Back in the days of employment you could always tell it was the first day back at school. By 7:30, Lakeland Drive would be backed up from the Pearl River Bridge, all the way to Northwest Rankin Middle School. These days I don't go near Lakeland Drive til after 8:30!
The weeks leading up to "first day" included finding a copy of the "school supply list" and heading off to the stores like it was a treasure hunt. Then, Walmart and others caught on and had the lists waiting for you as you entered the store. Others, like Kroger, would have them pre-packaged for you as an enticement to buy the supplies from them.
For us, part of our summer ritual was looking for just the right backpack. It was totally taboo to use one two years in a row! Along came the block scheduling, kinda like the college thing, and suddenly it became smart to have two! As you would head out the door to drop off your kids at school, it would hit you, "ok, is this A day or B day"?
In the early years lunches were easy. "I wanta buy my lunch" was the most common choice of the day. One year, in elementary school Morgan announced that he wanted to take his lunch. He liked the food, but because his last name was Weems, he was always the guy at the end of the line, but if you brought your lunch, you were the first to enter the cafeteria. Then, the fryers were removed from the cafeterias and all you heard was "Ain't buying, the food is yucky! " Oscar Mayer lunchables became the food choice of the day. Once my boys were able to drive themselves to school, they quickly learned to skip lunch and head to a fast food joint after school with their friends. Don't try to order a slushie from Sonic between 2 and 4, no spaces and the machine will already be sucked dry on those early hot school days of August!
Nowadays all you have to do is open up Facebook to see the pictures the Mom's are taking of their kids before they head off on the first day back. Some mom's of older kids do a posting of TBT'S of their kids in younger days.
This is the final year for my youngest, now a senior at Mississippi State. No more school supply shopping for us. Morgan now buys the e-version of most of his text books. No more notebook paper, since he records all of his notes electronically. And, he still stays away from the everyday cafeteria food
Thank God for Student Union food courts!
Good luck to all my friends with kids and grands now heading back to school. And, Best of luck with that "new math" called "common core"!
Retired in 2012. I'm trying to out run old age and boredom. So far, I'm winning the race!
Monday, August 10, 2015
Sunday, August 9, 2015
Tailgating 2015, ready or not!
Okay football Saturday sports fans, time to start prepping because tailgating is 30 or less days away!
At MSU, we went through the reseating process year two. Got my seats moved in closer to the 50 yard line, and higher up, near the portal. Tickets arrived this week. highest price, $70 for the Alabama game. Man cub already has his fall schedule confirmed where he doesn't have classes on Friday afternoons. This is very important for freshmen parents, if you are expecting your student to secure you a prime spot for tailgating! No Bulldog parking spot for us, but plans are to get there well before four hours before kickoff to be able to unload close to the spot, then off to our favorite pay to park spot in the student commuter parking lot!
At TSUN, out seats got shuffled around a bit because the old ones were classified as part of the "best in the house". To keep them, there was going to be a $1,000 per seat (times 4) capital contribution, in addition to the $400 per seat Rebel Club fee, on top of the season ticket price. At luck would have it, only moved over one section, and a few rows up, but 3 seats are one one row and the fourth two rows back. Parking spot is in the same location, thankfully!
The spousal unit has already scouted out the local tailgating location. The grass has been replaced with pine straw. Hopefully the ground will be firm enough to hold up all those fancy 3 inch stacked heels.
I'm upgrading to a bicycle wheel garden cart for Starkvegas this year, hoping it will allow us to get to the car with everything in tow and to exit the campus earlier than past years. I've still got my pull along little wagons for the overflow.
The TSUN crowd is gonna be in for a treat this year. Man cub and built a corn hole game this summer. As heavy as it is, we'll find out whether it makes return visits. I can just see it: loser has to do something silly, that they might regret as the afternoon begins to fade toward kickoff!
Our friend Charla is working on a new chandelier for the tent. Gina will have the tablecloths tighter than a pair of skinny jeans on a coed. Don't even think of spilling food or drink on them the first week. and We added a couple of round tables last year. Wonder what else awaits us????
Can't wait to see all the new fashions. All those freshmen parents better have their act together and have on the correct shirt come game time. The funniest thing from a few years ago was this young coed all decked out in her finest, even showing off her summer tan. Problem was she wore ankle socks all summer and she wear wearing sandals. Gotta watch that tan lines girls!!! Last year I almost fell out of the chair when I saw three generations of women, with the same hair style, same color of dress, all knee high!
