It Only Hurts When I Blog

Greetings, Bloggy Vacationers and Vacation-Wanna-Be's!

Are you sick and tired of hearing about all our fun in Florida? Sorry, I'm not done yet.

*** Announcement - Condolences to my American Idol favorite, Elliot Yamin who was voted off last night. In my opinion, he deserved to win the competition. ***

Back to our regularly scheduled blog.

Quote of the day:
A vacation is like love - anticipated with pleasure, experienced with discomfort and remembered with nostalgia - Author Unknown

I disagree that ALL vacations are experienced with discomfort. That said, at the very least there is a 'learning curve' involved in the travel to and from, the navigation around your new environment, and becoming acclimated to where you're staying.

Sometimes I like to go to places I've never seen, it is always a fresh and new experience. At other times, I LIKE to go back to a place I've been before because I know better what to expect, where to go, and how to get around.

We've been to Panama City Beach (PCB) several times now, so we are pretty comfortable with the drive down there (around 450 miles), and getting around the area.

We liked where we stayed, a place called the 'Landmark Holiday Beach Resort' right on the beach.

It had activities (that we didn't go to), an indoor pool (that we didn't use), and other facilities like internet access for $2 per half hour so I could post my blog each day from 'afar'.

Here is a photo of the 'computer room' where I 'blogged' from every day. The staff got used to me showing up each morning. Somebody owes me $2 a day for dedication (or insanity).

We had a two-story unit. The downstairs living/kitchen/dining area opened out to the beach, and the upstairs bedroom also faced the ocean. I really liked the 'townhouse' feeling of it.

The downside - street level was UPSTAIRS. When you brought in groceries and such they needed to be carried downstairs or taken around 'to the back' to go in the other door.

There was a narrow spiral staircase (you can see it in the photo) inside that we went up and down many times each day. Charlie bumped his head on it fairly often, poor thing.


This photo is the view of the beach from the upstairs bedroom. It was spectacular, and of course the view from the living room was the same.

We were also there during a full moon. The moonlight sparkling on the water and detailing the edges of the waves was really something to see - if you happened to wake up during the night or in the wee hours of the morning. We did!

You could rent beach chairs and umbrellas on the beach, but we didn't go out on the beach in the heat of the day. We went early mornings and late afternoons, and didn't get sunburned during our stay.

We saw plenty of vacationers with sunburns, and that is something that can quickly ruin your trip.

Well good grief - this is getting long. I guess I'll stop here and make you wait till tomorrow to hear more! TTFN!