Florida Vacation 2003

This year we stayed at the best house yet. Most of the house was one level, so we didn't need to go up and down stairs all the time. The exception was the one bedroom upstairs, which made a good office for me and nap location for Garrett (and me). The other four bedrooms were on opposite ends of the house (three for us and one for mom). Then there was the deck on the roof. That was the best spot to view the stars at night. The whole front of the house was screened in porches--big ones. The porch on the right had a enough cushioned patio furniture to seat about 10 people, and a twin sized bed for anybody that wanted to sleep outside. Our bedroom and the kids bedroom opened up into that porch. Mom and Darry's room opened up to the porch on the left which had a big dining table and bar table. This was one big house. This was the first house that we liked enough to consider using again. If we change houses next year, it will be to have a beachfront house again. We've never had a beachfront house AND a pool, but next year may be the year we move up.

It's kind of hard to see the huge screened porches because of the trees, but when you were looking out from the house, you could easily see the ocean across the street.

We made sure that the heated pool felt like a warm bath.

We promised Shea that we would play putt putt. Of course, we drove 30 minutes only to find that we were there on the one night a week when they were closed during the off-season. So we drove another 15 minutes to the only fast food restaurant in the area to play on the playground and eat ice cream.

Darry wasn't thrilled about the Burger King.

Background: Two years ago I passed a sign for a new golf course on the way to St. George Island. We figured we would play the new course instead of our usual course. We get there (45 minutes away from the house) and it's an abandoned army base/psyche hospital. The place isn't even started--just a sign out front. So we go back last year, figuring that they've had a whole year to build the course--and they're just starting to break ground! I even get out and ask the bulldozer driver, "When is this place planning to open up?" "Oh, it shouldn't be too long now." This year, I stop there in the middle of the night on the way down. Yep, I see a golf course. Turns out they just opened up the week before! There wasn't a single house built yet in this huge golf community. Now to the picture below: This is the screen on the golf cart. It shows the layout of each hole and how far you are from the green. The little green spots at the bottom of the screen are the tees. The green spot at the top is the green. Everything in the middle is alligator country. If you look real closely, you can see our cart on the cart path. Notice that we're playing off a tee that is pretty close to the marsh. Now see that "114 Carry hazard" on the screen? That means that you have to hit the ball 114 yards just to clear the marsh!

This is the same hole. There's no fairway. The whole blooming course was like this. I haven't bought new balls in about four years, but I almost ran out in just 18 holes. I think I lost about 15 balls. We figure they ran out of money and could only afford to put in tees and greens--no fairways.

About half the course was deep in marshland. They had to bring in huge amounts of dirt (which they call sand in Florida) to make the tees and greens. A lot of the cart paths were like long bridges above the water.

This was the putt of Darry's lifetime. He actually sank a putt from where he's standing. I told him to putt again so that I could get a picture for the record book and this is how close he got on his second attempt (only made it about halfway to the cup). That's why I wanted to take a picture for the record book.

This is my new Windows wallpaper.

The babydolls slept in this room. Shea used it as a playroom.

Garrett had some kind of fascination with this fish. It was a big, heavy pottery thing that was just tipsy enough for him to knock over. These multi-million dollar homes (they just keep going up and up) are expensive enough without having to pay for damages. Then there's the fact that the nearest hospital is probably in Tallahassee (90 minutes away on the mainland).

Finally made it to the miniature golf course--when they were open. The funny part is that we went to a restaurant this day on the one night of the week when they were closed in the off-season.

Click here to see the last time we were at this spot two years ago. My how time flies! They grow up fast. Stop working so much and stay at home with your kids!

This was the putt of Debi's lifetime. She scored the only hole-in-one. Turns out they have secret holes where if you get a hole-in-one, you win a free game. Unfortunately, she missed it by one hole. I think she scored a 5 on that hole, which is why we took this picture for the record book.

Ah, the luxuries of being a car dealer... I had an extra 2000 Suburban in inventory. Mom and Darry drove it down and it gave us enough room to take the Barbie Jeep.

Those crazy, old drivers are everywhere in Florida. Hold on, Garrett! Hard to believe I let this woman drive one of my Suburbans all the way to Florida.

The week we were on the island, they were having unusually cold weather--50s at night and 70s during the day. This is Darry running from the waves to keep his stomach dry. He had to get out when his feet started getting numb.

Shea liked standing right on the edge of where the tide left this ledge until the sand would give away.

Some days, including this one, were pretty windy. Garrett freaks out when you blow in his face, so he wasn't crazy about this much wind.

We got tired of buying water down there by the gallon (you can't drink the stuff that comes out of the tap--blech), so we used the extra space in the Suburbans to take water from BJ's.

Already looking forward to next year...