Several of the youngsters and I have plans to set our chairs close to the roadside on University Avenue as it enters the Grove. We are tempted to print up signs, one side with "pour it out!" and the other side with "let them pass"! The "LTP" side will only be used on an exception basis: Grandmaw getting busted, momma toting a baby in the other hand, etc.....
I'm hoping to see some new variety in the tailgating food items as well. Chicken fingers have been a tailgating staple for years. For the women folk, its always about the chippy dippy, and some kind of calorie free desert. For me, its all about carnivore, bring on the meat! I've got a buddy in the carnival food business that would make a killing with his red velvet funnel cake with cream cheese icing! Now wouldn't that be the bomb!
All that said, ARE YOU READY?????
#HOBBYLOBBY and #HAILSTATE!
At MSU, we went through the reseating process year two. Got my seats moved in closer to the 50 yard line, and higher up, near the portal. Tickets arrived this week. highest price, $70 for the Alabama game. Man cub already has his fall schedule confirmed where he doesn't have classes on Friday afternoons. This is very important for freshmen parents, if you are expecting your student to secure you a prime spot for tailgating! No Bulldog parking spot for us, but plans are to get there well before four hours before kickoff to be able to unload close to the spot, then off to our favorite pay to park spot in the student commuter parking lot!
At TSUN, out seats got shuffled around a bit because the old ones were classified as part of the "best in the house". To keep them, there was going to be a $1,000 per seat (times 4) capital contribution, in addition to the $400 per seat Rebel Club fee, on top of the season ticket price. At luck would have it, only moved over one section, and a few rows up, but 3 seats are one one row and the fourth two rows back. Parking spot is in the same location, thankfully!
The spousal unit has already scouted out the local tailgating location. The grass has been replaced with pine straw. Hopefully the ground will be firm enough to hold up all those fancy 3 inch stacked heels.
I'm upgrading to a bicycle wheel garden cart for Starkvegas this year, hoping it will allow us to get to the car with everything in tow and to exit the campus earlier than past years. I've still got my pull along little wagons for the overflow.
The TSUN crowd is gonna be in for a treat this year. Man cub and built a corn hole game this summer. As heavy as it is, we'll find out whether it makes return visits. I can just see it: loser has to do something silly, that they might regret as the afternoon begins to fade toward kickoff!
Our friend Charla is working on a new chandelier for the tent. Gina will have the tablecloths tighter than a pair of skinny jeans on a coed. Don't even think of spilling food or drink on them the first week. and We added a couple of round tables last year. Wonder what else awaits us????
Can't wait to see all the new fashions. All those freshmen parents better have their act together and have on the correct shirt come game time. The funniest thing from a few years ago was this young coed all decked out in her finest, even showing off her summer tan. Problem was she wore ankle socks all summer and she wear wearing sandals. Gotta watch that tan lines girls!!! Last year I almost fell out of the chair when I saw three generations of women, with the same hair style, same color of dress, all knee high!
Several of the youngsters and I have plans to set our chairs close to the roadside on University Avenue as it enters the Grove. We are tempted to print up signs, one side with "pour it out!" and the other side with "let them pass"! The "LTP" side will only be used on an exception basis: Grandmaw getting busted, momma toting a baby in the other hand, etc.....
I'm hoping to see some new variety in the tailgating food items as well. Chicken fingers have been a tailgating staple for years. For the women folk, its always about the chippy dippy, and some kind of calorie free desert. For me, its all about carnivore, bring on the meat! I've got a buddy in the carnival food business that would make a killing with his red velvet funnel cake with cream cheese icing! Now wouldn't that be the bomb!
All that said, ARE YOU READY?????
#HOBBYLOBBY and #HAILSTATE!
Lines, Lines, Everywhere a Line!
As a retiree, with no set calendar except for vaca's you would think I would be ok standing in a line or two, or three. Nope, even with ton's of visits to Orlando's amusement parks, I have not gotten used to lines. Yesterday, our vaca departure from Panama City Beach day, was especially so!
I at least got a head start the night before, retrieving a luggage card and making one trip for car packing. But, there is always that wait for the elevator. Nothing worse for the door to open, and it is headed in your direction, but full of people. Or, the door opens, folks step off, then you see the arrow pointed in the wrong direction!
Finally the car is packed, and we have scanned the room one last time for anything we missed. Learned this the hard way when the spousal unit left her favorite bra on the back of the bathroom door. The resort mailed it to her just fine, but then we find two pairs of my drawers in the same envelope!
We are out of the resort earlier than we have ever been. Yes! time for breakfast at our favorite eatery, "Another Broken Egg". Thankfully, we got there early enough to miss the crowd, but by the time we finished, the wait line was 30 people deep!
