Today was the day. The day that we have been waiting for. Well, we were waiting for all of them but today was the event that basically set this particular trip in motion. Last summer we read through Dr. Beach's list of top beaches in the U.S. and found that Siesta Key was #1. So we visited it. Then when looking through the list we noticed Grayton Beach State Park in the panhandle and thought we should totally visit in one day. When we were talking about a trip this year, that came up and we basically built a trip around it. Yep. You read that right. We pretty much planned an entire road trip around one main stop. Well, it ended up being about a lot more but it all started with a beach. That's really our family's motto at this point. It all starts with the beach. Maybe I will get us all matching shirts with our family motto at some point. Haha! (Quick side note: Grayton Beach State Park is #3 this year.) We have been looking forward to this for quite some time. We moved the trip all around switching Pensacola and Panama City Beach from beginning to end and back again trying to make sure we hit up each city at the best time. Panama City Beach ended up at the tail end of our trip but that meant it also let us end our trip at one of the most beautiful beaches in the U.S.
So anyway, this morning we were up bright and early again. Steven and I decided last night that we would get up as soon as the kids woke up and not play around so we could get on the road as we had an almost 3 hour drive from Moss Point to Santa Rosa Beach (where Grayton Beach State Park is) and we wanted to be there by lunch. The kids didn't surprise us and they woke up with the sun. We all got up, had breakfast, loaded the car, and said goodbye to Mississippi. Alabama was a quick trip as we never even stopped. The kids did enjoy getting to go through the tunnel in Mobile since our weird directions took us away from it on the way West earlier in the trip.
The kids played really nice in the backseat the entire way there. We thought they would certainly as for a movie at some point but it never even occurred to either one of them because they were having so much fun playing. We entered back into our home turf finally. We are still quite a ways from home but at least we are back in the land of Publix. That was helpful when we had to find a place to stop to get subs for our picnic lunch today. It's good to be back. =)
Luckily, we found a Publix on our route on the way to Grayton Beach and we were able to stop. We picked up subs, water, and some other things and were on our way. Grayton Beach is about halfway between Destin and Panama City Beach. We looked to stay in both areas but Destin was already sold out at the hotels we considered and Panama City Beach is farther East so it is slightly closer to home. Hence the reason we ended up hear overnight. Anyway, the drive into Grayton Beach State Park was good and we entered the park with no issues. Our state park pass has definitely come in handy on this trip. We did notice that this was a fairly small state park with limited parking. We circled the lot by the beach access but there wasn't anything so we drove to the lagoon boat launching area and found a covered picnic table and ample parking. We had a good picnic lunch and sunblocked everyone up (though apparently not well enough... more on that in a minute) before loading back into the car.
Steven's plan was to drop us off by the beach access and then park the car and walk back. It was a long walk to ask of the kids all while carrying beach stuff. We did elect to leave the tent behind (so another trip we have gone on with the tent and never used it... though we did try in Perdido Key but the wind didn't let us). It was windy and we knew we likely wouldn't use it much being there for a short period of time overall. Luckily, Steven was able to snag a parking spot in the beach access lot and he was right behind us coming onto the beach. The kids were already in suits but Steven and I had to change. I went first and then Steven went. While he was changing, I realized my phone was missing. I didn't remember carrying it into the bathroom but I made both kids walk briskly with me back to the bathroom to check. We caught Steven coming out of the men's bathroom and I told him what we were doing. We proceeded to look in the bathroom, not see it, walk back to the beach, search the bag again, not see it, walk BACK to the bathroom again, not see it and finally heard it ringing when Steven called it for the fourth time. A woman was in the stall I had been in and she thankfully heard it ringing too and was able to hand it to me. That wouldn't have been a fun way to end a trip... losing a phone and we are just so thankful we found it. Honestly, I didn't even remember bringing it with me. I must have put it in my pocket. Anyway, after all that THEN we were able to start our beach afternoon. The waves were slightly rough and we aren't sure if that is common but the kids ended up loving it. It took Will a few minutes to get acclimated but eventually both kids were jumping waves and riding them in basically to the shore. Too bad we didn't have the boogie boards. This would have been the perfect beach for them. They just didn't fit in the car though. Steven went farther out into the water for a while. We would all go but the kids prefer to stay more shallow where they can touch and swim there. While he was out there, I sat in shallow water and watched the kids play. My favorite part was when Will was taken out by a wave. He literally went head first into the water and I watched everything he has learned in swimming kick in. He started swimming underwater towards the shore (which he was being pushed to anyway). He probably went about 10 feet before he was able to stand back up. He stood up right as I got to him and just looked at me, laughed, and announced that he was swimming in the ocean. Good to see swimming lessons work. We spent about two hours at the beach in the water. I think Steven and I sat in chairs for maybe 10 minutes total and the rest of the time was spent in the beach. I would like to point out that Kenzie wore her rash guard for all but maybe 15 minutes of that time... but the poor kid is made like me. We'll get to that. Finally we had to pack up, change everyone, and head out because we needed to drive another hour or so to our hotel still and change for dinner. The kids would have stayed all day if we let them though. Really, I think we all would have. It was gorgeous. We can see why they call it the Emerald Coast. Oh! And the sand dollars. So many of them. We found three separate ones without even trying. Also, no jellyfish. At all. So that was great because we were a bit worried.
