Alexa, play relaxation sounds-- the ocean.

 If you've ever met Cory and me, or been to our home and glanced over our world map, you know we like to travel. Planning a vacation and going on one are things we live for, almost as much as we live for getting home and putting a pin in the place we've just returned from in the map. Another tradition that I love from our trips is that we try to find the tackiest knick knack to add to our collection. We have found some of the tackiest things on our trips, and it's honestly one of my favorite memories from each trip. A few weeks ago, we decided we needed a break from our sweet house and being on lock down, and since we cannot travel abroad just yet, we picked Panama City Beach. Two days before we were planning to go, Hurricane Laura showed up-- her original path was straight over Panama City Beach. We tried to get a refund (who wants to pay for a condo to watch a hurricane roll by?) and after a few no's, we decided we were going anyway. Sadly for Louisiana, Laura took a very unfortunate turn and our thoughts are with those in our home state that are picking up the pieces. We left for PCB on Sunday and got to our condo about 4:30pm. After realizing that our room had not been cleaned before we got there, we headed out of the room for a few hours while the cleaning crew frantically worked to clean. It was a bit rainy outside, but we went for a walk anyway and had dinner at a place called Shuckums. It was not great, but we were so thankful to be on vacation that we ate anyway. 

    Monday, when we woke up, the outer bands of Marco were upon us, and it rained a good bit all day. We headed to The Pankakery for breakfast, then to the grocery store to stock up on things we needed. Of course, I made Cory go to all the Alvin's Islands, but as he calls them, "shit shops" to look for our knick knack and get myself a tshirt, because it ain't a vacation if you don't get a tshirt from the place you're visiting. We headed back to our condo and played a few rounds of Rummy. Finally, by 4pm, the rain finally gave way and we made our way to the beach for a walk, then a visit to Sharky's, where we got souvenir glasses with Bahama Mama's in them. 

    Tuesday, the sun finally came out and we RAN down to our chairs/umbrella on the beach for the day! Thankfully, our condo came with a rented set of chairs and an umbrella and we definitely got our money's worth. Sadly, the beach was set to "dangerous" mode with double red flags, so we couldn't get in the ocean. Some, definitely not this rule follower, got into the water anyway, and we watched the beach police give two $500 fines to those who decided to play in the water regardless. We had sandwiches in the condo for lunch then back to the chairs for the afternoon. 

    Wednesday, we've done something we've never done on vacation before- we rented a jetski for a few hours. We just got one, and after the man in the Trump 2020 bathing suit bottoms showed us a few things, we jetted off into the bay. The water was a bit rough, but we headed to Shell Beach and tried to "park" to explore. The waves were a bit strong, and after circling for 

awhile, we realized we might not be able to get off. I pulled out my phone to call the rental place to ask what to do, and according to Cory, he throttled the jetski and threw the both of us off-- me, of course, with my phone in hand. Once we regained our bearings, we rode around for a bit then finally found the calm area to park the jetski and were able to get off. We found a few shells, then headed back to the rental place. Here is where we got the most sunburned and our faces are now peeling because of it. We had lunch at Pineapple Willy's then spent the afternoon on our chairs, reading and enjoying the breeze. We always like to have one nice dinner while on vacation, so we went to Firefly, a romantic seafood spot and had some of the most fresh sushi for an app, then I had pasta and Cory had Diver Scallops. We rolled out of there and that's when Cory saw the Axe Throwing PCB place. 

    Thursday, we spent our morning on the beach in our chairs (do you see a pattern here?) and after grabbing lunch in our condo, spent the afternoon in our chairs. Then, since I had promised the night before, we did something else on this vacation we've never done before-- threw axes. It took a good 20 minutes of practice before we got the hang of things; okay, before I got the hang of things. Apparently, Cory knew he'd be good at it since he was a college athlete and pitcher and "good at throwing things." *insert so many eye rolls here* We actually had the best time and he was right, he was very good at it. We then left and went to Sharky's one last time for a Bahama Mama. 

Friday, we packed up and headed home. While we are used to international vacations that are hella exhausting, this trip was very different and very relaxing, and altogether lovely. If you don't love the sound of the ocean with the sun shining, I'm not sure we can be friends. We are very lucky and blessed for having good weather for our trip and for having such an amazing time together. Now, if Covid could just go away so we can plan the next trip. 

Red Beans and Ricely Yours, 

B