At the suggestion of our friend Jenn, we took Hwy 79 North, to Hwy 20, and then Hwy 331 north to I-10. You can take Hwy 98 West over to HWY 331, but Jenn indicated that there as a lot of construction happening on Hwy 331, plus all the traffic coming from 30AAAAA! The spousal unit has a maps app on her apple I-phone that shows you traffic. Before we completed the stretch of Hwy 20, she checked he map app. She yelled "wow!". The bay bridge on Hwy 331 was backed up all the way to Hwy 98! Glad we took the route we did!
Our entry onto I-10 is about 40 miles east of the Crestview-Niceville exit, which goes to the Mid Bay Toll Bridge to Destin. As we were passing this exit, I looked south on this road and traffic was backed up heading north as far as the eye could see. The only breaks were from the stoppages caused by the color red on the traffic signals!
I knew it was going to get worse once we got past Pensacola and into Alabama. Yep! five miles out from the Loxley, the traffic came to a crawl. As we approached Daphne, lots of cars were merging into the right lane. We exit the Interstate just as you approach Mobile Bay. Traffic is much less congested on old Hwy 98. On the bridge, if anybody has a wreck you are screwed! You can see the lack of progress of the Interstate traffic headed for the tunnel from Hwy 98. We just stayed the course! As you approach Mobile, you notice most cars are in the left lane, all anticipating a quicker trip under Mobile Bay through the old Bankhead Tunnel. Not me! We head to the Bay Bridge, then take I-65 south back to I-10. This route is a bit longer, but it relieves the stress of Mobile Bay and we hate taking Hwy 98 through west Alabama.
Too early for a lunch stoppage because of the breakfast feast a few hours earlier. As we approach the Hwy 63 exit at Moss Point, I figure, what the heck, time for a little Shedheading! Just a few miles further west on I-10 is the Shed! WE got there about 1:30. I've never seen the line so long, out the door, into the parking lot!
This line got kinda amusing. The spousal unit and I both took turns going to the restroom. There was a young gal at the door selling cold beverages and handing out menus. I don't remember much of what she said because I was busy staring at the ring hanging from her nose! Another worker was sitting on a table as you entered the door. He was covered in piercing and ink, even showing off the tattoo on the inside of his lip. He was the life of the wait line, telling the stories from people asking him "how are you going to earn a good living with all this body art? He laughs and follows that with my Dad owns this place, I'm not going anywhere!" I also had to chuckle at the family behind me in line. The dad decided that the family would split 1.5 racks. His teenage son replied, "but Dad, I don't know what that is!" I'll bet he became a Shedhead by the end of his meal!
Back in the road, no traffic at all. We Took Hwy 57, The Shed exit, north till we ran into Hwy 98 south of Hattiesburg. Our OnStar GPS system just about had a duck figuring out where we were!
More lines in my future. Football Saturdays are just around the corner!
I at least got a head start the night before, retrieving a luggage card and making one trip for car packing. But, there is always that wait for the elevator. Nothing worse for the door to open, and it is headed in your direction, but full of people. Or, the door opens, folks step off, then you see the arrow pointed in the wrong direction!
Finally the car is packed, and we have scanned the room one last time for anything we missed. Learned this the hard way when the spousal unit left her favorite bra on the back of the bathroom door. The resort mailed it to her just fine, but then we find two pairs of my drawers in the same envelope!
We are out of the resort earlier than we have ever been. Yes! time for breakfast at our favorite eatery, "Another Broken Egg". Thankfully, we got there early enough to miss the crowd, but by the time we finished, the wait line was 30 people deep!
At the suggestion of our friend Jenn, we took Hwy 79 North, to Hwy 20, and then Hwy 331 north to I-10. You can take Hwy 98 West over to HWY 331, but Jenn indicated that there as a lot of construction happening on Hwy 331, plus all the traffic coming from 30AAAAA! The spousal unit has a maps app on her apple I-phone that shows you traffic. Before we completed the stretch of Hwy 20, she checked he map app. She yelled "wow!". The bay bridge on Hwy 331 was backed up all the way to Hwy 98! Glad we took the route we did!
Our entry onto I-10 is about 40 miles east of the Crestview-Niceville exit, which goes to the Mid Bay Toll Bridge to Destin. As we were passing this exit, I looked south on this road and traffic was backed up heading north as far as the eye could see. The only breaks were from the stoppages caused by the color red on the traffic signals!
