Spring Break in Panama City Beach

This past week was spring break for us.  Back in January, we made plans to go to Panama City Beach for a few days at the beginning of the week.  The week before this past week, Nathan got really sick, and we didn't think we were going to be able to go.  He started out with a cold, that moved into conjunctivitis in both eyes, then morphed into a double ear infection and pneumonia.  Yeah, I really thought PCB was out of the question.  By Friday morning, when we were supposed to hit the road, he had been on antibiotics for 48 hours, and was doing MUCH better.  So, off we went!
My Uncle Mike, his wife, Suzy, and my cousin, Nick, live in PCB, which is the real reason we decided to go there for spring break.  We had a blast visiting with them, and, of course, going to the beach.  My uncle is a retired Navy diver, who still works on NSA Panama City as a civilian.  NSA Panama City has the greatest MWR outdoor recreation and marina.  There are cabins, a small RV park, playground and beach area, and a marina on St. Andrews Bay.  We stayed in one of the cabins, which was really cool!  We rented kayaks and SUP boards from the marina, and played on the playground and the little beach.  The base is also really close to the beach, like less than 10 miles from the beach. 

 

I was so excited to see my uncle and cousins, (my cousins, Aleshia, and Joe, came in to town to see us too.), that I forgot to take any pictures the first two days we were there.  Duh.  I'm such a bad photographer because I always forget to take pictures.  
Friday afternoon, after we arrived, we met with my cousins, Nick and Aleshia, and Aleshia's young sons, Garrett, and Corbin.  We had dinner together, and let the kids play on the playground for a while.  Then we walked over to the docks in the marina, and found some crabs and fish in a crab trap.  We played with the crabs a little, and ran around on the docks a lot.  After our long drive there, it was good to get some running around in before we went back to the cabin and went to bed. 
Early Saturday morning, Uncle Mike took us to the beach.  I had mentioned to him that we wanted to go to the beach early in the morning, before all the college spring breakers were out, crowding the place up.  I also said that I thought it would be fun to mess with the spring breakers who had passed out on the beach, and were still there in the morning.  Uncle Mike took this to mean that I wanted to see the place where spring break was happening for the college students.  What I really meant was that I didn't know there was a part of the beach where the spring breakers weren't going to be, so I was trying to make the best of a yucky situation.  So, first thing Saturday morning we went to 'ground zero' of the college spring break scene.  It was horrendous!  Trash everywhere.  I mean everywhere!  It looked like someone had over turned a few garbage trucks and spread the contents out over the beach and surrounding area.  Nothing like stepping over used condoms, beer bottles, cans, cups, and various other party items on the beach.  Once we were finished being disgusted by the mess the college students had made of the beach, (and the part of town close to the beach), we went to St. Andrews State Park.  This was MUCH better!  Perfect, in fact.  Beautiful!  Clear, turquoise water, pristine, white sand.  Amazing!!  After spending a couple of hours on the beach, soaking in the beauty, and having a great visit with my uncle, we went back to the cabin, ate lunch, and rested a little.  Saturday evening, we went to Uncle Mike's house for dinner.  He made the BEST ribs I have EVER eaten!!  We all made ourselves fat and happy on ribs, then sat around and visited, until Nathan decided it was time to go and started screaming and crying and acting like a toddler possessed.
Sunday morning, we all met at a little restaurant at the beach called Liza's. The food was great, the company was even better! I took the first pictures of our trip during that brunch.

  After brunch, my cousin, Nick, came back to the cabin with us.  I rented two kayaks from the marina, (a two person, and a one person), and Nick took Gabriel and Annalise out in the bay.  My kids had never been in a kayak before.  They LOVED it!!  I took a few pictures of them paddling around by the bridge that connects Panama City to Panama City Beach, but then Nathan needed a nap, so he and I went back to the cabin while the big kids played on the water.  At some point during the afternoon, they traded in the two person kayak for a SUP board.  They all tried it, and they all fell off and got soaked!  They had fun with it though.  (SUP stands for Stand Up Paddle, this board is also called a YOLO (You Only Live Once) board.  It's essentially a large surf board that you stand on and paddle through the water with a canoe-type paddle.  It looks pretty easy, but you've got to have good balance.)  (There's a place in Jacksonville called Black Creek Outfitters that teaches a yoga class on SUP boards.  CRAZY!!)  Those kids were out on the bay ALL DAY going back and forth between kayaking and SUP boarding.  They had a BLAST!!  Nick is an amazing person.  He is 15, but he had no problem whatsoever spending the day hanging with a 13 year old and a 9 year old.  Gabriel and Annalise were in love with him by the time the day was over! 

