Boy oh boy it will take considerable skill to report the events of this day of travel. Barry & Beth and Wick & Gwen started the morning with Mark the owner of the Poche Plantation where we've been staying the last two days. The event was his "not to be missed" plantation house tour. What a kick and a character. If we hadn't already fallen in love with the Louisiana Bayou area Mark would have certainly motivated a return trip. We heard more history both true and untrue than you could shake a stick at.
Wick & Gwen across the porch
Today was our longest day of driving so far and our sole goal was to reach what they call the "sugar sand" of the beaches of the Florida Panhandle. We were driven by intellectual curiousity over the massive BP oil spill and by sheer fantasy of dipping our toes in sand so fine and so white that the whole area is famous for it. After driving several hours the following conversation took place in the cabin of the lead tourbus:
Beth: Gosh, Florida is sure flat.
Barry: What??!
Beth: Gosh, Florida is sure flat.
Two more rounds of this then ---
Barry: The Lord is sure flat??!!?
Of course an immediate text consultation with my trusty sidekick back in California was immediately necessary to which Wendi texted: Are you in Florida or in church?
Beth: Florida - see the problem?
Wendi: Uh...Yeah, if you're gonna start explaining the humor we're all in trouble.
Beth: Yeah, now imagine days of these conversations...
Wendi: How much longer til you arrive somewhere with distractions?
Beth: Depends.
Wendi: On what?
Beth: Uh, whether we get lost again.
Wendi: Are you lost in flat Florida or in the Lord's country?
Sheesh like we need that kind of encouragement!
After hours of driving through crazy, tourist fueled traffic we arrived at our destination in Destin (get it? destination in Destin?) Our planned stay at the "RV Resort" that had such a nice looking website was kicked off with the news (after they had us locked in the place) that the nightly fee was - wait for it-wait for it- $125.00 per night!! Oh, and it gets better. I'm not kidding you, people were packed in this place right on the beach like maggots on a three-day road kill. Children came pouring out of vehicles to run alongside our little caravan as we entered the "resort." Everybody seemed to own a golf cart and drove with large quantities of alcoholic beverages clutched in the hands. Frankly, we initially thought it might be some sort of kamikaze reenactment except that everybody was so brilliantly sunburned that it seemed unlikely. Worst of all was each camper seemed to have brought along more stuff than most Oakies have in their front yards (sorry Karen). Your $125 big ones did buy you a personal parking assistant but he fled for cover with the oncoming thunderheads. We spent approximately 3.5 minutes doing our Griswald thing on this beautiful beach before being chased off in the face of the severe storm warning.
Look at this sky!
Whenever we work in that part of the country in the summer, we plan on an afternoon thunderstorm. In New Orleans, it usually will come in between 3 and 4. Orlando they are a bit later.
ReplyDeleteYou get some spectacular thunder and lightning, a few million gallons of water, and then, it will clear up and settle back to 'muggy'.
Hope you all have a fine Father's Day with only a few Griswald moments to keep it lively.