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.
