My Grandmother's first staycation

Sunday, September 18th, 2016

Los Angeles, CA / Destin, FL

It’s 5am PST and I am waking up for my flight to Florida to celebrate my grandmother’s 90^th birthday! I am way tired, but if I miss this flight my Dad will kill me. I drag myself out of bed, brush my teeth, and climb into my travel clothes (which border on pajamas). By 6am I am at LAX for my 7am flight.

The flight to Florida is uneventful. I have a layover in Atlanta, since there are no direct flights. I am tired, but I am also losing 2 hours of the day due to the time difference, so I will go to bed 2 hours early.

Eventually I arrive in Pensacola, FL at 3:30 pm CST. My Dad is waiting for me outside of the airport in his truck and my 90 old Grandmother is sitting in the back seat. They insist that I sit in the front and I can tell that there has already been at least one fight. I hop into the front seat and we are off!

At the last minute this family vacation for 5 turned into a vacation of 3. Sadly my Mom had to stay in Texas to take care of my other grandmother who recently had a heart attack. My brother is staying in Texas too. Nonetheless, I am happy and had completely forgotten how hilarious my Grandmother can be.

Once we arrive in Destin we decide to go to the grocery store to buy food to cook for dinner. My Grandmother insists on waiting in the car, so my Dad and me reluctantly enter the store. We buy a basket full of groceries, which includes steak and broccoli for dinner and a few different kinds of breakfast food. Eventually we make our way back to our condo for the next 3 nights. My Grandmother lives in an assisted living facility down the street, however, my Dad has rented an awesome beach condo for the next 4 days so that we can all stay together and my Grandmother, at age 90, can enjoy her first staycation.

When we finally arrive at the condo, it turns out that it’s not actually facing the ocean. Instead it’s facing a row of other condos. We all try to be cheerful though and start settling in for the night. I take a quick walk down to the beach and catch the tail end of an amazing sunset. Next I sit in the living room with Grandmother, while my Dad cooks us dinner. After a fulfilling meal we all hang around the kitchen table for a few hours drinking wine and talking.

Finally, around 10pm we decide to call it a night. My Dad and I have to share a bathroom, but we are both good sports about it. My Grandmother is sleeping in the master suite with a very large bathtub, with hot tub-style jets. She jokes about getting stuck in tub and we all laugh.

Once I finally get shower access, I am exhausted. I run through my bedtime routine in a half-drunken daze and am asleep before my head hits the pillow.

Tomorrow is our beach day. I am super excited!