Annalise and Nathan and I went back to the beach (the good beach at St. Andrews State Park) early Monday morning, and this time I took pictures.  I couldn't get over how clear the water was.  I walked in the shallows and found the best shells, and a whole sand dollar.  There are pieces of sand dollars all over the beach, but it's difficult to find whole ones.  The water was so clear that I could walk in the shallows and see what was on the bottom.  Plus, the color of the water is spectacular there.  Turquoise and green and blue and every shade in between.  I tried to capture all of that in the pictures I took, but pictures never do beauty justice, (at least not when I take them).  The beaches we have here, on the Atlantic are pretty, but the water isn't clear, and it isn't usually blue.  It's usually gray, and brown, and all shades in between.  Down in South Florida, in the Miami area, the Atlantic is blue and green and beautiful, but not up here.  The gulf side of Florida has stunning beaches.

Suzy had been in South Florida taking care of her mom all weekend, and got back to PCB on Monday morning.  We got to spend the afternoon and evening with her.  I'm glad we didn't miss her entirely.  It was great to catch up with her.  Nick is the captain of his tennis team at school, and had invited us to come see his match on Monday afternoon.  Suzy took us to the match, and entertained Nathan as long as he would let her entertain him, so I could watch the match.  She's a great grandma person!  We got to see part of the match, but not nearly enough of it.  Nathan was a typical two year old at a sporting event.  He didn't want to stay on, or near the bleachers, he wanted to run rampant through the parking lot and other places.  Suzy kept up with him for a little while, but in the end, we just had to go.  We were bummed we couldn't stay longer, and even more bummed when Nick texted us after the match to tell us that he won.  It would have been cool to see him win the match!  Oh well.

Tuesday morning was devoted to packing up, and cleaning the cabin so we could come home.  We'd had to board Val, and they'd had to sedate her while she was there, so I was very anxious to get home and get her out of her sedated stupor.  Turns out, she wasn't in a stupor, she was just sedated enough to not be nervous.  Sheesh!!  And here I was stressing!!  Ah well.
All in all, a very good trip.  Not nearly long enough though.  I'm so glad Nathan was well enough to go.   Next time we go, which will hopefully be this summer, we will stay longer.  Have you ever gone to visit someone, and had such a good time with them that you think, "Why don't I keep in better touch with these people??"  Yeah, that's how I felt after this trip. 

How Did She Do That??

This morning was beautiful.  It was a little chilly, (52 degrees), but sunny and clear.  Our back yard is huge, and fenced with a 6 ft wooden privacy fence, so when it's nice in the mornings, I leave Val (our dog) outside when I have to go out for a little while.  I left her outside this morning when I took Nathan to school.  I could see her little face looking between the slats in the gate as we pulled out of the driveway.  When I returned, she was happily roaming the cul-de-sac we live on.  WHAT??  How did she get out of the back yard??  Oh man, someone must have left the gate unlatched, and the wind blew it open.  Luckily for her, and me, she was excited to see me and came right in the house with me, so I didn't have to chase her all over the neighborhood.  I checked the gate.  It was tightly latched.  I walked the fence line, looking for a hole big enough to admit a 63 pound mutt.  Nothing.  How did she get out??  Back where I started, at the gate, I looked up.  Surely there is no way she could jump a 6 ft fence.  She may be 63 pounds, but she's only 2 1/2 feet tall!  Then I saw it.  Marks on the top of the fence.  No way, I thought.  The kids must have done that somehow.  I went to the other side, and what I saw confirmed that I was wrong.  There were marks in the mulch (and weeds) where she had landed.  Then there was her behavior.  She had excitedly followed me around while I checked for holes, (think, "Whatcha doing mom???  Can I help???"), until I got back to this spot.  She wouldn't come near me as long as I was over there, and she had her head down, all excitement drained from her doggy body.  She knew she had done something wrong, and she knew she had done it there.  Unless I get a nanny cam and put it up over there, I will never know how, exactly, she did it, but I do know that she did it.  She jumped the fence!  It's funny, but it's not.  Whenever we go out of town, we leave her in the back yard and put her crate, food, and water on the screened in porch, with the screen door open so she has access to shelter, and outside.  She's a very nervous dog, so when we have boarded her in the past, she doesn't eat the entire time, and is very sickly when we bring her home.  We can't stand doing that to her.  She is much happier to stay home, even though she is unhappy that her people are gone.  Now, with only two weeks left until spring break, and with plans already made to visit my uncle in Panama City Beach for four days that week, she jumps the fence.  Now she must be boarded.  I'm going to worry about her the entire time we are gone.  I'd have worried about her anyway, but now I'm going to worry more.  Dumb dog!  She just made things infinitely worse for herself, and me!  I wish there was some way I could tell her this.  Ugh! 