I knew it was going to get worse once we got past Pensacola and into Alabama. Yep! five miles out from the Loxley, the traffic came to a crawl. As we approached Daphne, lots of cars were merging into the right lane. We exit the Interstate just as you approach Mobile Bay. Traffic is much less congested on old Hwy 98. On the bridge, if anybody has a wreck you are screwed! You can see the lack of progress of the Interstate traffic headed for the tunnel from Hwy 98. We just stayed the course! As you approach Mobile, you notice most cars are in the left lane, all anticipating a quicker trip under Mobile Bay through the old Bankhead Tunnel. Not me! We head to the Bay Bridge, then take I-65 south back to I-10. This route is a bit longer, but it relieves the stress of Mobile Bay and we hate taking Hwy 98 through west Alabama.
Too early for a lunch stoppage because of the breakfast feast a few hours earlier. As we approach the Hwy 63 exit at Moss Point, I figure, what the heck, time for a little Shedheading! Just a few miles further west on I-10 is the Shed! WE got there about 1:30. I've never seen the line so long, out the door, into the parking lot!
 |
| Price you pay from leaving the beach on a Saturday |
 |
| Just Glad it wasn't the line to pee! |
 |
| large combo plate: ribs, chicken, pork and brisket |
This line got kinda amusing. The spousal unit and I both took turns going to the restroom. There was a young gal at the door selling cold beverages and handing out menus. I don't remember much of what she said because I was busy staring at the ring hanging from her nose! Another worker was sitting on a table as you entered the door. He was covered in piercing and ink, even showing off the tattoo on the inside of his lip. He was the life of the wait line, telling the stories from people asking him "how are you going to earn a good living with all this body art? He laughs and follows that with my Dad owns this place, I'm not going anywhere!" I also had to chuckle at the family behind me in line. The dad decided that the family would split 1.5 racks. His teenage son replied, "but Dad, I don't know what that is!" I'll bet he became a Shedhead by the end of his meal!
Back in the road, no traffic at all. We Took Hwy 57, The Shed exit, north till we ran into Hwy 98 south of Hattiesburg. Our OnStar GPS system just about had a duck figuring out where we were!
More lines in my future. Football Saturdays are just around the corner!
Friday, August 7, 2015
Panama City Beach
PCB was the beach destination of my youth way back when. Most of those strip motels are now gone, replaced with lots of high rise condo units, just like Destin, Orange Beach, and Gulf Shores have become.
Lots of similarities to those places: Got the same sugary white sandy beaches. Got the same emerald green waters. Got the same kind of high rise condos. And, they have the very same traffic gridlock, if not worse.
The best thing to happen to the Emerald Coast Line was the relocation of HWY 98 further inland. This has pulled the drive through traffic out far enough to free up the old road lanes for us tourists taking up residence along the shoreline. But for most of the day, from June through mid August, it is bumper to bumper traffic.
PCB has gotten a bad rap from the activities that occur in the spring. MTV's arrival for spring break did nothing but put a black eye on a great location. After Fort Lauderdale and Daytona Beach shut down the 24 hour party atmosphere, PCB took up the slack. The City Council is supposed to put an end to the alcohol abuse next spring. We will see....
If you are looking for a tourist destination, put PCB on your list. Be mindful of the traffic during prime summer season, but its like that all along the coast that time of year. The old Miracle Strip amusement park of my youth is long gone, but there are plenty of other attractions to take up the slack where the sun and surf leave off.
Pier Park is a major tourist attraction, with plenty of shopping and quite a few dining options. There is now a Dave and Busters for you to enjoy. They fill up your tummy and empty your wallet at your kid's delight! There are also Walmart, Target, Publix and other retailers in close proximity to were we stayed.
For us, it helps that we have friends that live and work in the area and this cuts down on the decisions we have to make.
As most of you know, I-10 travel from June to mid August is murderous from west of Mobile to the Loxley exit. Same can be said for the Mid Bay Bridge going into Destin. For us, the best travel times are before June, and the third week of August and beyond. Most families still have kids in school during these times, Thank God!!
This weekend ends our summer beach runs for 2015. The spousal unit's cousin at Navarre Beach my put up with us a time or two before winter. I've already got new umbrellas and chairs at the ready for 2016 and I've got my buddy Clearance looking for a new beach cart, wide wheels of course!
More blog posts will be on their way soon because tailgating season is just 30 days away! Stay tuned!
Lots of similarities to those places: Got the same sugary white sandy beaches. Got the same emerald green waters. Got the same kind of high rise condos. And, they have the very same traffic gridlock, if not worse.
The best thing to happen to the Emerald Coast Line was the relocation of HWY 98 further inland. This has pulled the drive through traffic out far enough to free up the old road lanes for us tourists taking up residence along the shoreline. But for most of the day, from June through mid August, it is bumper to bumper traffic.
