Back in the USSR... not really... East TN... much better

We left Destin at 7:00 am EST which was 6:00 am Central Time which means we were up at 5:00 am this morning in order to get home at a reasonable hour since we had an 8.5 hour drive ahead of us...  and no telling how long we might be delayed due to construction, or traffic, or an accident...  

We stopped once for gas and use the restroom and a second time for something to eat most of which we ate in the parking lot before we returning to the Interstate.  We were delayed a little by construction and even less by traffic but it took us 9.5 hours to return to our home which means we were delayed about 30 minutes by our 2 stops and another 30 minutes by either traffic or construction or both.

In another hour, we had unloaded the car and put everything away from our trip although we are saving mowing of the lawn until tomorrow after we have gotten a good night's sleep....  so, in 10.5 hours we have just about been able to return to normal.

Two of our 3 cats met us at the door but our Siamese who gets really pissed off when we leave for more than a day or two, decided that he not show his face until a couple of hours after our return...  I guess he did not want to appear too eager to let us know that he missed us.

It was nice to have a vacation and eat out every night and it was nice to sit in chairs and watch the water...  even if it was the Gulf and not the Atlantic Ocean...  but, if the truth be known, I did the same damn thing down there that I did here, plus I had to spend all that extra money and drive for 18 hours...  not really sure if it was worth it or not... and unlike the Caribbean commercials my wife and I did not fall in love with each other all over again.

Last Day In Destin

Everything that we do has a beginning and an ending without fail and today represents out last full day on the Gulf Coast of Florida.  Northern storms have finally found their way down south and have impacted this area adversely with falling rain.  For the last several days, we have been faced with overcast skies and afternoons where the sun unsuccessfully tried to break through...  but, it never rained, and we remained under the umbrella all day...  watching the rhythms of the Gulf crash along the shoreline.

As mentioned before in previous posts, my wife and I are not impressed with this area even though we like the deep white sands.  The restaurants are more expensive than other areas we have visited and remind us of prices you find UP NORTH in cities like WashDC and NYC...  and, while we have enough income to pay these increased prices when we want to, we would rather visit coastal areas like Myrtle Beach, SC where restaurants have cheaper prices and the cooked food is just as good.  Higher prices does not necessarily mean better taste.

It takes my wife and I over 8 hours to drive down to the Gulf and if you are wealthy, you can fly in 3 hours...  but, a better area for us to visit with LOTS TO DO is Myrtle Beach, SC which we can drive to in a little over 6 hours...  The beaches adjacent to the shorelines are about the same as are the living accommodations but the price to rent a condo is a couple hundred dollars less and the meals cost $10-20 less which includes at 15-18% tip.  The road traffic is about the same as well

THE BIG DIFFERENCE between these two resort areas are THE THINGS TO DO whether or not my wife and I want to take advantage of them...  they are still available to us whereas this is not the case in Destin.

GOOD BYE FLORIDA...