Sept. 1, 2008.
Red text. I may have to change this. I don't know if I can blog in this color, too bloody looking or something.
It's time for a Florida post - Florida 2008!!!
I believe, and Rachael concurs, that this was one of our best trips ever, despite the rain that came everyday until the day we left. But we didn't let that stop us, we went to the beach every day, even when the wind was blowing so hard the sand was scouring our skin and ripping pages out of our books.
And we found some great places to eat and we did some really good shopping. We both got new watches which we designed ourselves, picking out bands and watch faces. We got them at the same place we always get our watches.
We also found a new store, a hippie kind of story where I got magnetic rocks (laugh all you want at me, I can take it) and Rach got this great round mirror on sale. It has rainbow ceramic tile framing. I also got a bag full of shells for three bucks and we got those string bracelets you tie on and wear til they rot off.
Then, what else. Oh Rach got a great vest and I got a great dress, and I bought Mim a purse and hmm, oh yeah, Rachael got great art from this restaurant where we always eat. It used to be called two names, now it just the one name, Funky's grill or something, I"d have to go look, but they have great food. It's kind of a hole in the wall but they have fantastic Italian food and pizzas. Pretty pricey. Dinner for two with drinks and appetizer was over $100.
In addition to eating at the places we like to eat at every time we go - Fudpuckers, Funky's, Angler's, we found some great new places. And re-discovered some old favorites like Harry T's, a place we loved but closed a couple of years ago. This time, I actually thumbed through the guidebooks left in the hotel rooms and I found a blurb about Harry T's opening in 2008. I was so excited, I said look, could it be? Harry T's is back? We called the number and used the GPS in the car to find the place, which is in Destin and back off the main drag. The food was great and we had the bar special Long Island Ice Teas, called Harry Teas, I think, but they were completely different and better than standard Long Island Ice Teas. I have pix of me making a lemon face because they were so tart.
but we had melon and some other kind of fruity drink and both were tangy and tart rather than syrupy sweet, which neither of us likes.
I had a burger and it was huge and great.
Then we found a "new" Fudpuckers" just down the street from our hotel. This was also off the main road, found because we were looking for a place called Helen something. I saw the ad on TV and I liked the name and it sounded like a fun place. When I called for directions the guy was telling me to turn by Fudpuckers and he lost me, directionwise. I was thinking, no Fudpuckers is on hwy 98, past Destin. Come to find out, this was the original Fudpuckers and it was walking distance from our room. It was near the water because it and Helen and several other restaurants all right in there, were beneath the bridge, the Brooks Bridge, which goes into Fort Walton and is the way we come into Okaloosa Island.
I also read about Another Broken Egg cafe in the guidebook, learning that it had been voted best breakfast on the gulf several years running. We have driven by it a hundred times and it never appealed to me, again kind of a low rent looking place, and it closed at 2 p.m., which we didn't know, so I thought it must not be that great because it never looked busy when we drove by, which was always late in the PM.
So we ate there and it was great!!!! Yum, I want some of that food again.
Helen's was pretty good, it was right on the water and we sat outside on a deck. It was a nice sports bar atmosphere and we had a great conversation and we got on the phone and tried to call her dad. at least she did. I don't' get too drunk with her, I don't feel right about getting blasted with my daughter.
Of course, it didn't bother her and then her stupid significant other had to call and confess to "making out," with another person the minute we left (whatever the hell that means. making out to me used to mean kissing and that's it. Is it beyond that now?)
So there was some drama one night, she kept drinking and going out of the room to call the guilty parties and then come back in and wake me up to listen about her angst.
I wish like hell they would break up. Maybe it's coming. maybe this is the beginning of the end.
But I digress.
We also stayed in a hotel we had stayed in about three years ago. At that time, it was undergoing renovations and boy howdy was it a lot nicer this time. It was still cheap, by florida standards a $100 bucks a night (if my stupid pride had not kept me from signing up with AARP, I could have gotten a $10 a night discount. stupid, stupid), but it had a frig and microwave as standard equipment and it was across the street from the beach. We still had to drive the car because there was too much walking for the stuff we carried but it was close, close.
We went to Wal-mart and publix's like we always do. We had stuff in the frig. We bought beer to keep in the room. We also went to a Goodwill that we always saw and always said we should stop there but never did. It was not too good, actually. I got some books but that was it.
The only thing we didn't do was go to any beaches other than the one across the street. That was mostly because we didn't spend much time at the beach even though we went every day.
That was the only disappointing thing, really, it rained every day and was stormy. One day we were in a tornado watch until 10 p.m. after that it went away but i woke up around 4 a.m. because the wind was beating something against the side of the building. It was clanging. I looked outside and palm trees were bending sideways.
I was thinking, WTF. what do we do if there is a tornado, who gets tornadoes in Florida when we are in hurricane country?
I woke Rach up, I made her nervous because I was nervous. We were on the third floor of a seven or eight story building. I was like, what are we going to do? What are we supposed to do? So I decided to go back to bed. When I woke up next, all was well. As it was for the entire trip. We laughed so hard we cried, we ate great food, shopped and still got sun, despite the weather.
I give this Florida vacation trip As and 10 plus.