Longest drive ever

After the longest weekend ever, today I had the longest day/drive ever.  Dad and I left the house at 8:30 a.m., and 12 hours later, at 8:30 p.m. we finally made it back home, with Bradley in-tow.

Highlights from today included:

• Rain nonstop, literally
• Heaviest traffic I have ever driven in for a length of time
• Seeing downtown Calera, AL for the first time
• Seeing downtown Calera, AL for the second time
• Enjoying some yummy albeit overpriced pecan ice cream in Clanton, AL
• Picking B up much later than anticipated, and getting a much later start back home
• Seeing downtown Calera, AL for the third time (I laughed at this... it was too soon for dad to appreciate the irony)
• Trying our darndest to catch this T-pain song on the XM radio countdown and missing it by minutes every single time we got in and out of the car
• Yes, dad is listening to T-Pain these days
• Not one opportunity for cruise control on the drive back
• What is up with all the inconsiderate drivers on the road who camp out in the left lane while traffic passes them on the right?!
• A short stop in Pelham to see Aunt Peggy, complete with food, funny stories about Uncle Jack, and remembering Lana's comment about wanting to collect something after seeing Aunt Peggy's teapots
• Hearing Bradley shout "Mommy" and seeing his ear to ear grin

So... incredibly... thankful to be home.

Shenanigan's

We went to Evansville yesterday, hence the lack of blog post, for a small sort of family get-together. There was no real occasion, but we drove up to stay with Michael & Missy, and went out last night for pizza at Turoni's, a local pizzeria and microbrewery.  The kids stayed at the house with a babysitter, so we actually all got to have a fun relaxing evening.



Bradley  & Addie

 We had to take 2 cars from the house, so the guys went on ahead to put our name on the list and get us a table, and the women got the kids settled with the babysitter, and left a few minutes later.  It was mom's idea to stop someplace along the way and see how long it took the guys to call asking where we were!  

Sisters, mom & Lisa

Good thing we stopped at this place, beccause not too much longer, we got texts saying the wait was an hour and forty-five minutes, so we took our time and let the guys stand around and wait on the table!  "Oh yes it's Ladies Night!  Oh, what a night!"  we sang.  The guys didn't believe us when we said that we had stopped at Deerhead's, so we had our server take a picture of us toasting the camera.  The guys in turn sent back their own statement via photo, and let's just say they were none too pleased to be standing around in a crowded restaurant while we made our pit stop!

Missy, Whitney, and me

We finally got to Turoni's and all ten of us got seated in this huge booth, where we proceeded to eat, drink and be merry, and the pictures prove it.

Jerry pretending to drink the pitcher

A sign above our table

There's always a Nashville connection!

Mom, Lisa, Dad, and Ryan

Whitney, Missy, Michael, Jerry, Me, and Eric

 Oh, and James Franco even made an appearance!

It was a short trip, but so many memories were made in such a short visit.  Shenanigan's!

BTM: The Beach

Aside from the ho-hum post on our beach trip, with all the gorgeous ocean shots, and pictures of yours truly as a bronzed beach goddess, and a rundown of our food, here's the stuff that's truly entertaining and blogworthy!

The frozen drink selection at Bamboo Willies:

Steph and I chose the Williewacker.  It was a lot more fun to say and order than to drink.  The frozen concoction  was very average.

Outside of our namesake store, Sandy Bottoms, there were these great stand-ups for picture taking.  Here, Laura and I ride the dolphins...

and Steph does her best Daryl Hannah impression!

On our way to and from Pensacola Beach we drove through part of the National Seashore- an area of the beach dedicated to preserving the natural wildlife.  There was a 15 mph speed limit enforced during one stretch of the road to protect the nesting shorebirds.  We followed a car on our way home one night that must have really cared about those shorebirds because he was going way too slow.  Fr some reason the shorebirds popped up in all sorts of conversations this week.  You'd be surprised to discover just how relevant those nesting shorebirds can be to all things beachy.

