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Lanigan’s Weekend at the Beach…
- Ruthie Lanigan
- Feb 2, 2020
- 5 min read
Every once in a while it’s good to get away. By yourself. For me, it’s a chance to catch up on work and catch up on me.
The beach is my zen place. It’s the place I can go to unwind and focus. The place where I find peace.
Jim dropped me at the airport on Friday morning. He was headed to St. Louis for the weekend to have some guy time and I was headed to the beach to have alone time.
The flight was uneventful. I arrived in Panama City Beach around noon and immediately felt calm. My plan was to take a Lyft to my hotel. The problem was, I had never used Lyft before. Yes, you heard that right. I have never arranged for a Lyft or Uber. Luckily I was able to text Jim to make sure I did it right. I ended up with a great driver and a very pleasant drive to my hotel.
Upon arrival, I was greeted by the hotel front desk person, David. David was an extremely personable, bubbly person that I immediately liked. He gave me all my instructions for the hotel and then… told me my room was not quite ready. However, he also told me I could go have lunch at the restaurant next door where I would receive a 10% discount. Easy decision. I was going next door.
Lunch was amazing. Margarita and a salad. Yum. David (from thehotel) called while I was eating and told me my room was ready. The rain however had not let up so I chose to wait just a bit longer. When the rain finally slowed, I decided to head back to the hotel. I got my key and went to my room . Jim had arranged for a King suite with a beach view. (how I love this man). I had a living room, kitchen and bedroom. Very nice. I knew I would be working a lot so I rearranged the table in the living room so while I was sitting working at the desk, I would also be looking out at the beach. Nice way to work, right?
My first day was spent walking three miles on the beach. It was very cloudy so there were very few people on the beach. It was fantastic! I walked alone the entire time. I watched the waves come in and I watched the waves go out. My zen.
In the evening, I walked to a Sharky’s. A great place for dinner! My waitress was great and the food was delicious. The restaurant is on the beach but because of the weather I decided to eat inside. They had heaters going outside but I had gotten chilled earlier so I wanted to stay warm. After dinner, I walked home and had a very early evening.
Saturday morning I woke up thinking I had slept in. It was 5:50 am. Oh well. I got up and started working. My brother, sister-in-law, nephew, niece and great-niece were coming to have an early dinner with me so I wanted to get up and get as much work done as possible before they got here. And I also needed to get a walk along the beach in. My day did not disappoint.
I got about 5 hours of straight work in. No radio, no television, just me, my laptop and the ocean waves. When I finally decided to stop working I wanted to get outside. I changed clothes, put my sandals on and headed to the beach. As I started my walk, there were two women in chairs sitting on the beach. They were all bundled up. Then suddenly one jumped up and put her chair in front of her. There was a bird walking toward her. Yes, a bird. A seagull. She was petrified. I felt bad but I couldn’t stop laughing. The other woman looked at me and asked if the bird would hurt them. I told them no (still laughing) and shooed the bird away. They thanked me over and over and I continued my walk. Laughing. 4 miles later I was ready to head inside. My feet were so cold. I can’t walk along the beach without my feet in the water but the water was pretty chilly . I didn’t realize how cold they were until the last mile. It was well worth it!
I got back to my hotel room just in time to get cleaned up and relax for a bit before my family arrived. I was so excited to see everyone!
When they all arrived, I found out that my great-niece had never been to the beach. I bet you can guess what we did not ….. Yep! To the beach we went. Watching a 1 year old put her feet in the sand for the first time was so cute. At first she wasn’t sure about the texture but after a few minutes she liked it. I carried her out to the water and put her little feet in the water but she didn’t like that much. She did like the sand though and sat down in it to play. My nephew was adorable taking photos of her. He’s a great photographer and will do whatever it takes to get a good shot. Including laying in the sand. We had a really nice time and the sun came out!
After the beach we walked down to Sharkey’s for dinner. I was a good family place and it was close to my hotel. We laughed and ate and really enjoyed the evening. I was so thankful they were all willing to drive down to have dinner with me. It was very special.
My nephew and niece had to leave early so my brother and sister-in-law took me to the shopping district to spend some more time together. The three of us have always had a great time shopping and the tradition definitely continued. We went to the baby clothes store, Target and Bath and Body Works. We had a blast!
Unfortunately, the evening had to come to an end. They had about a 2 hour drive back home so they had to leave. I am so thankful I was able to see them.
I had another early evening since I had to get up early and head out to the airport. I got a couple final shots of the beach as the sun was coming up before I left. Stunning.
I am sitting here now thinking back over the weekend. I feel rested and a little more caught up with my work.
I really appreciate Jim. He understands my crazy way of recharging. We both appreciate time away, time to refuel. He doesn’t come home until tomorrow and I can’t wait to see him!
Life is so very good!
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