Santa Rosa Beach Recap

Tomorrow, we depart Santa Rosa Beach, Fl, for home. With "Born on Flag Day," by Deer Tick, as my background music, I wanted to mention some of the highlights, for me, of our first trip to the beach with our son. These are in no particular order. I'm going to list them as they come to me.

1. While Jude was taking a shower and John Patrick and were eating dinner, I taught him to say "touchdown" and to let me give him a "high five." Well, sort of. He raised his arms above his head and said something that sounded like "daaaaaaaaaaaaaan," which loosely translated (very loosely), is "touchdown." Then, he held his hand out for a "high five." Then we did it again. And again. You get the idea.

2. Every time I did my best Bill Cosby/Fat Albert impression, saying "hey, hey, hey, get outta my way," John Patrick said "Da da," before I could finish. It worked every single time. And I smiled every single time.

3. Two mornings this week, when I got up with John Patrick, we strolled down to "Lucille's," a local restaurant/coffee shop, for breakfast. We sat outside and ate breakfast together. It wasn't Sunday morning breakfast at Bongo Java, but it was close.

4. Each afternoon when Jude, John Patrick and I went to the beach, I filled up the inflatable baby pool with ocean water and we dragged it onto the beach. I laughed at the absurdity of my son playing in an inflatable baby pool, on the beach, facing the Gulf of Mexico. It still makes me smile, just thinking about it.

5. Every morning but one, I ran on the bicycle path on highway 30A. On my ipod, I listened to podcasts from Bob Edwards ("Bob Edwards Weekend"), Bill Simmons ("the BS Report") and Terri Gross ("Fresh Air").

6. We rented bicycles and took John Patrick for his first and second bicycle rides. He rode in a rumble seat of sorts, except it was right behind my seat on the bicycle, rather than beside it. While he wasn't too happy about wearing a helmet, as soon as I started pedaling and we were moving, he started laughing in that way a toddler laughs that completely fills your heart with joy and makes you thank God for blessing you with this child.

7. After we put John Patrick to bed, Jude and engaged in four epic scrabble games while watching the U.S. Open tennis tournament. Two wins for me, two for Jude.

8. I read James Lee Burke's new novel, "Rain Gods." Classic Burke and a very, very good read.

9. One afternoon at the beach, the lifeguards were spending a lot of time in the water, clearly looking for something. It turns out they had seen a giant sea turtle, most likely preparing to come ashore after dark and lay her eggs. One of the lifeguards told me he had seen the sea turtle and she was as big as our inflatable baby pool. Wow!

10. One afternoon, while John Patrick and Jude napped, I slipped out and visited "the Red Bar" in Grayton Beach. There, I sat at the bar, had a couple of beers and read an issue of the "New Yorker." Quiet, peaceful and relaxing.

11. Much to Jude's chagrin, I drank a bottle of "5 Hour Energy" on the trip down. It really does work.