Some Interesting Facts on a Florida Road Trip

Georgia does have Red Clay and S-w-e-e-t Georgia Peaches.

Boiled Peanuts – Sucks!

There are lots of Baptist Churches, lots of huge crosses, and definitely a lot of religious billboards.

Tons of Waffle Houses – waffles and chicken, anyone?

Camilla in Crystal Beach has the best soft served ice cream, fruit smoothies and warmed cinnamon buns. The mango & banana smoothies are the best, but for adults, the strawberry daiquiri is awesome! It is like frozen alcohol in a dessert cup.

Even if you need a bathroom – stay away from Speedy Meedy’s. If you have to go…go behind a tree.

A unique Family Restaurant in Alabama with a really catchy name…It Don’t Matter Family Restaurant.

If you need a coffee break, stop at Jittery Joes, a chain of coffee houses in Georgia. Perfect name!

If you are in Destin and don’t feel like cooking – check out Sarah K’s Gourmet Shop for a delicious gourmet take out meal. And the chocolate brownie to die for is worth it. (www.sarahks.com).

For a yummy breakfast – The Breakfast Table Café in Destin on Highway 98 is a comfortable restaurant with good food. (www.thebreakfasttabledestin.com).

If it is raining, I highly recommend Uncle Buck’s Fishbowl & Grill. The bowling is fun and the drinks are great. We didn’t eat there but the food that was carried out to the tables looked pretty good to me.

Destin, Florida and More...

It seemed to take more hours than I thought possible on the 2^nd day drive to Florida. I should have looked at a map. Most of our clothes were dried. We shoved more bags into the back of the Van with an expletive or two, and another warning, “Be careful when you open the back door!”

There were a lot of traffic lanes and a lot of traffic throughout Atlanta that would make our roads in Pennsylvania that would make the number of cars on our roads looks like small peanuts. (Speaking of peanuts, I forced our driver to stop at a road side to buy ‘Fresh Boiled Peanuts’ and Sweet Georgia Peaches. By the way – Georgia does have Red Clay.

My son is quite talented, too, as he managed to pump gas and brush his teeth at the same time at the BP pumps.

Some of the gems that I gleaned along the long drive:

Little kids seldom sleep.

I now know every line and song from Shrek 1 & 2 and from Tangled.

My grandson loves to say Trucks and throwing all four of his pacifiers around. He has a strong throwing arm as well!

My granddaughters blocked out everything because of their music and headphones.

Make sure to bring along a number of Fedoras for every occasion.

I saw lots of historical makers and Southern flags and large crosses on the grassy hills.

I would also lose a contact and my camera would break.

After 7-1/2 hours we made it still smiling and happy to be at our vacation house in Destin Beach.

The house was cute and spacious with a pool and pool house, where I stayed with my two teenage granddaughters.

One Hour and 17 More To Go

On our first day driving to Destin, Florida for our beach vacation, we covered 700 miles. It wasn’t a smooth drive. It was a long drive. Our Van was crammed full with the essentials – three adults, two teenagers, a 4-year-old, a 19-month-old, food, snacks, drinks, video players, kid’s videos and more. Other bags were stuffed behind the last seat, along with the verbal warning, “Be careful when you open the back door!” The blankets and some other bags were under a soft shell turtle fastened to the top of the car. At the time, we didn’t know that the carrier wasn’t waterproof. “Ignorance is Bliss!”

Five minutes into the ride, my 13- year-old granddaughter lost one of her new contacts. When she found it, she managed to rip it…and this was just the beginning of our trip. One hour into the trip, we made two bathroom stops for the 4-year-old, who had a bad case of ‘Bubble Guts.’ I found out what ‘Bubble Guts’ was, and I also found out that my granddaughter loves to christen each bathroom in every store or restaurant that she happens to be in.

The scenery along our trip was awesome driving through Pennsylvania, Virginia, West Virginia, Tennessee, South Carolina, Georgia, Alabama and then Florida.

Then last 30 minutes of our trip…it poured! But the icing on the cake was when we stopped to stay in Atlanta, that we found out that the soft shell turtle wasn’t waterproof. We had to dry everything and that included my duffle bag.

With one day down, I decided to adopt Scarlett O’Hara’s famous line, “Tomorrow is another day."

Red Robin, Hamburgers, and Grandchildren

There was a time that I had five kids under five. There was a time that I had six teenagers Time moved on but yesterday I found myself at a table at Red Robin’s eating with my grandchildren. I remember in the old days, with my family of nine kids we would have needed another table or booth. Who am I kidding; I never took them out to eat unless we were on vacation. That was a site to behold and one that I don’t want to revisit. Yet, here I was with five of my grandchildren. Let’s just say the girls were quieter and the boys were typical boys…noisy, pains, and driving the more sophisticated girls a bit batty. I just tuned it out, unless they were swinging from the chandeliers…and they weren’t.

I had talked my daughter in law to come along. Since she had a root canal and her pain was still in the numb zone…she came along. I am sure afterwards she wished she hadn’t when her numbness wore off and she had nothing to take for the pain.

We ordered drinks, like speckled lemonade, Blue Moon, water, plus hamburgers of course; different kinds of hamburgers to soothe our tastes and hunger accompanied by bottomless steak fries or sweet potato fries. I have to say…they ate everything, drank everything and we passed on desserts. The table looked like seven hungry people just consumed a much needed late lunch.

Afterwards, we left, and hit Barnes and Noble in Cranberry, where each of us selected a book or two. I love it when I take my grandchildren to the bookstore and they come away with a handful of books. At least I know that they love to read and sometimes, they share their books with me to read.

The time spent with my grandchildren was fun and I hope it is something that they remember and maybe come to treasure in time.  I know I will.

Dance Recital

 It’s not until you sit in a full auditorium waiting for your 4-year-old granddaughter to make her debut at her first dance recital, that you learn to forget the critiquing, forget the two thumbs up, or the five star review or however you would grade the recital.

I think most people leave their competiveness at the door, unless they are hoping for a dance future for their child. All a normal family member wants is for the child or grandchild to enjoy themselves and be happy. They want the child to be able to at least walk out on the stage, participate in their dance, or at least try.

At the recital that I attended, there were well over 20 acts. My granddaughter’s dance number was around #23, and then there would be a spectacular grand finale! I have to say – my granddaughter, Camryn (CJ) was a pro in my eyes and in the eyes of her family and friends. She made it on stage and she performed her dance routine to the delight of all of us. The music for the recital was based on the Disney movies.

The finale was the best part – where everyone was relaxed and happy and to the little one’s delight, they were serenaded by a woman dressed and looking like Elsa from the recent Disney hit movie, Frozen.

And there was C.J. with all the others, smiling and rocking out to the song from Frozen. C. J. really enjoyed herself and that’s what really counted!

Thanks for the enjoyment of a Saturday and the realization that there are more than scores to an event. The pure enjoyment is what it is all about!