A Bitchin' Beachin' Birthday

I remember throwing around the idea of a beach trip to the gulf with Sam & Pat last summer. Pat had just gotten back in town and our weekends quickly filled up with other adventures until summer finally turned into fall. Needless to say, that beach trip never came into fruition. 

I was really itching to get back to the gulf so I started to plan a trip for this summer. Then I realized my birthday was on a Friday and figured why not make it a beach birthday. I booked the condo back in January. I like to plan, what can I say?

Sam and Pat didn't end up coming. Bummer times a million. But Dustin and I had the perfect long weekend.

 

Flag Day: My birthday is on the most important holiday ever - Flag Day. It has become an inside joke between me and pretty much everyone I know. My mom used to dress me up in flag shirts or dresses as a kid and I guess it just stuck because I was decked out in red, white, and blue the whole damn weekend, even now at 28.

I got up early and headed for the nail salon. I get a pedicure maybe every 4-6 months and I've only ever had 3 professional manicures in my entire life. Sure, I like getting those things done but it seems kind of silly to go monthly when I can paint my own nails for free. But I decided to go all out and treat myself. I only turn 28 once. YOLO! I sat in that lovely massage chair and watched Kelly and Michael on TV while the woman cleaned, scrubbed and painted my feet. I chose the brightest pink in the place. I have this thing when I go to nail salon's about picking colors based on the name. This bright ass pink had 'beach' in it's name and I was immediately sold. 

I came home and we loaded up my car. We were out the door and on the road by 11AM. I let Dustin control the music. DJ Dust what up. He grabbed my iPhone and chose music of mine that he liked too. Some surprising songs that he played...Taylor Swift (Enchanted) and Maria Mena (Fuck You). Yeah, he sung along to both.

We had a pretty easy drive until we got on I-75. Everyone started to slow down and before we knew it we were at a dead stop right before a bridge. There were countless cops, two helicopters, and ambulances and firetrucks were trying to squeeze through the sea of cars to get through to the scene of the accident. We knew something really serious had just happened, only moments before. We drove by and saw a huge chunk missing out of the guardrail. We both realized that someone drove over the bridge. We were both pretty horrified. I was shaken up the rest of the drive. I kept thinking that had the timing been just a little different we could have been apart of that. I also kept thinking of the victim(s) & what he/she must be going through. The news story is here. Thankfully, more people were not injured and it seems that the guy survived. 

We finally made it to Sarasota and drove through 'downtown' in search of food. We decided on Red Lobster. I would have been fine with some local seafood place but Dustin makes a good point when it comes to chain restaurants - you know what to expect. The quality is always the same no matter what city you're in. The restaurant was empty. The only people in the place were a couple senior citizens, one of which, was also celebrating her Flag Day birthday with her husband. I couldn't help but think "Will that be Dustin and I in 50 years?". One can hope. 

We drove over the bridge to Siesta Key and were able to check in an hour early. I booked this place because I found a deal on expedia (still quite the splurge but a deal nonetheless). Dustin and I were pleasantly surprised by how nice it truly was. The pictures didn't lie. Our condo had a pool view! And the condo itself was completely updated. It was straight out of an Ikea catalog (which who wouldn't love that?!). Dustin said while he was checking the place out "this place is nicer than our house!" and yeah it kind of was. I had booked a one bedroom because at the time I thought Pat and Sam would be joining us. So there was a bedroom with a door, bed and TV. Then there was a separate living area with a couch that folded out into a bed. There was a little dining room and a FULL kitchen complete with a washer and dryer. The bathroom was just as nice and the shower head was amazing! 

 

We got settled in and after we were done talking about how nice the place was we decided to go out and see Man of Steel. It had opened that day and that was always the plan. Drive to the beach and watch Man of Steel! We had a little time to kill so we stopped by one of those touristy stores full of random beach stuff. We were in search of sunglasses for Dustin but they only had $150 Ray Bans. I did however purchase a couple things for Pat and Sam since they couldn't be there. Then it was off to see Superman at a really nice mall/theater down the road. I really liked the movie minus a few things. First, I didn't like Amy Adams as Lois Lane. I like Amy Adams just fine but I feel like she wasn't right for the role so that kind of bugged me. Also, the action scenes toward the end were way too long. I started to get bored with it. I don't need 20 minutes worth of explosions and fights. I get it, Superman is indestructible. Henry Cavill (Dustin's new nemesis since he's dating Dustin's girl, Gina Carano) was amazing. I definitely preferred scruffy Clark over clean-cut Clark but I know that's just always been his look. I loved that they put in so much backstory about Krypton in the movie too. Pretty awesome overall! We had some time to kill afterward so we went sunglass shopping at PacSun in the mall. It was our lucky day because they were having a 2 for $20 sale. We each ended up getting two pairs!

 

We made it back to our condo just in time to walk down to the beach and enjoy the sunset. And what a sunset it was! We stood there, leaning against one another, and looked at the sky until the sun disappeared under the ocean. Dustin's not into sunsets or even the beach. But he was a good sport because he knew I would enjoy it. And I always appreciate that. 

 

We went back to the condo and immediately changed into our swimsuits and jumped into the pool. There's something magical about swimming at dusk with the smell of salt water in the air. There were a couple girls on a float at the other end of the pool that we overheard saying the funniest things. I wish I could remember the exact phrases but I'm old now and my memory just isn't what it used to be. Later that night, after we we dried off and changed back into normal clothes, we decided to walk to 7-11 to buy some groceries (and by groceries I mean a bottle of juice, some poptarts, and a banana). Also, lottery tickets and some postcards because obviously. I know big cities (Hey New York, I'm talking about YOU!)   think they are better than every other city because they walk everywhere. Uh so what? Congratulations. I don't care. I like to drive. But I will admit it was nice to be able to walk a block down the street to the store. I enjoyed it. I don't want to do it all the time or even again this year, but it was nice in that moment.

