November 17, 2007

Kekaimalu or "The Calm Sea"

The gleaming shore, Panama City Beach Florida

Written at The Summit,
Panama City Beach, Florida November 11, 2007

The Summit


I am surrounded by Kekaimalu. The Calm Seas... The waters of the Gulf of Mexico are the resplendent shades of the tourmaline. There is an offshore breeze and so the soft "shuff shuff" sounds of the surf are subdued... almost subliminal... If you cant tell by now, I love it here...





We came to this strech of sugar sand beach in 2005, recovering from The Huakai or the Journey from Hawaii to Arkansas. We drove down through the Katrina ravaged Gulf coast to find this town still recovering from Hurricane Ivan the season prior. I enjoyed our time here so much that Woody bought me a week of timeshare here so I can always come at this quiet time. I was to buy an ajacent week a few months later so we can come at this time every year for two weeks during Thanksgiving time. When I have my business I will be able to do that. Currently "thisplace" only allows you to take a week of vacation time at a time, unless it is unusual circustances ie, when I was considering going with John Michael Talbot to Ireland in October. They were going to give me the time off simply because it was such a rare opportunity. I am SOOOO glad I chose not to do that as I can hardly walk 30 minutes now let alone a whole day of sightseeing, up and down stairs

Our journey yesterday was even more simple than the flight to Charleston was last spring. We boarded our flight at XNA, which is near "thisplace" and flew to Atlanta, had just enough time to change planes...had a deplaning delay even on saturday, I try to avoid Atlanta and OHare for that reason, but Woody booked this flight. Our only worry was Ms. Annabelle, who was spayed the day before and will be boarding with Dr. Eric, her vet, for the time we are away. She was bedraggled and not feeling very well when we left but assured that we would be called if there was a problem. When we went to Louisville she was well cared for so I have no doubts about her care now, but we are nervious parents...

We ate at Captain Anderson's a local Icon of a resturant. We missed them last time as they close for the holiday season and reopen in early spring. The place was packed and we dropped a c note for dinner...the place is making a killing...was it worth it...absolutley..


Poolside at the Summit



11-13

We have spent two full days here and while our quarters are a lot smaller than we are used to, (about 350 sq ft)there is plenty of space and amenities that we need, like a King sized bed and a washer dryer. Knowing that we could launder stuff allowed me to pack only half of what I would normally pack and I had a plesent surprise when the luggage was weighed. Woody's was overweight by 6 lbs and mine was just 40 lbs. Pretty good considering how heavy the bags are empty, you put a few clothes in there and you get screaming counter people and overweight fees

11-14 The weather has been spectacular, so we have spent our days driving around to different points of intrest. Yours truly is not as agile as she thought she would be so my picture taking has suffered. However the view off out 14th floor balcony is spectacular at sunset and I got some great shots the other night.

sunset


Woody have not talked much. I think he and I have so much on our minds. The situation with going to Louisville and the new business is never far from my mind...Then there is RCIA, where Ed challenged me with one paragraph in the Catachesim..."this is the summation, the rest is commentary" I will be writing more on this at a later time as I want to post on why I am making this huge decision...

11-17

The rest of the trip was wonderful. I got down to the waters edge a number of times but not as much as I would have liked. I was really concerned about putting stress on the newely formed joints in the break in my foot. The tendon is healing and reattached but its going to remain fragile for some time. The sand felt good to walk on as long as it was somewhat stable and level. I wore a sand shoe on the dry sand and that was more stable than athletic shoes.


Woody walking the beach



The water had already turned cold, and the cold burned the broken place but it was delicious to have my feet in the ocean. Walking along the shore, seeing the life in the sand as the sea creatures would work to keep themselves burried as the waves washed over and over the sand, seeing dolphins and loggerhead turtles sticking their heads up to look at us. They were the only other people on the deserted beaches

Other than the night club next door to the resort that cranked up the band all night on the weekends...I hear it everynight during the busy season, how the residents stand it is beyond me... It was a beautiful quiet time
A pool day, poolside at The Summit, Panama City Beach FL

Labels: Florida, Traveling, Woody