Granny, Perdido Key

 Mama, Victoria, and I left early Saturday morning to drive to Florida. Our destination was Baker, FL. Our objective was to meetup with Nate, Cori, and the kids Sunday evening at Granny Davis’ house. Granny (Gail) Davis has been an adopted grandmother to the kids for several years. Probably ten or more since she and her husband, now deceased, attended church with Nate and Cori for all of their time in Florida. We arrived a little after 7 pm Friday evening at our hotel in Crestview, FL. Having checked in, we just as quickly changed our reservation for the single night and moved the following night to a different hotel. Our original choice was less than acceptable. Our second choice was not much better, but enough so that we fulfilled or time there until we left for our condo in Perdido Key…which was amazing.

We went to church with Granny Sunday morning and waited for Nate and Cori to arrive at Granny’s house that evening. Her church did not have a service scheduled for that night because they were meeting that afternoon to baptize three new converts in the river at a nearby park. A practice they have been following for several ears. They told me and Mama that their baptismal services always cause a stir. Never an offence, but always a stir. When Nate and Cori arrived at Granny’s there was a very large Tom turkey in the road that was a little too interested in what was happening at Granny’s and since Blake and Grant had succeeded in challenging it, the turkey followed the car through the gate once it had been opened. The turkey adamantly refused to go out the way it had come in so, I was required to grab its tail feathers and drag it through the gate and out of the yard. All the while it was scratching the ground furiously with its feet and beating its winds in an all-out effort to overcome my grip on its backside. That made for an interesting entry for the weary travelers.

Once Nate, Cori and the kids began settling in, Mama, Victoria and I went to our hotel, returning to Granny’s early Monday morning. Most of us stayed at Granny’s through that day as Nate, Cori and Blake made multiple stops for pharmaceuticals prior to a late afternoon doctor’s appointment. They were not back until early in the evening. Mama and I took all that were with us to the Gator Cafe in Baker for lunch. That was a very pleasant experience – especially since the kids knew the place well. Good food. Great prices. Once back at the house, Mama got out the paints and the wood burning paste and Grant and Savanna got right to work. That craft lasted for several hours while I killed three hornets that somehow invaded Granny’s screened in back porch. Grant showed some noticeable talent with paints and some interesting creativity with the wood burning paste. Savanna loves painting and gave some of her creations to Grammy. Yes, for two days the grandkids had a Granny and a Grammy to address by those names in the same house. At times it got a little confusing, but it was continuously fun.

Tuesday afternoon we left Granny and headed to Perdido Key. That drive took about two hours. We were advised not to check in before 4 pm but we got curious and a bit anxious since we arrived at the building a little before 3 pm. Using the code to open the door we found the cleaning crew still at the condo just about to finish up. They were not the least upset at the interruption but begged another forty-five minutes to complete their work. Since we were parked in the spaced allotted to us, we walked from the building onto the beach. It was a beautiful setting. Our lodging on the 6^th floor of the building provided a wonderful view of the Gulf only a few yards from our balcony.

We had a relaxing, carefree time at the condo and on the beach. Mama and I took the canopy we recently bought to give us some shade at the beach even though we split our time in the sand and salt with time spent in the condo pool. None of us got seriously sunburned although I have a rash on my chest from overexposure to the sun. A condition promoted by the medications I take. Other than that, most of us were very lightly reddened by the sun. Far less than some of our beach fellows during the two days we got to enjoy the surf.

Grant was able to catch a Sargassum Frogfish in the accumulation of sargassum seaweed at the edge of the surf. That caused a stir since that creature looks very like Lionfish – which is poisonous. He also caught several small flounder and a sand shrimp. All of which were released as we put away the beach items each evening. we had a great time together.

Mama. Victoria and I started our drive home about 10 am Friday. Nate, Cori, and the kids were headed to a camp for diabetic children which was scheduled to begin that afternoon, so we said our goodbyes and headed west. We got home about just before midnight.

It was fun.