Now here's real sisterly love right there.  Laura's rear end and thighs were burned, and I volunteered to rub aloe on for her.  If you're thinking this picture just "ain't right," you should have seen the angle of the other 2 shots Steph took because they were far less appropriate than this!

Blue Steele makes an appearance.  I mustered up my best model face to try on a hair bow that Steph eventually bought to wear to a horse racing event she's attending.

A photo in our condo of the owners- or at least one of them. 

I'm not sure who the lady is with our condo owner.

The street names on Navarre beach are named after states, and they're in alphabetical order.  It makes finding your street a piece of cake, unless, of course, you can't remember the alphabet.  We had some kind of discrepancy like this, which prompted Stephanie to ask aloud if we knew the song "Fifty Nifty."  Did we know it?  Please!  Laura and I proceeded to sing the tune in its entirety, which made for an amusing ride home.

The Sandy Bottom Girls and the beach monkey

A drink on the menu at the Beach Monkey Grill- I have a feeling this was supposed to be a "rajun cajun" martini.  I noticed just now too that "pepper" is misspelled as well.  I would be willing to bet this restaurant won't be in business long.  Any place who's that careless with their menu has got bigger fish to fry.  Pun intended.

Speaking of fish, our server that night, Brandon, admitted to us that he just found out that tuna is actually a kind of fish.  Is Jessica Simpson still single?  Because if so, I think we've found her soul mate!

 UK Alums pose with a picture of their flag at Helenbacks

 Having fun at the Navarre Pier

Look what we caught!

Stop.

Pier Rat

Since we didn't end up fishing, Stephanie asked a fisherman who was finishing up his lunch if she could take a picture holding his fishing pole.  Forgive me, but the innuendos of Steph getting to hold a black man's rod that day were too much!

Strange decor at the East Bay Crab House.  What is it about Santa Claus that says seafood to you?

Or how about cheap looking picture of Jesus?  Doesn't this image make you want to eat crab legs?

A photo from our cheesy beach photo session- "look over there," we seem to be saying.

We printed off a good picture of Laura and me, and then scoured a few souvenir shops searching for a classy beach frame... at least that's what I wanted.  Laura, on the other hand, found a frame of a shark, with its jaws open.  In the shark's open mouth was the opening for the picture.  I had found a frame covered in sea shells.  Since it was just the 2 of us, and we both had our own ideas of what our dad would appreciate more, I suggested we settle our frame debate rock-paper-scissor style.  Best 2 out of 3.  It came down to the last round.  A shark frame now adorns our dad's dresser.

Our condo included these two prints of Hurricanes Dennis and Ivan.  "Hurricane Bradley" could not have been more ecstatic.  There was even a dvd of a local new channel's footage of Hurricane Ivan.  I might have actually made Laura watch the dvd with me. 

The condo was decorated in a martini theme.  Laura takes a sip from the martini lamp.

 

The Pumper coozie makes an appearance on the beach!

One night Stephanie decided on a whim that 888 were her lucky numbers, and so we rushed into the gas station to buy a lottery ticket.  The gas station attendant thought we were crazy, and flirted with Steph.  For some reason, Florida doesn't have a "pick 3" so Steph settled instead for a scratch off one, and a Powerball ticket.  I am still waiting for my third of her winnings. 

 

What did we crazy girls get into down in Florida?  We played rousing games of Old Maid and Uno!  It had been so long since any of us had played Old Maid that we actually had to read the directions on how to play first.  This particular deck of cards had characters on each card.  We were each dubbed to represent one of the characters.  I was Birdwatcher Beulah.  Don't ask me why.  Stephanie was Minnie Bucks, because she was looking to strike it rich from her lottery winnings.  Laura wound up with the Old Maid, which was ironic since she was the only married one of the three of us, and she's the youngest!

And finally, I present to you as promised, drunk old people dancing.  If my camera battery hadn't been dying, I would have filmed longer, but as it is, this 48 seconds is worth your time.

So those are some of the fun and funny moments of the trip.  I am finally done with the beach blogs!

