In the words of my fourteen year old daughter...OMG. In the words of her mother "Holy %$@& ."We arrived in Destin after cruising out from home only to get four miles from home when the car made a funky sound that made Massey and I look at each other and say "Maybe it was a bump in the road."
Turns out it wasn't a bump in the road but a bump in the engine. The engine light came on like a beacon saying "Ha Ha...you THOUGHT you were going on a trip."
We turned the car back and went to the only mechanic I know...the guy that put on my new tires. He bumped us ahead of every one of the dozen or so people sitting in his lobby and put a mechanic right on it. Thirty minutes later he said "You needed new plugs and still have an o2 sensor out but you are good to go for your trip."
I asked him how much I owed him and he said $172. I threw up in my mouth a little bit and asked him if I could post date a check? He said I could put any date I wanted... I tried to figure out what would be a year from now but figured two weeks would be good. He was so nice and this is the main reason that I always go to him.
We jumped back into the car and headed off...two hours behind schedule but feeling pretty good.
I got my directions from Google... they led us through every PO DUNK town there was in south Georgia and a couple of even smaller ones in Alabama if you can believe there are smaller ones than Prattville and I think one of them was called Mayberry Jr.
Six hours later we pulled up in front of a mansion (in our minds) and I told Massey not to get excited I might be lost again.
BINGO...for once Mama had it right and we had both hit the jack pot!
Right across from the beach...gated community, a house that I have dreamed of having... the kind I thought maybe Kevin Costner would somehow give me when he saw one of my facebook posts and say "This is a liberal gal that I need to help out."
BINGO...Me and Massey had just hit the big time!
We pulled into the drive and it was an instant "Nirvana" experience.
My dear friend from high school welcomed us with open 'gates' and Massey and I began a weekend of healing that I have needed for over a year.
Massey had asked me on the way down what the sleeping arrangements would be and I told her we would most likey be bunking together.
We arrived to have a tour of the mansion (in our minds)...and when Del showed us the first bedroom Massey said "Yes...I want this room." I said I was fine with that when my friend said "Okay, that means you have THIS bedroom, Kelly."
I was led to a room that I never wanted to leave. A huge suite with my own balcony my own bath and a bed that must have been the bed that Goldi Locks finally settled into. I have never felt a softer or fluffier bed. I laid down and immediately knew I would never want to get up.
I slept like a princess and woke to the smell of breakfast and Massey sitting on my comfy bed. She said her hair was wet but I encouraged her to just sink into my bed...one that you would never think of rising from unless there was a hurricane or unless my friend from high school said a tornado was headed straight for the master suite. If it hit downstairs I could still watch on CNN and hope for the best. 700 count thread sheets VS a storm...I'll take my chances She is lucky I didn't drive a truck down because that mattress would have been loaded in the bed of my truck before they ever got up and I would have slunk away from Destin with the greatest mattress on earth and consider it a swap out for feeding us for three days.
I didn't have a truck so I went downstairs to eat a huge breakfast and Massey and I were treated to a day on the beach like we were extras on a "Baywatch" shoot. They had a cart that held all the chairs towels and floats, we carried a cooler with a radio installed in the front, they had a huge canopy to sit under (Granted it was UGA...but a girl can suffer when she has to.)
We spent the day at the beach. I got burned to a crisp and we loaded it all back up and went home to a meal fit for Emeril.
Woke up the next day (a little too early for me in my new favorite bed) and did it all again.
We went out to dinner that night and I ate so much that I thought I would throw up, the shrimp was so good that it felt like a crime to leave a tail untouched and I was thrilled to be headed back to my feather bed.
Beach again the next day...The waves looked like they were rolling in from Maui. My friend and I went out to cool down and got pounded to death. When I saw my six foot tall friend go under the first time I knew my little butt was about to get creamed.
We laughed, we panted and we made it out alive with our suits filled with sea weed and our lungs looking for help.
Came home to another excellent meal...Crab cakes, Grouper with a mango salsa...fresh asparagus and garlic mashed potatoes. Elllen even threw in a pomegranate martini that just screamed "Take me back to my feather bed." To top it off we had Creme Brulee..."Geez...do these people even know that I ALREADY don't want to leave?"
The first day we joined a "hands across the sand" protest on the beach where you stood by the shore for five minutes side by side...incredible how many lazy people wouldn't get out of their chair for five minutes to show support for the Gulf. It made me embarassed for them but grateful for the fact that it bothered my fourteen year old daughter.
It was an amazing weekend...it was a weekend I have needed for over a year...it was an eye opening experience that I have people that love me and want to help me. I have friends that care about me and show me the true meaning of friendship.
Massey was blown away by the love and care these women showed us. I was blown away by the fact that after 30 years...my friend seemed to love me even more.
Enjoy the pics of their dogs (you know what a dog lover I am) enjoy the pics of their house and the pics of our trips. Enjoy and think about the pics of all of us standing hand to hand protesting the spill.
In my opinion the fisherman should go out to the contaminated waters...catch all the contaminated shrimp, fish and oysters they can and BP should pay them fair market value for their catch and relocate all wildlife that remains to a safe location.
Til next time ...COTTON
Be sure to click on the pics and be sure to click on the video... It was the most amazing time I have had in YEARS.
Can't wait to go back (Shhh...don't tell THEM)
No comments:
Post a Comment