PCB has gotten a bad rap from the activities that occur in the spring. MTV's arrival for spring break did nothing but put a black eye on a great location. After Fort Lauderdale and Daytona Beach shut down the 24 hour party atmosphere, PCB took up the slack. The City Council is supposed to put an end to the alcohol abuse next spring. We will see....
If you are looking for a tourist destination, put PCB on your list. Be mindful of the traffic during prime summer season, but its like that all along the coast that time of year. The old Miracle Strip amusement park of my youth is long gone, but there are plenty of other attractions to take up the slack where the sun and surf leave off.
Pier Park is a major tourist attraction, with plenty of shopping and quite a few dining options. There is now a Dave and Busters for you to enjoy. They fill up your tummy and empty your wallet at your kid's delight! There are also Walmart, Target, Publix and other retailers in close proximity to were we stayed.
For us, it helps that we have friends that live and work in the area and this cuts down on the decisions we have to make.
As most of you know, I-10 travel from June to mid August is murderous from west of Mobile to the Loxley exit. Same can be said for the Mid Bay Bridge going into Destin. For us, the best travel times are before June, and the third week of August and beyond. Most families still have kids in school during these times, Thank God!!
This weekend ends our summer beach runs for 2015. The spousal unit's cousin at Navarre Beach my put up with us a time or two before winter. I've already got new umbrellas and chairs at the ready for 2016 and I've got my buddy Clearance looking for a new beach cart, wide wheels of course!
More blog posts will be on their way soon because tailgating season is just 30 days away! Stay tuned!
Wednesday, August 5, 2015
Beach Condo Living is the Life For Me!
If you're gonna do a beach vaca, you might as well do it right! For us, the stays in hotel rooms are long gone. Not enough family members have ever been interested in renting a multi bedroom beach house, so beach condo high rise it is!
If you get a high enough floor, the views are amazing. You get the early sunrise coffee drinking views, and the end of the day cocktail sunsets from your balcony. You get a good look at the sky and water conditions before making your departure for the beach. If you are up early enough, you can occasionally see the dolphins swim by. But heaven forbid you hang anything off the balcony. The resident Barney Fife will be on you in no time flat!
The kitchens are usually stocked with all the pots and pans that you will need, except for a dad gum muffin pan. I now possess one in my condo supplies box! Usually there are enough paper goods and towels to get you to mid week when they are supposed to come by for a midweek cleaning and restocking of l the towels, new sheets, and other odds and ends. Most units have a washer, dryer combo in your unit, so you can depart with cleaned laundry instead of the OMG, laundry! when you walk through your door at home.
If the road traffic is unbearable on your arrival, wait til after 10:00 p.m. to make your basic grocery run. This will take some of the arrival day stress off of you. You can then make an early morning run for the other items that were not available or fresh on your initial shopping run.
We try to cook at least two evening meals in the condo, mostly on days where you are too worn out to go stand in a line waiting for a table. Boiling or baking shrimp or making some type of pasta dish makes meal prep a no brainer.
Some of these complexes offer several grilling stations, being gas or charcoal. This trip we had neither, and I have been having grilling withdrawal pains. I had to walk through the local Starbucks to smell something burning to ease the pains.
When you are walking about the complex going to and from the beach, please wear a shirt or cover up until you reach your destination. These young girls are very distracting and have gotten me in trouble a time or two. And, the last thing a woman wants to do is stand shoulder to shoulder with a fella covered in body hair!
Once you get beach side, its a good idea to check the flag color of the day. This typically tells you what to expect when you get to the water's edge. If you bring your own umbrella, be sure to also bring a sand anchor. We have already seen several umbrellas take flight on windy days. One hit me in the back of the head!
If you are going to layout on a sheet or towel o a windy day, please be considerate of the people around you when shaking sand off on a windy day. I'm still chewing and spitting out some body else's sand.
If you are going to play your favorite country tunes, turn it down a bit. None of your neighbors want to hear a song about "my girlfriend fell in love with my tractor!" And if you are going to talk and ramble on and on all day about absolutely nothing of importance, please lower your voice so that your neighbors can enjoy the crashing of the waves, instead of your brother's shack up girl friend that might be ya'lls third cousin twice removed!
My all-time worst pet peeve is this aerosol spray suntan lotion. Two thirds of the can ends up in the air. There is nothing worse than a two ton beach whale leaving a scent of coconut shrimp in the air! Lotion people, lotion!
Be mindful to not bring bottles to the beach, and what trash you bring, you should also leave with. If you see some that has been left, be a good beach citizen and pick it up and dispose of it the proper way.
