It's Spring Break 1995.

Saturday, September 23rd 2017

Destin, FL

It’s 8am Central Time and I am dragging myself out of bed. It’s miserably early, but I only have one full day in Destin and am determined to make the most of it. Last night my brother explained to me that our grandmother has gone into the hospital. He did not have a lot of details other than it’s related to an infection. My Dad, who was supposed to be back home in Austin, is currently at the hospital.

I quickly get ready and head down to the “hot breakfast” provided by our hotel. I am convinced they will have bacon but I am quickly proven wrong. Apparently hot breakfast is code for you-can-make-your-own-waffle. I am disappointed and request that my brother drives us to Starbucks. Luckily, he agrees.

Once we get through the Starbucks drive through I carefully add a packet of coconut oil and ghee to my grande coffee. Yes, I travel with my own butter; breakfast is served.

Soon we arrive at the Fort Walton Medical Center. We take our time parking the car and walking up to my grandmother’s room. Neither of us know what to expect.

We see our Dad first when we enter the room. There is a nurse changing out our grandmother’s IV and she looks happy and alert. We both sigh in relief.

Dad explains that she has a skin infection called cellulitis. So far it’s mild and only in her skin. It’s not serious unless it gets into her blood. Eventually the nurse finishes up and we all sit down to catch up. We had planned to take our grandmother to the beach and then out to dinner for a post birthday celebration. We are all disappointed to hear that will no longer happen. My grandmother is quick to point out that I have lost weight and that my brother has gained weight. I laugh heartily; I truly love this woman.

We discuss our travels to get there, health status and, most importantly, Texas football. After a few hours it’s time for lunch. My grandmother has her lunch delivered to her bed. My brother and I are temporarily dismissed to go find our own food.

We head in the direction of the beach and eventually find a place called Al’s Burger Bar. I am skeptical, but my mushroom-swiss burger ends up tasting amazing. We also get a table that is literally on the beach. I cannot believe how easy it is to get a good meal and a good table in Destin. After lunch we discuss our plans for the rest of the day. Grandmother can’t stay awake for more than a few hours, so we decide to go back and visit for another 2 hours and then head over to the beach before sunset.

I did not bring a swimsuit, so we make a quick stop at Target on the way back. I am unsuccessful, however, we decide to head back anyways. I don’t really have to go swimming. As we pull into the parking lot we are intercepted by Dad. Grandmother is napping and he is going to drive to Kohl’s to buy some more clothes for himself. We hitch a ride. The trip to Kohl’s ends up much more fruitful than Target, I acquire new swimsuit and a pair of sweats. My Dad strikes out, however; I guess this is his Target.

When we get back to the hospital Grandmother is awake again. We talk some more until she falls back asleep.

From there Mike and I make several stops. Gas, beer, hotel, beach. Boom!

I am laying out in my brand new Kohl’s swimsuit on top of my shower towel from the Day’s Inn. We have a cooler of beer and my brother has produced two cozies from his FJ Cruiser. The beach is lovely. The air is warm and breezy, the sand is soft and the ocean is as calm as bathtub. The gulf is so different from the California coast. We spend a few hours drinking, swimming and catching up before my Dad arrives. With his help we finish up our cooler beer and head up to the restaurants to find some dinner. As we approach the hostess station we are all surprised at how empty everything looks. It turns out that the electricity is out and all of the restaurants in this area are closed for the night. Lame.

We pile into the FJ and head over to Destin. We start out at AJ’s Oyster Bar. It’s enormous and reminds me of MTV’s Spring Break Special from 1995. I ask for any kind of beer from Sweetwater Brewery and am told they don’t have it. Ugh. Now I am on a mission. From here we head over to a few other restaurant-bars and eventually find one with Sweetwater. I am drunk and thankfully Dad remembers to order us some food (partying with your parents has its advantages!).

After a dinner of nachos and chicken wings we decide to head back to our hotels. I explain to Dad and Mike about Uber and they are both fascinated (to be fair, Uber is not allowed to operate in Austin, so they do have plausible deniability). Somehow we all end up in one Uber even though our hotels are not by each other. We drive across town to drop my Dad off and then our driver drops us off at a bar next door to the Days Inn. As soon as we enter I know we made a mistake. I am beat and can barely drink anything else. After about 30 minutes we head back.

I quickly shower and then pass out almost immediately. Tomorrow is going to rough.