Among the many changes that Covid has made in our family's life, knocking out our annual Girls' Retreat is one of the ones I have missed most. Several months ago, my daughters and I put our heads together and decided it would be fabulous to travel to Watercolor, Florida, where Stacy's daughter, Sydney, and her cute family now live. Jake, Syd's husband, had worked in Public Relations for Marriott at their headquarters in Maryland when Covid hit and he was indefinitely furloughed. Long story short, they picked Watercolor and surrounding areas in Florida to start up a new Property Management company. Stacy's entire family has since fallen in love with the area and we have all been eager to travel there. In fact, our oldest son, Rick, has rented a property and taken his family there two Thanksgivings in a row. We all (daughters, daughters-in-law and it wouldn't be the same without Roger) chose to meet up there February 16-20.
We wore N95 masks on our 4-legged air journey - St. George to SLC to Atlanta to Ft. Walton
Jake had a great property for us to rent in Watercolor. Charming homes with wrap-around porches and gas torch lanterns were everywhere - what a charming and enchanted place!
We all loved getting to hang out with Syd, Henry and Charlie during the days. She had grocery shopped, baked yummy cookies and made Muddy Buddies for us and we all adored playing with her cute littles.
Jake, from England near Oxford, has a charming accent and it is so cute to hear his cute little son Charlie talk in a mixture of Yankee and Brit. Charlie says his name pronouncedly like his Dad does- Jakob Walker, which sounds very different than it does in an American accent. Great-grandpa Roger had a lot of fun going back and forth with him, each trying to correct the other on how to say it!
7-month-old Henry has a perpetual grin on his face!
A bike ride together was first on the agenda each day and our first day, we explored the beautiful neighborhood.
Roger and I followed in the golf cart provided - that's how everyone gets around.
Nearby Sea Side is a very popular destination, also, and we were all in awe of the beauty and charm all around us!
A charming little chapel where services are held.
Sea Side is where, "The Truman Show," with Jim Carey was filmed in 1998. We watched it together that night.
This was his home in the movie.
We headed in the golf cart to," The Perfect Pig," for dinner that night.
I'm usually most intrigued by the appetizers on a new restaurant's menu and we did something I have always wanted to do - we ordered every app on their menu and shared them! Some of them: Pig Nachos, Fig Jam Flatbread, Crab cakes, Shrimp Scampi, Loaded Mac and Cheese, etc. Yum! They were unique, creative and yummy! And their Key lime pie was delicious!
Next day was beach day. We knew when we planned this retreat for the middle of February, it would not be beach weather, but my kids are real beach enthusiasts, so off we went. Syd, kids and beach chairs rode on back of our golf cart and the girls rode bikes and led the way.
The fine, white sand is like powdered sugar and the water is so warm and clear in the summer - we have fond memories of spending many hours on beaches not far from here when we lived in Biloxi.
As you can see, it was a bit nippy but it felt good to squish our toes in the sand.
Little Charlie had no idea it was cold! He ran up and down the beach, so excited to be back on it; their little family had gone often in the past months. Aunt Missy brought some little beach toys (note in pic), a surfboard and little surfer dude, and Charlie loved them. They threw said toy out into the waves to watch it "surf" to shore. One throw was too far and it gradually was being pulled out to sea.
Though chilly, the sun was shining and we had great beach umbrellas.
Charlie loved being buried in the sand!
After the beach and back at our house, little Henry was showing off his smiles!
Out and about around Sea Side
For dinner that night, we enjoyed crab cakes, crayfish and fresh shrimp at this walk-up.
We had so much fun playing games each night together -
"Hand and Foot"card game and a couple of different word games that Stacy brought. We laughed a lot.
Next morning led to the coldest day we had. We had to wait in line outside to get in, "The Doughnut Hole," for breakfast. Mindy had the mistaken idea that the Astroturf would be warmer, so she hunkered down and told Missy to sit on her to keep her warm!
Did it work? Not so much!
We all agreed that it was worth the ten-minute wait.
This was really delicious chicken and waffles!
Emily had what it said on the menu, the "Diet" Breakfast.
She just about polished it off!
We drove to Syd and Jake's darling home to hang out for awhile.
Note her cute aqua blue door!
The girls and Roger had fun playing pickle ball and tennis in different combos.
I am amazed at how athletic they all are!
We had a reservation at, "Old Florida Fish House." on the water and one of the top three highly recommended restaurants in the area. Right out of the shower, Stacy's hair was soaking wet, so she hung it out of the van on the way to "blow dry"and I took a pic. It looked great!
They had delicious salads, fresh shrimp, fresh fish and sushi.
This was my probably favorite meal! Roger and I got hooked on oysters on the half shell when we lived in Biloxi, and none are better than Gulf Coast oysters. When we found out that they are half price during Happy Hour, we knew we were coming back!
We celebrated Mindy's birthday on February 18 and she woke up to these cute decorations Stacy had brought from home.
So we sang Happy Birthday (along with the table next to us) and all shared some Key lime pie. We all love Key lime pie and each restaurant does their version of it - all delicious!
Flights left throughout the day for everyone but Stacy, Roger and I. Stacy ran a taxi service back and forth and then Roger picked up a rented car when Stacy turned in the van after the girls were delivered to the airport. We packed up, then drove to Syd and Jake's to spend a couple of days with them. Syd prepared a wonderful salmon dinner with homemade breadsticks, "roasties" potatoes, Jake's favorite, roasted squash and asparagus (we should have taken a pic!).
We were greeted with this message in the boys' playroom:
On Monday, Jake's old friend and new employee arrived from Utah and we all went out to dinner to a yummy Italian place that eveing.
Henry is one cute little dude!
We had fun shopping in Watercolor and in Sea Side on our last day and got some fun sweatshirts. I thought this was a cute sign in front of one of the shops. Everyone was so friendly and the shops so quaint!
For our last dinner, we returned to The Old Florida Fish House during Happy Hour, this time!
Stacy's friend, whose family from Scottsdale goes to Watercolor a couple of times a year, recommended the Key lime pie at a certain restaurant, so we thought we'd better try theirs, too. After dinner here, Stacy ordered some pieces To Go there on her cell, we drove to that restaurant, picked them up and took them to Syd's and declared theirs delicious, too! Hard to pick which one was the best of the ones we tried, and when we return, we'll start a whole new contest!
Santa brought Charlie and Henry a wonderful device that records bedtime stories narrated by parents, Grandmas and Grandpas, etc. and she asked Stacy, Roger and I to record some for Charlie. She and Jake had already done so and he listened to them every night to help him go to sleep. We each read a couple of stories from, "You Did That?," the book that Roger and I made a few years ago of our childhood tales. She has told us since we returned home that he listens to them every night and loves them!
Next morning, time to drive to Fort Walton Beach and catch our plane. So hard to say goodbye to this darling little guy! And this loving, wonderful family!
Stacy LOVES being Grandma Sugar!
We've just got to return again to be with this darling family
and to enjoy the wonders of Watercolor!
This post made me cry. Family is what it is all about. It looks like you had such a wonderful time. Those little boys are so adorable.
ReplyDeleteThis was such a magical few days I love every second I get to spend with my parents, sisters, sisters in law, Syd, Jake and grandkids! I am so happy we made the trip to Watercolor and we were able to stay a few extra days with Syd and Jake it was so fun being together.
ReplyDelete