The Beach Blog #1

 

Our Room with a View

When Teresa and I made the decision to take a lengthy trip to Florida this February, I'm pretty sure neither one of us thought we'd document our time. I thought I might do some writing as that's something I've always enjoyed despite failing 9th grade English.
So, here I sit on a coolish Saturday morning overlooking the Gulf of Mexico in an area of Florida called 30A. The area's a strip of county road (30A) between Destin and Panama City that kind of looks like a scene out of The Truman Show. I'm told in fact that many of the outdoor scenes in that movie starring Jim Carey were indeed filmed along this tremendously developed, but equally quaint section of beaches.

30A Between Destin & Panama City, Fl.

Our adventure to 30A includes everything from an idea to wishful thinking to researching to planning to budgeting to waiting and waiting and waiting to finally loading up and leaving.We left west Texas January 31st for this spot easily good enough to be called wonderful.
There all kinds of other details, some not too pretty or easy to talk about, that led us to pull the trigger. I'll scatter those throughout my writings so as not to bore you, but more to share with you the sights, sounds and fun of new experiences.
The first inkling of this trip began in September 2017. Teresa came back from a hair appointment with her friend Tara. Apparently between the color and the scissors, Tara related tales from her recent birthday trip to Florida.... 30A in particular. Whatever Tara said, hit a nerve with Teresa because T (as I call Teresa) came back to the ranch, with what at the time seemed like a fun dream for both of us.

Windmill Ranch Preserve, Snyder TX

 We sat in the ranch pavilion talking about what fun it'd be to getaway. Before long, we 'googled' it, as we say when we don't know what we don't know. I think we were both surprised when the search engine finally gave us it's pages and pages of detailed and colorful information.
Here was this place, only eight inches on the map from Snyder that looked and read like the exact opposite of our little slice of life in the high plains.
One thing led to another and another. We started to get discouraged because even in the 'off season' everything seemed not only out of our price range but more like an absolute budget buster.
Then, there were the magic words!!! HALF PRICE for the full month of February. I'm cheap. Half price means a lot to me, but for a whole month? Could we be away for that long? But, HALF PRICE! We did some math and decided the price was too good to ignore. Next, we had to decide if the accommodations were worth it even at half price and if we could be away for so many days. Turns out, a real estate/property manager we talked to guaranteed that not only was our place 'on the beach,' but also bottom floor with a 'gulf view.' Then came the painful part, at least for me. The agent explained, "You'll need to pay half now. Then, you'll pay the balance about two weeks before your arrival date." Now, I'm seeing RED FLAGS. "This can't be," I said to T. "Ask him if we change our minds, can we get our money back," she offered.

Ranch Life

Keep in mind I had other thoughts racing through my mind like; 'Where I'm sitting now isn't exactly killing me. One day we have turkeys to watch. Another day, it might be a great sunset. So at this point, I'm thinking a Florida vacation would be great, but we're already pretty blessed. But, I thought asking the agent couldn't hurt.
"What if we change our minds?" I asked this young man's voice on the other end of a scratchy, country phone line. "Yes, you have 24 hours. If you decide it's a no go for you, call before X time and we'll refund your credit card account." At least that's what I heard through the dropped syllables over the ranch phone.
T then gave me the thumbs up, actually two thumbs up. "Okay, what to I do," I asked the complete stranger over the phone. As far as I knew, he could've been some shady character sittin' in a bar in Nowheresville. "Just give me your card number and I'll email you a receipt." I did and then later he did and that marks step #1 of our decision to visit Florida. But we weren't done thinking/festering over our decision yet.
Next, the 24 hours, the praying and the asking we felt completely necessary and obligated to do.
Bill Robertson, watching the pelicans dive for breakfast