Santa Rosa Beach 2010

Back to reality, after a relaxing week at "Another Happy Day," the beach house where we stayed this year and last in Santa Rosa Beach, Florida.  Although we stayed an extra day, as always the day we left (Sunday) was the nicest day of the entire week we were there.  The ocean looked like a lake, it was so smooth.

Many memories made (I'll list a few below, in no particular order) and in the end, that's what vacations are for, I think.

1.  Lifeguard William.  J.P. was quite taken with William, the head lifeguard at the beach near the house where we stayed.  Old enough to have a grandchild J.P.'s age but in incredible shape, William spent a lot of time talking to J.P., checking in with him and letting him know that everything on the beach was in order.  J.P. enjoyed the extra attention and asked about William every time we got ready to go to the beach.

2.  Night run followed by a dip in the pool.  Monday night, I went for a 5 mile night run along the bike path on 30A, after we put J.P. to bed.  It was a little disconcerting, as there are no street lights on 30A and it was pitch black in places.  After I finished the run, I went for a quick swim in the pool a stone's throw from the house where we stayed.  Very refreshing.

3.  Playground.  I discovered an elementary school about 3 miles from our house.  Guessing right, we hit the mother lode when we found a playground behind the school.  A couple of days, Jude drove J.P. to the playground and I ran there from our house.  J.P. enjoyed the slides and, generally, climbing and playing on the playground equipment.  It was a nice break for him from the beach.

4.  Ocean breakthrough.  J.P. enjoyed the beach much more this year than last year.  In particular, he had a good time playing in the sand, digging with his shovel, bulldozer, etc.  He even stood in the ocean, as the waves broke across his ankles and feet.  That was a big improvement over last year.  However, he didn't want anything to do with going any further into the ocean and he cried when Jude went swimming.  Generally, he tolerated the beach for an hour or so at a time, before asking to go back to the beach house.

5.  Scrabble battles.  Like last year, Jude and I played a lot of scrabble.  The final tally was 2-2, fittingly.

6.  Bikes.  We rented bikes, opting this year for a "toddler trailer," which J.P. loved riding in, helmet and all.  Thursday night, we rode our bikes down to "Ballyhoo's" for dinner.  We almost had the place to ourselves, if you don't count the man who was so drunk he fell face first on the floor near the bar, about 10 minutes after we arrived.  After dinner, we rode our bikes up 30A for ice cream.  We rode home after dark, feeling our way down the bike path.

7.  Friday Night Lights.  Before we left Nashville, I downloaded season 4 of "Friday Night Lights" from iTunes.  I watched all 13 episodes, staying up until 1 or 2 a.m. most nights.  Amazing show, probably my favorite ever on network television

8.  Pat Conroy.  I read Pat Conroy's latest novel, "South of Broad Street," again staying up until 1 or 2 a.m. each night.  I'm a huge Pat Conroy fan, so it was nice to settle in and read another one of his books. He doesn't publish books too often, so when he does, it's kind of like a visit from an old friend I haven't seen in a while.  As always, the writing was amazing.

9.  First names.  For some reason, shortly after our arrival, J.P. decided it was time for him to be on a first name basis with Jude and me.  Accordingly, with no prompting, he starting saying "Jude" and "Phil," instead of "Mama" and "Dada."  At first, we ignored him, then we gently corrected him.  It was funny, actually.