The Sandy Bottom Girls

A couple of weeks ago Bradley spent a week with his Grandma Ann and Dad in Florida, so Laura and I spent the week at the beach, trying to enjoy our first ever vacation with just us sisters.  College roomie Stephanie came down for the week too, so Laura and Steph did a good job of distracting me from what was a very long week for me.  I am glad Bradley had time with his Grandma and dad, but this was our first experience with visitation, and I missed B like crazy, having never been away from him for that long before. 

Ready for the road trip

Sacked out with Buzz Lightyear

I've decided to recap the events of the week and mainly the beach and cuisine of the week in this post because this post is gonna be way too long as it is.  Stay tuned for a "Behind the Music" look at the random events of the week...

Now I love the beach, but it was very surreal being back in Florida as a vacationer because everywhere we went I had some sort of negative association with a place.  It took me most of the week before I could relax enough to enjoy myself.  The first night Laura and I went and got sushi at a great place called the Slippery Mermaid.  For this DIVA who doesn't eat fish or seafood of any kind really, I love that I can get a chicken teriaki roll or a steak roll besides a veggie roll that any sushi place will have.

Sunday morning, I got to go to church at my old church, Midway Baptist, which was bittersweet.  I do love and miss the people there and Brother Dennis.  After church I zipped over to pick up Steph, and then the Sandy Bottom Girls hit the beach!

Steph stole some kid's bucket and made sandcastles

We dubbed ourselves the Sandy Bottom Girls because there was a beach store down the road called Sandy Bottoms that we stopped in for supplies.  Furthermore,  the waves were so strong at the beach all week that we each suffered sandy bottoms more than once, and we also thought it sounded similar to the "O Brother Where Art Thou," Soggy Bottom Boys. 

I have never seen so many crabs at the beach- they were everywhere!

 

Sunday night we went to Flounder's in Pensacola Beach to eat so-so food, hear the band Lektrik Mullet and watch old people dance!  This was a highlight of the week for sure.  See the upcoming Behind the Music Beach Post, coming soon, complete with video footage of said old people dancing!

2/3 of the former Sugar Shack residents, waiting on their table

Stephanie at Flounder's- a note to future Flounders patrons- according to both Steph and Laura, do NOT order the crab stuffed Flounder au gratin. 

Sipping nice cool beverages- can you see the family resemblance?

 

Watching drunk old people dance makes us smile!

Nicknames from the UK years: Steppie & Da
Laura, our photographer, was kind enough to get our yacht pictured in the background!

 

Pretty much all we did was eat, sleep, go to the beach (and have sno cones, of course).  Steph and I were content with this routine.  Laura on the other hand was a little irritable by day 4 or 5.  She was a trooper though for my sake!

Another stolen bucket leads to the Queen's castle (Steph's) and the carriage houses for the two stepsisters!

 

Laura playing in the waves

 

How does that Zac Brown Band song go? I got my toes in the sand... or something like that!

More crabs!  I was obsessed with watching them.

At one point, one popped up near my beach chair. "Look at my new friend," I exclaimed happily. "What's his name?" Asked Steph. "Stephanie," I replied without missing a beat.

We all partook in the relaxing beach past time of reading. I finally finished my book on kids food allergies, and then flew through my Tori Spelling book, and several magazines. I wished I had packed another novel by day 4 when I ran out of stuff to read!Along with crabs, I have never in all my years, seen so many seashells at the beach.  Steph was the ultimate sheller, and found all of these in one afternoon!

Along with crabs, I have never in all my years, seen so many seashells at the beach.  Steph was the ultimate sheller, and found all of these in one afternoon!

Our sandcastle masterpiece- it's all about creating a base for height and presentation!

Laura with one of her many grotesque seafood buckets. 

(Yes, I have a thing with food that looks like the actual animal you're consuming.) This was at the Beach Monkey. And yes, Laura got crabs. That joke, along with "That's what she said," was worn out!

Wednesday we went down to the Navarre Pier, newly re-opened last year, which is now the longest pier in the Gulf of New Mexico. We were thinking about fishing, but after observing the stoic seamen, and the skill necessary for casting our lines that high up without snaring a tourist, we gave up the dream!