When preparing for departure, you can pack the car with all of the beach supplies and all the other non essential stuff that won't be needed in the morning.
Remember, the month of August is a good time to be looking for sales of replacement items in your beach supplies inventory. I've already stockpiled new charis and umbrellas for beach season 2016!
Happy Beaching everybody!
If you get a high enough floor, the views are amazing. You get the early sunrise coffee drinking views, and the end of the day cocktail sunsets from your balcony. You get a good look at the sky and water conditions before making your departure for the beach. If you are up early enough, you can occasionally see the dolphins swim by. But heaven forbid you hang anything off the balcony. The resident Barney Fife will be on you in no time flat!
The kitchens are usually stocked with all the pots and pans that you will need, except for a dad gum muffin pan. I now possess one in my condo supplies box! Usually there are enough paper goods and towels to get you to mid week when they are supposed to come by for a midweek cleaning and restocking of l the towels, new sheets, and other odds and ends. Most units have a washer, dryer combo in your unit, so you can depart with cleaned laundry instead of the OMG, laundry! when you walk through your door at home.
If the road traffic is unbearable on your arrival, wait til after 10:00 p.m. to make your basic grocery run. This will take some of the arrival day stress off of you. You can then make an early morning run for the other items that were not available or fresh on your initial shopping run.
We try to cook at least two evening meals in the condo, mostly on days where you are too worn out to go stand in a line waiting for a table. Boiling or baking shrimp or making some type of pasta dish makes meal prep a no brainer.
Some of these complexes offer several grilling stations, being gas or charcoal. This trip we had neither, and I have been having grilling withdrawal pains. I had to walk through the local Starbucks to smell something burning to ease the pains.
When you are walking about the complex going to and from the beach, please wear a shirt or cover up until you reach your destination. These young girls are very distracting and have gotten me in trouble a time or two. And, the last thing a woman wants to do is stand shoulder to shoulder with a fella covered in body hair!
Once you get beach side, its a good idea to check the flag color of the day. This typically tells you what to expect when you get to the water's edge. If you bring your own umbrella, be sure to also bring a sand anchor. We have already seen several umbrellas take flight on windy days. One hit me in the back of the head!
If you are going to layout on a sheet or towel o a windy day, please be considerate of the people around you when shaking sand off on a windy day. I'm still chewing and spitting out some body else's sand.
If you are going to play your favorite country tunes, turn it down a bit. None of your neighbors want to hear a song about "my girlfriend fell in love with my tractor!" And if you are going to talk and ramble on and on all day about absolutely nothing of importance, please lower your voice so that your neighbors can enjoy the crashing of the waves, instead of your brother's shack up girl friend that might be ya'lls third cousin twice removed!
My all-time worst pet peeve is this aerosol spray suntan lotion. Two thirds of the can ends up in the air. There is nothing worse than a two ton beach whale leaving a scent of coconut shrimp in the air! Lotion people, lotion!
Be mindful to not bring bottles to the beach, and what trash you bring, you should also leave with. If you see some that has been left, be a good beach citizen and pick it up and dispose of it the proper way.
When preparing for departure, you can pack the car with all of the beach supplies and all the other non essential stuff that won't be needed in the morning.
Remember, the month of August is a good time to be looking for sales of replacement items in your beach supplies inventory. I've already stockpiled new charis and umbrellas for beach season 2016!
Happy Beaching everybody!
Tuesday, August 4, 2015
Door Locks
Years ago, during one of our trips to Orlando, we had troubles with the door locks on our last night in the Condo. We decided to make the best of our last night and catch the fireworks display at the WDW Magic Kingdom. All done, we headed back to the hotel.
We had already packed up most things since we had an early morning flight home. We arrive at our door after midnight. Guess what, none of the four keys would work on the door. We sent Matthew to the front desk to get the keys recoded. What are the odds that none of our keys would work? Matthew arrives back with the new keys, and no luck! WTH????
We called the front desk, and they said a maintenance man would be right over. Turns out the magnetic lock have an internal battery that had run dry. No key was going to open that door. The maintenance man called another maintenance man who arrived with a "Sheppard's hook". He slid that sucker under the door, grabbed the handicap door handle, and opened the door. Yes! we are in! Thirty minutes later, the door lock was operational with a new set of batteries installed. By now it was past 2:00 a.m. Four hours we were headed to the airport. Don't remember much about that trip, but I will never forget about that damned door lock experience.
