style Coach who assists women in taking care of themselves, in body, mind and spirit. She coaches women who want to lose weight, avoid diabetes, and feel great. She also helps them thrive after divorce. She also helps them to clear their closets of old clothes and outdated attitudes, so they can shine and feel confident.