Laura, walking down the pier

While we didn't fish, we did see plenty of fish, a few dolphins, and my very first sea turtle. What can I say? I'm a Delta Zeta for life, and our mascot is the turtle. I was beyond thrilled to see the large amphibian swimming in the wild, and highly disappointed he didn't resurface so I could snap a picture.

Navarre beach from the pier.

 

After our sightseeing at the pier, we had lunch at the pier bar right there on the ocean.  Laura and I each had cheeseburgers, and oh my gosh, they were so tasty!  By this day, Laura decided it was acceptable to not eat seafood for every meal.  I decided this a long time ago when I vowed not to eat seafood ever. 

The Sandy Bottom Girls

 

As a belated Father's day present for dad since we were in Florida, Laura & I took a picture together in the requisite beach attire of khaki and white (totally impromptu, I might add), developed a good one, and purchased a beachy frame to give to dad when we got back.

Steph and I picked on each other all week, and it certainly helped me to keep laughing.  Steph dubbed me the "drill sergeant" for apparently forcing her to maintain a strenuous pace on our beach walks!

 

To Helenback's Again for pizza on our last night with Steph

Mmmmm, I could eat this whole thing!

After pizza, we splurged for some ice cream at the Twist.  I got some mocha-chocolatey creation, and Laura & Steph got variations of banana ice cream with frozen chocolate bananas. 

The upside of dropping Steph off at the airport at the butt crack of dawn Thursday morning:

On Friday, it actually rained that morning, so Laura & I drove over to the outlet mall. I scored several new clothes for Bradley, and a cute one-piece at the Gap for 6 bucks! On our way back, we were looking for a place to eat, and simultaneously suggested the Hog's Breath Saloon. Practically every place we ate we dined outdoors, and can I just say, I think this is one of life's simple pleasures?! You'd think in Florida it would be too hot to eat outside, but there was always a breeze blowing to make things pleasant.

I'm hungry just looking at this- it was a fantastic Southwestern Chicken Sandwich with avacado, lettuce, tomato, onion, cheese and bacon (which make everything more delicious) and a spicy mayo sauce. Hands down, the best thing I ate all week.

We also ate at the East Bay Crabhouse during the week, where I did actually order sauteed tilapia, and devoured it since it neither looked nor tasted like fish, and we visited my old favorite restaurant in Navarre, the Cactus Flower Cafe, and had some amazing Mexican food that rivaled the above sandwich and fries.  We definitely ate well this week!

Mine.

It was the weirdest thing- we didn't see any seagulls until our last day, and then, they only appeared because a school of fish had drifted close to the beach, and were visibly jumping out of the water. The birds migrated over appropriately.

 

Saturday morning, we said goodbye to the beach, and hello to Bradley! He was a cranky worn out mess, but I didn't care! We stopped in Alabama on the way home at aunt Peggy's for lunch and to see our cousin Heather, her husband Bob, and kids Ana and Larkin. Bradley ran around playing with his cousins for a while and worked out some of his pent-up energy!

Aunt Peggy pulling B around in the wagon

At this point, it was very late in the afternoon, and Bradley had yet to take a nap, so he wasn't exactly cooperative when it came time for pictures, so this is the best one I got of him and Peggy. He fell asleep soon after getting back on the road though.

At this point, it was very late in the afternoon, and Bradley had yet to take a nap, so he wasn't exactly cooperative when it came time for pictures, so this is the best one I got of him and Peggy.  He fell asleep soon after getting back on the road though. 

If you have made it this far reading/skimming/only looking at the pictures, and you are not my mother, then I commend you.  It was a long week, and we are glad to be home, although not happy to be back at work, and I am certainly missing the lazy days at the beach.  I'll be looking for takers for next summer because I doubt Laura will ever go with me to the beach again!  Seven days on the beach for her was about four days too many!  We took a tough situation, and made the best of it, and for that, I am so thankful for friends & family like Laura and Steph. 

Next up:  the Beach: BTM...