Labor Day weekend we decided to head to Flomaton, AL to meet Ryan. He was working 45 minutes from Pensacola, FL so we were going to make it a beach weekend. Our friends Adam & Heidi decided to come along with us, and we were excited.
Of course, when we plan something is when it can't go right! Tropical Storm/Hurricane Lee decided to grace us with his presence the ENTIRE weekend!! It started to make landfall Friday and it didn't leave until Monday....we left Friday and came home Monday!! It was supposed to be a 5 hour drive and it took us 8 1/2 to get there. I woke up Saturday morning to find out I was having pregnancy complications, so Ryan and I headed to the ER while Adam, Heidi, and Cullen slept in! Everything was ok, so we headed to Fort Walton, FL to go to the aquarium. We got there at 2:30 to find out they close at 2!! What aquarium closes at 2 on a Saturday??? Cullen had been locked in a car for most of Friday, then was confined to the camper Saturday morning, and it was looking like we didn't have anything to do Saturday afternoon....we were both getting quite irritable!!
We ended up seeing an "outlet mall" with a playground in the middle of it, so Heidi and I made the executive decision that we would shop while Cullen could play a little while. The bad part was.....it was not an outlet mall. It was simply a shopping center with some not so great shops in it!
It was drizzling, but Cullen still had a ball. He and Ryan were soaked, but he got some energy out while we figured out something to do.
We did some research and found a Fudpuckers in Destin (5 miles away) with an arcade next door to it, so we headed that way. We played in the arcade for a while and let Cullen run around a little more, then we headed next door to eat.
Fudpuckers has an alligator area at the bottom of the restaurant, so we walked around and checked that out while we waited for our table.
Ryan trying to get Cullen to pet the big gator....he knew better. Even though it was stuffed he wanted no part of it.
They had a little area that you could feed the real alligators in the water. We didn't do that because there were so many people doing that, but it was neat to watch them.
They were all pretty little, but I can imagine that they can't have big ones!!
My gator wrestler
Sunday we decided to take a chance and just go to Pensacoloa. We drove around, and decided to head to the beach. It was actually sunny, so we thought the storm was over. The waves and the wind were absolutely terrible, but otherwise it was ok.
Adam, Cullen, Ryan, and Heidi. We were deciding whether or not to put our bathing suits on.
Ryan, Adam, and Cullen put theirs on. Cullen did not want to go near the water. I guess he sensed the danger, but it didn't stop Ryan and Adam.
Checking out the water temperature. It was cold, but not that bad.
Heidi and I decided to go and get us some drinks and snacks and try to find some cheap chairs and boogie boards for the boys. We found some boards...cheap, not so much. We found really expensive chairs so we passed on those and when we got back we found Cullen buried to his chest in sand!
Not long after it started to get pretty dark, so we knew the storm was not finished and we could see it move inward again. We decided to stay in a hotel that night and let Cullen swim in the indoor pool. We had to make a Wal-Mart trip to get some essentials because we had nothing for an overnight stay. We got up the next morning, had some breakfast, and headed back to the camper. When we got there we realized it had gotten pretty bad there and it was probably best that we stayed in Pensacola. We packed up and headed back home...in the sunny weather!
It was a stressful, but memorable trip. It is something to laugh about now, but it seemed like a total disaster at the time!
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