Fast forward to August 2015. We just checked into our condo in Panama City Beach. 26 floors of Condo heaven, right on the beach! Keys in hand, we head to the room. Twelfth floor, bet the view is gonna be great. Well crap. Keys don't work on the lock! Flashback to Orlando trip! Three keys and all we get is a red flashing light. Well, at least the lock battery works! A maintenance guy just happens to walk by, and he tries his super secret magic button. It doesn't work! I then remember that I gave the fourth key to our friends that will be staying with us. Where in the heck are they??
Something inside tells me to knock on the door. To my delight, their daughter open the door! She hard turned the deadbolt on the door when they came in 10 minutes earlier. Apparently the deadbolt lock turns off the magnetic code within the door.
What is it about me and door locks on vacation! Now I have two sets of memories about vacations and magnetic locks to clutter my brain! Where there I two, number three can't be far behind!
We had already packed up most things since we had an early morning flight home. We arrive at our door after midnight. Guess what, none of the four keys would work on the door. We sent Matthew to the front desk to get the keys recoded. What are the odds that none of our keys would work? Matthew arrives back with the new keys, and no luck! WTH????
We called the front desk, and they said a maintenance man would be right over. Turns out the magnetic lock have an internal battery that had run dry. No key was going to open that door. The maintenance man called another maintenance man who arrived with a "Sheppard's hook". He slid that sucker under the door, grabbed the handicap door handle, and opened the door. Yes! we are in! Thirty minutes later, the door lock was operational with a new set of batteries installed. By now it was past 2:00 a.m. Four hours we were headed to the airport. Don't remember much about that trip, but I will never forget about that damned door lock experience.
Fast forward to August 2015. We just checked into our condo in Panama City Beach. 26 floors of Condo heaven, right on the beach! Keys in hand, we head to the room. Twelfth floor, bet the view is gonna be great. Well crap. Keys don't work on the lock! Flashback to Orlando trip! Three keys and all we get is a red flashing light. Well, at least the lock battery works! A maintenance guy just happens to walk by, and he tries his super secret magic button. It doesn't work! I then remember that I gave the fourth key to our friends that will be staying with us. Where in the heck are they??
Something inside tells me to knock on the door. To my delight, their daughter open the door! She hard turned the deadbolt on the door when they came in 10 minutes earlier. Apparently the deadbolt lock turns off the magnetic code within the door.
What is it about me and door locks on vacation! Now I have two sets of memories about vacations and magnetic locks to clutter my brain! Where there I two, number three can't be far behind!
Sunday, August 2, 2015
August 1 Roadie Trip To PCB
Great idea, pass up June and July and wait til August for the great migration south, to the land of surf and sand, can't wait for a margarita in my hand! This trip ' s destination would be the Wyndham at Panama City Beach. Lots of families are done, now getting ready for back to school activities. Trip will be a breeze. What the hell was I thinking???
The signs of what was to come began showing themselves only a few miles outa town. We usually take hwy 18 from Brandon, to Puckett, then hwy 13 to Mendenhall to get onto Hwy 49, the pathway south. We miss all the stop and go through Richland and Florence. The road is two lane, but fairly straight, and hardly any traffic.
As we are entering hwy 18, we are now behind one truck pulling a tiny house and another pulling a septic tank, guessing they are headed to the same destination. No biggie, I'll just pass them up the road a bit. Dang is this Saturday isn't the biggest traffic day of the summer! Lots of on coming cars, with no chance to pass. Finally, an open strip!
I look, and there is on coming in the far distance. No biggie, plenty of time. Before I can merge left, I see this car from about 5 lengths back jump out to pass! That's 5 behind me, and there are two in front of me! The dude had a motor, and is gone in a flash. Then, he takes the time to honk loudly at the truck pulling the tiny house as he takes the lead, with only about 4 car lengths to spare. As he left us behind, his cruising speed had to have been 70+ on a roadway meant for 55. I began praying for MHP to be just around the corner, ready with a welcome wagon speed trap. No luck. :-(
Hwy 49 is usually a busy highway, but you would think it would be less traveled on A Saturday. Like hell! We planned for our first stop to be in Magee for a morning bite, a McD's breakfast sammich! The traffic at the first red light in this small town was over 40 car lengths, WTH??? I quickly exited onto the frontage road, and passed all of those vehicles lined up at the light. Even with.all the stop signs, I was way ahead of that line. McD's here we come!
We get into the order line, finally, the order screen. "Sorry sir, we stopped breakfast items five minutes ago, 10:30. Ok, chicken wrap it will be. Pay window fine. Pickup window "sorry sir, we're still prepping, please pull over into pickup spot #2. Really???