The Day After Flag Day: I woke up super early to chirping birds. Also, I believe an owl was living outside of our window. Either way, I didn't mind. The plan was to get to the beach early and spend the first half of the day there. I enjoy the beach but I'm not the kind of girl who likes to spend 12 straight hours there. Um, no thanks. I like to go early and leave early and maybe come back for awesome sunsets. And I'm good. 

We got down there by 8 AM. There weren't many people out yet. The hotel staff were still setting up their beach chairs. Beach chairs that we tried to sit on but the beach chair police kicked us off. Really? REALLY? I would also like to add that barely anyone was on them the whole time we were there. Yeah, I know they were specifically for guests at a different hotel but come on. So that kind of ruffled our feathers for a good 5 minutes and then we got over it. 

We set up shop where the least amount of people were. Dustin went to town on setting up our umbrellas. (We had bought an umbrella the day prior - just for this trip - but our hotel/condo place told us they had complimentary umbrella and chairs so we used theirs instead.) We each had our own umbrella that blocked those early morning UV rays. Then we basically showered ourselves in sunscreen. I know this will make me sound old or whatever but I'm just too damn old for sunburns. Not only are they annoying, painful and make you feel sicker than a dog but everyone should know how harmful it is for your skin by the time you are in your late twenties. Not a fan of skin cancer or wrinkles! Just saying. We sat there in our beach chairs for awhile just taking it all in. We did a lot of people watching because there were some crazies out. Speaking of, what's up with the people who wear tennis shoes on the beach? I just don't understand the logic in that. That leads me to the beach joggers. I get those people who live on or near to the beach and jog daily or whatever but we were smack dab in the middle of tourist land. There were only hotels, motels, and condos. All of these people were definitely on vacation yet they were out jogging on the beach trying to show everyone (ME!) up. And that's when I reached in our cooler and popped open an ice cold Dr. Pepper. Mmm I love sugar early in the morning. 

The water was unusually rough for the gulf. Dustin said there was a storm out near Mexico so I'm guessing that it produced all the damn waves. Personally, I like a calm ocean but I made the best of the choppy waters. I kept holding on to Dustin's back and then jumping up to avoid being swept away by the waves. Once I accidentally smacked him in the face. Ooops. We were out there for awhile just hanging out. 

When we came back to land we played with the velcro ball and paddles. Remember those? Yep, I saw them at Target and just had to have them. It was so much fun. Dustin would throw it and I'd be afraid to  "catch" it and then I'd have to run for it before it got eaten by the ocean. I can only imagine what was running through the people's minds around us. There was also a time where I got nailed right in the forearm. Shit hurt! I whined about it for a good 5 min while Dustin told me stories about his baseball playing days and his many injuries.   -______-

Dustin sat back down and enjoyed a refreshing Diet Mountain Dew while I went shelling. That's the official term for looking for shells right? I always feel like I'm 5 (or 85) when looking for shells but I do not give a damn. It's fun. I love trying to find 'the perfect one'. Feeling them in my hand and then putting them back in the ocean. 

After I got some shells to take home, we packed up and headed back to the condo. By that time it was almost noon. We had spent almost 4ish hours out at the beach, just the two of us, without phones. And it was awesome! We took showers and tried our best to get all of the sand off of our bodies but no such luck. We walked down the block again to drop off some postcards at the Post Office, where I ran into yet another flag. I gave Dustin this look and he just said "Yeah, I'll take your picture. Give me your phone." HAHA.

We hopped in the car and ended up at the mall again. We ate a small lunch at the food court and just walked around. I even found a glasses print shirt at Forever 21 that I'm super pumped about. I got a discount because the only one in my size was missing a button. They gave me a button off of another one so I could sew it on. I have yet to do that but hopefully by the end of this weekend. Then we ended up seeing 'This Is The End' which was hilarious. Danny McBride steals the fucking show! And Emma Watson was also pretty badass. We left the mall and went on a little drive down the island of Siesta Key. We pointed out which beach house we would buy if we won those millions we bought a lottery ticket for. We made up all kinds of funny stories about the random people walking/biking down the street. We laughed. We were relaxed. And it was all so fun. Next time we go, I definitely want to walk around the little "downtown" area and look at all the shops and restaurants. 

 

We got back to the condo and just hung out. Dustin watched golf and I ended up falling asleep on the couch. Apparently, he tried waking me up so we could watch the last sunset of the trip but I was being a grump. I woke up in a panic and screamed "SUNSET!!". He looked at me like "Seriously?! I've been trying to get you up!". We sprinted down to the beach and made it just in time. It wasn't as pretty as the previous evening but a sunset on the gulf is always a cool thing to experience. We walked slow in the powdery white sand and said our goodbyes to it all.

The trip was not the trip I had been envisioning in my head for the last 5 months but it was still amazing - just in a different way. Dustin and I got in some real quality time together. No computers, limited cell phone use, and just each other's company for 2+ days. The perfect little getaway. The perfect way to bring in twenty eight years of life. 

Birthdays are awesome. Don't let anyone ever tell you otherwise.

Side note: I wore contacts most of the trip. They were awesome for the pool! Although I was afraid to open my eyes up under water for fear that they would just float away. They were great at the beach until a huge wave crashed into me and I got saltwater in my eyeball. That didn't feel so great. I wore them all over. They were fine but by the end of the day they were feeling super dry and I couldn't wait to throw my glasses back on. But they definitely made this trip so much easier. Yay contacts but double yay for glasses!