I know what you're thinking.  Maybe she jumped up on that little shelf on the other side of the window, and then jumped up to the top of the fence.  The only problem with that, is that little pot on the shelf would have fallen.  That shelf has no base and is very wobbly, she'd have not only knocked the pot down, but the shelf probably would have been knocked down too with the force of her push off.

I'm standing next to the shelf to take this picture.  That's a LONG jump from the shelf to the fence.  Another clue against using the shelf as part of her escape.

 The telltale marks on the top of the fence.

The front side of the fence.  Can you see the disturbance in the mulch?

Can you see the disturbance in the mulch now?  Maybe only I can see it because I know what it's supposed to look like.  This does remind me, though, that I need to pull up that weed screening.  You can see what a bang up job it's doing.  :-P

Scottish Highland Festival and Games

Last Saturday was the North East Florida Scottish Highland Festival and Games.  I had never been to anything like that before.  We were excited to go and see the pipe and drum bands, and the caber toss, and the sheep herding, and the falcon demo.  Well, we got to see all of that, and a TON of other things!  It was so much fun!  The pipe and drum bands were incredible!  The tartans were beautiful!  The kilts were cool!  The food was good!  Everyone had such a good time! 
Here are some of the pictures we took.  The one picture we didn't get was of the many Harley Davidson biker guys in normal biker garb from the waist up, and a kilt, and biker boots.  It was so funny to see!  Oh well, there's always next year. 

The first thing we saw once we were through the gates was the Clay County Sheriff's Office Pipe and Drum band.  They were AMAZING!!  I'd never heard or seen a pipe and drum band before.  It was such a treat! 

Look at those pleats!!

Kilt anyone?

This is a Clydesdale that was super duper sweet.  My Aunt Jean is holding her grandson, Mason, and Nathan.

Annalise was getting sniffed by the horse.

My turn to be sniffed!

Gabriel found the archery demonstrator and was able to give it a try himself.  He did really well!!



Navy marching band

Jacksonville Pipe and Drum band.  Aren't they cool??

Apparently, Clan MacLaren is the Boy Scout clan.

I LOVE that they are all rocking out with sunglasses on!  (well, except for that one guy.)

Thanks to the Highlander movies, this is probably the most recognized clan name in the U.S.

Another sunglass Pipe and Drum band!  Look how young some of those pipers are!

I'm thinking Clan ZZ Top.  What do you think?

Thanks to the movie Braveheart, this might be the second most recognized clan name in the U.S.

We thought it was funny that everyone in Clan Young is a senior citizen.

A feast of meat pies, bridies, and sausage rolls!  The bottles of orange soda are a Scottish soft drink called Irn Bru.  They said it out sells Coke in Scotland.  (Nobody was brave enough to try the haggis.)

We missed the men's caber toss, but got to see the women.

This is the sheaf toss.  It's really cool to watch, and it's difficult to get a picture of.  He's got a burlap bag full of something on the end of a pitch fork, and he's going to try to fling the bag up and over a pole that's about 30 feet above him.

This is the falconer.  I've pretty much decided that she's got one of the coolest jobs in the world!

Beautiful owl!

Beautiful falcon.

He's talking to her.

These three were very fun to watch. 

One of them got close to the audience!

There's something you don't see every day.

Steve and I sporting our Craig Clan tartan neck ware.