Meanwhile, back to traffic! Once we are past Hattiesburg on hwy 98, we prefer to take hwy 63 down to Moss Point to get on I-10. The traffic.flow approaching Mobile gets heavy, and on this day we opted to go the back Bay Bridge route. Glad we did.
Once we were over the bridge and thru the dells, the I-10 bridges were just a couple of miles ahead. As we approached, all you could we was bumper to bumper cars in both directions, creep, creeping along. We stayed on hwy 98 till we reached Daphne, then we re-entered the intersate. This sucker was packed all the way to the Loxley exit to Gulf Shores.
Being the foodie that I am, it was hard to pass up the Steak & Shake on I-65. The service has been bad the last few stops. We opted for the Pensacola location near the Cordova Mall, less than five miles off the interstate. Place was packed, and the service was excellent. I found out from the manager that they also owned the Mobile locations. Told him my experiences, "Frisco Melt with no special sauce" and other stuff. He didn't appear to be surprised by my comments. Said, yeah, we just put a new staff of managers. AWESOME!
The rest of the trip was uneventfull, til.we reached the Destin Bay Bridge, at 4:30 in the afternoon! Thankfully we had our SUNPASS decal on the windshield! I'll bet we passed over 100 cars waiting to pay the $3 toll!
Don't think that Panama City Beach traffic was any better. "Go home" traffic was at a crawl. Finally made it to our destination, whew! Looks like the last week of August or later will be in our future for next year and beyond!
More to come!
The signs of what was to come began showing themselves only a few miles outa town. We usually take hwy 18 from Brandon, to Puckett, then hwy 13 to Mendenhall to get onto Hwy 49, the pathway south. We miss all the stop and go through Richland and Florence. The road is two lane, but fairly straight, and hardly any traffic.
As we are entering hwy 18, we are now behind one truck pulling a tiny house and another pulling a septic tank, guessing they are headed to the same destination. No biggie, I'll just pass them up the road a bit. Dang is this Saturday isn't the biggest traffic day of the summer! Lots of on coming cars, with no chance to pass. Finally, an open strip!
I look, and there is on coming in the far distance. No biggie, plenty of time. Before I can merge left, I see this car from about 5 lengths back jump out to pass! That's 5 behind me, and there are two in front of me! The dude had a motor, and is gone in a flash. Then, he takes the time to honk loudly at the truck pulling the tiny house as he takes the lead, with only about 4 car lengths to spare. As he left us behind, his cruising speed had to have been 70+ on a roadway meant for 55. I began praying for MHP to be just around the corner, ready with a welcome wagon speed trap. No luck. :-(
Hwy 49 is usually a busy highway, but you would think it would be less traveled on A Saturday. Like hell! We planned for our first stop to be in Magee for a morning bite, a McD's breakfast sammich! The traffic at the first red light in this small town was over 40 car lengths, WTH??? I quickly exited onto the frontage road, and passed all of those vehicles lined up at the light. Even with.all the stop signs, I was way ahead of that line. McD's here we come!
We get into the order line, finally, the order screen. "Sorry sir, we stopped breakfast items five minutes ago, 10:30. Ok, chicken wrap it will be. Pay window fine. Pickup window "sorry sir, we're still prepping, please pull over into pickup spot #2. Really???
Meanwhile, back to traffic! Once we are past Hattiesburg on hwy 98, we prefer to take hwy 63 down to Moss Point to get on I-10. The traffic.flow approaching Mobile gets heavy, and on this day we opted to go the back Bay Bridge route. Glad we did.
Once we were over the bridge and thru the dells, the I-10 bridges were just a couple of miles ahead. As we approached, all you could we was bumper to bumper cars in both directions, creep, creeping along. We stayed on hwy 98 till we reached Daphne, then we re-entered the intersate. This sucker was packed all the way to the Loxley exit to Gulf Shores.
Being the foodie that I am, it was hard to pass up the Steak & Shake on I-65. The service has been bad the last few stops. We opted for the Pensacola location near the Cordova Mall, less than five miles off the interstate. Place was packed, and the service was excellent. I found out from the manager that they also owned the Mobile locations. Told him my experiences, "Frisco Melt with no special sauce" and other stuff. He didn't appear to be surprised by my comments. Said, yeah, we just put a new staff of managers. AWESOME!
The rest of the trip was uneventfull, til.we reached the Destin Bay Bridge, at 4:30 in the afternoon! Thankfully we had our SUNPASS decal on the windshield! I'll bet we passed over 100 cars waiting to pay the $3 toll!
Don't think that Panama City Beach traffic was any better. "Go home" traffic was at a crawl. Finally made it to our destination, whew! Looks like the last week of August or later will be in our future for next year and beyond!
More to come!
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