Thursday, March 22, 2012

Beach bums for life

First anniversaries are BIG, so of course that constituted a BIG trip for us.  West Palm Beach?  Perfect!

We have been planning this trip for about a year now.  It helped that Josh's sweet brother-in-law was getting married and asked Josh to be in his wedding.  Josh was beyond honored, and I was so excited to get a chance to go to the wedding and head to the beach at the same time!

So we thought, planned, re-planned, then headed out.  After work on a Tuesday afternoon we hit the road south bound.  Yes, hit the road...as in drove.  Drove.  THIRTEEN HOURS.  I know...we are crazy...we know that now!  Although, the trip down there wasn't that horrible.  We stopped almost exactly halfway in Tallahassee, slept about five hours, then got back on the road.

We got to town at a decent time.  We went straight to Bubba's gorgeous house, unpacked, then headed out again.  First was to a family gathering not far out of town.  Bubba's family is so amazing and fun.  We have missed being around them and were so happy to be able to reconnect and meet the ones we hadn't had the chance to meet before.  They welcomed us, accepted us, and made us feel at home.  We enjoyed so much having several days to be surrounded by them.  After family time we headed out to the beach.  It was windy and hard to see too much, but we walked out on the pier and soaked in all the ocean air!


The next day Bubba and Michelle had to work, so Josh and I ventured out on our own.  Shopping, sight-seeing, and hitting the beach.  It was a great day, but the weather wouldn't cooperate too much in the whole swimming department.  We found a tree right off the beach, and decided to try to climb it.  Hey, if we couldn't be on the beach at least we could be outside!


That night we also went out to an amazing dinner at a great place Bubba and Michelle recommended.  I have been dying to try Chilean sea bass for awhile, and that night I finally got my chance.  Go try it!  It definitely did not disappoint!


The next day we slept in and then headed out to the beach again.  This day we had MUCH better luck weather wise.  The beach was absolutely GORGEOUS!  We played in the waves for hours.  And even though I did suffer several jelly fish stings, it still didn't deter us.  It was the most amazing day!


To add to the amazing day, that night was Bubba and Michelle's rehearsal dinner.  We headed out to Michelle's parent's house not too far down the road.  Their home was beautiful, and the way they had transformed the backyard was magical.  That night we were able to visit and laugh with lots of family, new friends, and meet all different types of people over a delicious seafood boil.  The weather was perfect.  It was a great night, and it brought back so many memories for me and Josh as we reminisced about our rehearsal dinner almost exactly one year before!


Then it was time for the big day!  This was a day that we were so excited to see, but at the same time sad that it had already come.  We were so happy for Bubba and Michelle and the day that marked the beginning of their new lives.  At the same time, we were sad because we knew this meant we would soon have to head home.  The wedding was beautiful, everything fell perfectly into place!  The reception was gorgeous and fun.  Bubba and Michelle looked like they were floating on cloud 9...I mean really what else matters besides that?  We were so excited to be able to be there and be part of their special day.  Bubba's influence on Josh's life means more to us then he will ever know.  It meant the world for us to have the opportunity to be there with them.


The ONLY downfall of our entire trip was the journey home.  Honestly, I still shudder to think back to it.  Miserable is about the only word that can describe it.  We hit the road at 8PM Florida time and headed home.  I begged to stop in Tallahassee...halfway.  Josh wanted to make it to Pensacola.  It would be a further ride, but his reasoning made sense as much as I hated to admit it (and didn't).  He wanted to make it that far because we would only be a little over four hours away from home.  He wanted to stop at a hotel in Pensacola, sleep in late the next morning, and then get up and be able to hit Pensacola beach and shop around before we had to get home.  He thought the closer we were to home the more time we would be able to spend out playing.  I couldn't resist an extra day at the beach, so I was game!  Ahhh the best laid plans...

We stopped at hotel after hotel at exit after exit.  It was about three in the morning.  There were NO ROOMS....ANYWHERE!  That is when I realized that we had to push on and make it home.  We weren't going to be able to find a room because everything was over-run with spring breakers.  All I wanted was sleep and a beach (although sleep was winning and I wanted it a whole lot more than the beach at that moment).

So we drove.  And we drove, and we drove, and we DROVE!  The going home end of the trip seemed never-ending.  At 9AM LA time we finally pulled into our driveway.  I don't think we have ever been more excited to see Thibodaux not to mention our house!  

Now that we are home and almost fully recuperated, all we can talk about is how much we cannot wait to go back to Palm Beach.  We miss Bubba and Michelle already!  Even though they were super busy and semi-stressed when we were there, we were still able to have a fabulous time with them! We want to go back during a calmer time for them...a time when we can all go out together and sight-see, tour the city, and play!  We also know that no matter what, the next time we go (which hopefully will be fairly soon) we WILL BE FLYING!  No more 13+ hour drives for us!

So until next time West Palm Beach.  We will be beach bums for life!

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