The drive to Panama City was nothing special. As expected Will slept. We are actually staying in Panama City in lieu of Panama City Beach. When we booked hotels, the price was substantially different. And a lot of hotels were already sold out so we are about 30 minutes from Panama City Beach. We checked into our hotel easily. It is sold out tonight. It is our oldest hotel yet and minimal updates have been done but we are spending less than 18 hours here so we can't complain. It's clean so we are good. When we were getting the kids ready for a shower we noticed that Kenzie ended up burned pretty bad. She has some pink on her upper back from the 15 or so minutes she spent without a rash guard on earlier but it isn't too bad. What is really bad is her lower back. With the way she was riding the waves in, her rash guard kept getting pushed up and she burned. I feel so bad. I should have sunblocked that area but figured her rash guard was on so it would be fine. Typically she doesn't lay in the waves at the beach as we often got to East coast beaches and they aren't the best for swimming all the time so I didn't think about it. Poor kid. She has had two applications of aloe so far and we hope we can keep it from peeling. I also noticed that my upper thighs are burned. I always seem to forget sunblock there. Let's hope it heals quickly too. We all showered and changed and headed out to one final dinner. While we were driving earlier in the day we were talking about our plans to go to Russell-Fields Pier to see the sunset. When I was looking at it on the map we noticed a large outdoor mall type thing with a bunch of restaurants in it including a Margaritaville. Sold. We called ahead which worked out well as we only had to wait about 10 minutes once we got there and other parties about our size were being told it was an hour or more. We were worried about parking but it was perfectly find since we were still on the earlier side at about 6. The kids didn't eat much for dinner other than the super large pretzel we got. That is to be expected at this point in a trip. Kenzie actually requested a home cooked meal tomorrow and all of us agreed. I can't wait to not eat out for a bit. Steven and I both had Cheeseburgers in Paradise which were yummy.
After dinner we walked across the street to the pier. There was a $3/person charge to go onto the pier but kids 6 and under were free. The pier is 1500 feet long and let me tell you... it seemed like the pier that never ended. There was a line to get in as a lot of people were entering to watch the sunset, I think. We made it in time though and the sunset did not disappoint. The kids also loved watching the people fishing from the pier and we saw quite a few fish hauled in. We walked the length of the pier and it was quite long. Eventually we had to head out though because the kids wanted to do a bit more souvenir shopping to spend the rest of their money from Ms. Barbara and we knew we needed to get back to the hotel.
We did a bit of souvenir shopping and found shirts for the kiddos. Kenzie chose a necklace and glasses case with the rest of her money. Will chose a truck that has Panama City Beach on it and his name. Good choices. We also got a coffee mug to complete our trifecta from this trip. We realized yesterday that we missed getting the Starbucks mug in New Orleans and I am not happy with myself. So, if anyone visits NOLA sometime soon, pick me up one and I will totally pay you back. Anyway, then it was time to head back to the hotel. We were worried Will may fall asleep but he spent most of the way telling us about the train he was going to drive one day and that we could all ride it. But Daddy has to pay $6 to ride and I only have to pay $3. Score! There will also be cheeseburgers, hot dogs, and Doritos. So it should be fun. Kenzie's train is going to offer a military discount that she plans to call the "Papa Discount". These kids are funny. They have certainly kept us entertained in all the time we have spent in the car. We made it back to the hotel and both kids are OUT. Tomorrow we will head for home. It is our second longest drive of the trip so we want to start early. Especially since we also have to return the rental car.
Today was so much fun. It was an amazing way to end our trip. We definitely don't want to have to go home. There is a lot going on this coming week though and we are quickly approaching Kenzie's birthday and party so we need to get going on all that. Tomorrow should hopefully be an easy day so a blog post will be made but it will also likely include some things we learned traveling with two small children in case anyone is interested and also so we can look back on some of the things that worked for us and some that didn't in coming years. We are already talking about our next trip. Initially we considered going up the Blue Ridge but Nashville seems like a super fun place to go next so that may win out. We shall see. I just hope it can compare to how amazing this trip was. So many great memories made. I can't wait to do it all again (after I have some time to recover...)
Day 6 - Done!
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