Perhaps it’s unfair to use an image of fish, frozen, and washed up on the beach. But then, once again it’s January, and we’re in Florida, and it’s a little chilly out there. (This image is more than ten years old. Being cold in Florida happens a lot for us.)
We had considered South America briefly, but opted for Florida for the easy plane trip. Tom is riding the last couple of months of Executive Platinum status on American Airlines and the upgrades have been wonderful over the years. Sure enough, there were two first-class seats on the flight to Ft. Walton/Destin with our names on them – but not until after we’d boarded.
The first night was nice with a warm weather walk on the beach as the sun was going down. It’s early here as it’s the eastern edge of the central time zone in America.
The weather turned chilly and very windy the next day as a front moved through. It changes your plans a bit when beach walks require bundling up. Someone has spent the time inside watching a great deal of football. I’ve got a couple of books going. And gratefully, every day since has been a little warmer. With the wind down the twice daily trips to the beach can now be made in just a hoodie.
What’s kind of interesting about this trip is we simply wanted a change of scenery. Same lifestyle, new location. The kitchen in our rental is well equipped so I’m still cooking. Originally we were set to rent our niece and nephew’s place, but another cold snap a couple of weeks ago caused a pipe to burst and flood the condo. We stopped by a couple of days ago to check on the repairs. The damage was quick and rather significant. Still, we were anxious to be out of our own condo near Dallas where the complex is experiencing considerable construction, so we found a new location.
I will say that it’s really important when booking with AirBnB or VRBO to consider the total price and divide by nights instead of counting on the first rate listed. The fees can be rather high. We managed this for $150 a night. The price is reasonable given the size, location, and amenities.
Another thing we’ve been doing while spending so much time indoors is planning our spring trip to Europe. We originally set up for six weeks, but may shorten it to four. Tom’s doing his best to entice me for the full six. I’m sure we’ll know in a day or two how it all works out. We are finding that a lot of people are traveling again and rentals and hotels are booking very quickly. We’ve had to change at least one set of plans when something we were about to rent disappeared before our eyes. In general, I try not to plan new travel while we’re actually on a trip, but since this feels less like a vacation and more like running away from home, the travel planning managed to sneak in anyway.
So that’s it. You’re up to date. We’re going to walk down to the local beach restaurant for lunch. More football is on the calendar for this evening. It might even hit 60 degrees today. 🙂
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