Our vacation this year was relocated to Forth Walton Beach because our usual TAN Gulf Shores Plantation resort was all booked up. We rented a condo at Destin West because we'd been there before for volleyball tournaments and knew the place was nice, with a couple pool choices and a lazy river. We specifically rented a condo with a patio that opened up directly to one of the pools so that Dad, who was rather limited on mobility, would be able to be part of things without having to walk far.
The condo was a lovely 1 bedroom unit with twin bunk beds in the hallway and a sofa sleeper in the living room. The patio overlooked the pool with a picnic table just steps away from the condo.
It would have been perfect.
Instead it was bittersweet.
We started out our vacation with a two hour traffic delay, an hour in Mobile and another hour coming into Fort Walton Beach, arriving Saturday evening. We hit the pool right away and relaxed by the pool until the rain started.
Sunday was ugly, with pouring rain and thunderstorms. We started out the day with a stop at some flea markets and a tense drive into Destin in heavy rain, found the shopping mall we were looking for only to find it was an outdoor mall. We decided it was too wet to go and made our way back to the condo. Later on we had dinner at Fudpuckers in Destin and had a blast in the arcade next door. Nana won big on her second spin on Spin and Win with 1000 tickets! With the addition of some other tickets, some won and others acquired from a malfunctioning game, Cassidy left with a new doll and a dress up princess kit complete with kid high heels, jewelry, and a crown.
During dinner I started feeling not so well, and by the next day I was running 101.8 fever. I laid low with a 3 hour nap while Nana, Jeff, and Cassidy hit another arcade, and finally the weather cleared up that evening. My fever lasted about 36 hours and was followed immediately by a wicked sinus infection. A morning trip to walgreens for some cough drops and mucinex and I was feeling well enough to play.
The rest of the trip we alternated between the beach, the pool by our condo, and the pool with the waterfall and lazy river across the road.
Cassidy's favorite activity was wading out into the Gulf and jumping over waves. And by jumping, I mean Mommy or Daddy lifting her over while she jumped and giggled.
Cassidy thought the waterfall pool was very cool and enjoyed jumping through the waterfall after watching some older kids do it.
We soaked up the sun along the lazy river. The tubes were too big for Cassidy, so she used our floaty which worked out perfectly!
The waves were pretty big the whole time we were there, and they cleared the water a couple of times because of rip currents. Cassidy's pretty hesitant about the waves, and with our additional warnings that she needed a grownup to be with her in the water especially because we didn't bring any of her swim floaties or life jacket, she played it pretty safe, only going without us ankle deep to fill a bucket or rinse her hands.
One morning when I was finally feeling better I got up early and went for a 2 hour walk along the beach, collecting treasures (shells) for Cassidy. While walking, I saw 4 stingrays swimming in a shallow tide pool right by shore. HUGE stingrays! We also saw a dolphin swimming offshore another day.
Cassidy tried out someones body board and loved it. This might be on the list of things to purchase and do next time.
One evening we headed back to Destin to Harborwalk village for dinner.
Nana and Cassidy took a train ride around the Harborwalk and then Cassidy got some ridiculously colored ice cream.
Cassidy is finally tall enough to stand in the 3 foot sections of the pool, so it was nice to turn her loose without having to constantly be right next to her. Her swimming ability is coming along in spite of not doing continuous swimming lessons (they were full all through the summer), though I don't think she could get herself to the side of the pool if she fell in. She hasn't quite mastered the getting her head up to breath thing, so if she can't swim it in one breath, she doesn't make it. She spent a lot of time jumping in, and even more time diving for rings and other toys, as deep as 5 feet down!
It was a good trip in spite of the weather, the fever, and the following sinus infection.
Papa would have loved it.
Bittersweet.
