The Familyship is the
Thing
It took a bit, but we
finally figured out how to do what we wanted to on this trip.
As much as it pained me
to deny my pocket based existence, we left everything but the hotel key in the
room safe when we went to the beach after a quick breakfast.
This allowed us to
remain together the whole time, whether sunning, reading and fake cooking in
the sand; or swimming, playing, getting battered (me) and laughing at me
getting battered (them) in the surf.
Then a giant wave
maliciously stole Rosa’s sunglasses off of Anabelle’s head, and we had to split
up for a bit to go get the goggles out of the room before rejoining the
swimming.
Well, they were
swimming, I mostly practiced the “stand and bob” while scanning the water for
random flesh eating ocean beasts. Although all I usually saw was party snack eating seagulls.
My scanning wasn’t all
that useful since the storm slowly working its way up the coast hadn’t removed
the pleasantness of the weather, but churned the ocean significantly. Even in ankle deep water, I was unable to see
my own feet, which the sun had reddened to the shade of bell peppers. (This
explained the foot pain the night before.)
We played a bit more in
the shifting water; until Hermine’s southern shenanigans started increasing the
size of those shifts beyond Anabelle’s comfort zone. (This meant they had about
doubled their way past mine several hours earlier.)
We spent the longest
time at the beach of the whole week, yet it was the first day we didn’t have to
drag the towels back to avoid the encroaching tide. Consider that lunar
supplied proof that our family pulled off an early start for a change.
We wiped off the sand
and salt, changed, and wandered down the Boardwalk to the Rainforest Café. In another rare planning success for us, Rosa
remembered to join the Landry’s Select Club before going, gaining a gift card,
discounts and other benefits.
The atmosphere was fun,
and the waiter went over and above the “helpful and friendly” thing, but
fortunately stopped just short of excessively creepy.
The manager also came
over to insure everything was to our satisfaction, and ask if there was
anything he could do for us members of the Landry’s Select Club. (See? Other benefits!)
Upon exiting, I used my
large fur bearing mammalness to disperse a crowd of Pokémon hunters around the
Miss America statue to allow us to take photos without waiting for the statue
to come to life and shove them out of her face.
Rosa went on ahead to do
a little shopping, and pack up things they no longer needed on their Anabelle
and Mami ad-veeeeen-ture! *Jazz
Hands* Anabelle took the opportunity to waste me at
mini golf again, but outside this time.
Since the store that sold all the large metal statues that grace the
course had long since closed, I’m guessing the links became self-sufficient.
After my concession
speech, we went back to the room where we loaded up and planned out some
things. From the time they announced
their plan to stay, the plan in my head rapidly transitioned from:
1) Couple going in early
with the normal ability to leave early before the holiday weekend, and get
there to meet them when they left the beach.
To:
2) Couple going in early
with taking a half day, and meet them on the beach for a little while.
Then finally realizing
the horrifying nature of Holiday shore traffic and shooting off e-mails to work
before leaving to:
3) Couple taking Friday
off, going in early Thursday and excessive amounts of caffeine to head back to
my family less than twenty four hours after leaving them to meet them in the
room the night before they go to the beach.
It was like the day
trips I took down to A.C. in my younger days, only in reverse.
I rediscovered the joys
of driving to spoken comedy. Thanx to playlists and much of my stand-up being
on cassette, I had forgotten how much better it keeps me awake and alert than
music when alone.
Eddie Izzard and a pile
of Mountain Dew got me back home safely, with only a brief pit stop at a rest
area, accompanied by shoving a power bar in my face.
With Rosa’s shopping
list in hand, I ran up to the Acme Supermarket in town…and saw it was
closed.
Then I got in my car…and
saw people inside the store.
Then while I was trying
to decipher the hours sign I saw someone enter the exit door and figured it
out.
I’m sure the sixteen
texts Rosa received from me during this long drive fueled confusion gave her
some quality entertainment.
With external needs
fulfilled, I ran around my home like a crazy man, unloading items shipped back,
and hunting for items that needed to return with me.
Sleep eventually hit
like a ton of narcoleptic bricks, which was fortunate, as something was
slightly amiss with the timer the bedroom light was plugged into, illuminating
my unable to move form from one to two in the morning.
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