The SNOW-BIRDING Episode...

After researching a rental house down in the Destin, Florida, area again for a week at Thanksgiving and maybe even a week at Christmas, Ashlee came to the conclusion that for just a little more in cost, we could rent a house for a couple months and try snow-birding out for the first time.  Granted, Ashlee can do a lot more of it than I can since she works from home, but I tried my best to spend as much time "down south" as possible.  

(Editor's note: We had to then shorten our snow-birding to just a month when the house Ashlee had booked well in advance was very shittily sold out from under her and she was only given a smaller place as an option with only 3 days notice.)

Here's how it went when we were together:

Saturday, November 23 - We spent a rainy day packing.the U-Haul trailer we rented to move Ashlee and 3 of our cats down to Florida for a month.  The giant cat-tree that Byron and Doris love to climb, play and sleep on was a must and took up most of the room in the trailer.

Sunday, November 24 - With much improved weather, we started headin' south early today.  Our first stop was the Alabama state-line rest area.  The cats were troopers for the entire trip and Ashlee did well pull the U-Haul trailer.  Traffic was fairly light and we made good time down to Destin.

We got unpacked and dropped off the U-Haul trailer before dark in and were treated to a beautiful sunset over Choctawhatchee Bay as we crossed the bridge back over to Destin.  

Since I had to go back to work after the holiday week, I followed Ashlee in a sweet G20 Mustang convertible that I got a great deal on for a week's rental.  It was even warm enough to drop the top after we got off I-65.  Our rented condo was, as mentioned before, not what Ashlee had originally rented and was smaller in square footage, but it was still pretty nice and in a great location.  Our sister- and brother-in-law, Paige and Andy, and their daughter, Ellas, joined us for the week.  We celebrated despite the loss of the girls' mom, Evelyn, this year and our first Thanksgiving without her.  

The cats all did well adjusting to the new space.  The babies were a little hesitant about the long staircase, but were soon bounding up and down it with glee.  Ms. Bea's first long trip went well and her elderly-cat habits were about the same as at home, but her appetite was good, and she seemed to enjoy the warm temps coming through an open window in our bedroom.

Monday, November 25 - Today was our first full day of snow-birding and while it was sunny, the temps were still a little cool, so instead of heading to our nearby Crystal Beach,  we opted to head west and check out Navarre Beach which is part of the Gulf Islands National Seashore.  We also had a tasty lunch and some libations at Ye Olde Brothers Brewing nearby.

I got all five of us tickets to see Frozen II in IMAX tonight at the nearby AMC Destin Commons Theaters.  We all enjoyed this impressive sequel.  

Tuesday, November 26- The weather warmed up enough to go to Crystal Beach, a short walk from our condo.  But the wind (and the seagulls) were relentless enough, that we didn't stay too long.  Here's the most consistent of the gulls we named "Jerry" dive-bombing Ella who he was sure had snacks.  

One our best dinners of the week came at Boshamps Seafood and Oyster House just down the road from our condo.  We haven't been here before, but we will be back.  The food was fantastic! 

Boshamps is on the waterfront and has their own little beach, lots of decking and a cool harbor dock.  These big beauties were laying in wait for a fishing tournament the next day.

Wednesday, November 27 - The weather was PERFECT for the beach today and we headed back down to Crystal Beach for several hours of lounging and even got in the water some.  Beforehand, we had a tasty breakfast at Camille's Coffee Shop.

Andy snapped this cool shot of me and Ella in the rolling waves off Crystal Beach.

It was movie time again as I got us all tickets to see A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood starring Tom Hanks as the admirable Mr. Rogers.  It was an interesting true story told from a jaded magazine writer's point of view who was given an assignment to interview the children's icon and it wound up changing his life for the better.  We were back at the AMC Destin Commons thanks to its close proximity to our condo, but we sure we wish they had recliners!!  Before the show we had an excellent dinner at The Craft Bar - Destin as well as some tasty craft beer.  

Thursday, November 28 - Thanksgiving was a pretty lazy day for us.  Instead of a lot of cooking, we just ordered Cracker Barrel To Go which was just around the corner from the condo and lazed around watching Netflix, eating and napping.  

Friday, November 29 and Saturday November 30 -  It was another couple spectacular beach days for us with even warmer temps and more time spent in the water at Crystal Beach.  Friday saw The Gulf with very little waves and looked almost still as a farm pond.  Saturday the waves rolled in again in steady and beautiful fashion.

We drank a nice plethora of canned craft beer during our days on the beach thanks to the excellent selection at Beach Liquors just down the road from our condo. Salute!! 

Sunday, December 1 - Before I hit the road headed back north, we had a wonderful brunch at the Sunset Bay Cafe in the Sandestin Beach and Golf Club complex on the Choctawhatchee Bay.  

Wednesday, December 4 - I stopped by our neighborhood Aldi Store today to grab a Countdown to New Year's Advent Box with seven different bottles of sparkling wine to count down to 2020.
Cheers to the new year!! 

Friday, December 13 - While the weather wasn't that great, it was still nice to be back at the beach with my baby today!  I flew down on Southwest Airlines to Pensacola late last night with our friends, Danny and Brenda, who were joining us for the weekend.  We had a great late lunch at Harbor Docks Restaurant today with a table overlooking the Destin Harbor. 

Saturday, December 14 - The weather improved greatly today and we started the day with breakfast just up the coast at The Whale's Tale.  The food was good and the views were better.

The best find of the morning however was across the road from the beach at Pascalli Kitchen where they have hot, fresh beignet bites available every morning!!  It's NOLA on the beach!! 

The kittens are still enjoying their beach vacation, although Doris was as peeved as I was that Chelsea F.C. took out their new American scoring phenom, Christian Pulisic, in the second half and still needing a goal!!  

Poetry (and scavenging) in motion.  Danny got this great shot of the gulls at Crystal Beach grabbing French fries from The Crab Trap while we were enjoying the sunny weather today. 

We were back at Harbor Docks tonight for dinner when our first choice was closed for a private event, and I didn't mind at all.  I call this my "Cajun Combo" - a bowl of seafood gumbo and a mud-bug sushi roll.  Both were outstanding! 

After our friends, Wendy and Charly, arrived from Nashville this afternoon, it was time to "suit-up" for the Sandy Claws Party.  

That's right, Ashlee had all six of us custom onesies made that we could lounge around in at the condo and out on the beach for a campfire under a million stars...some of which were shooting during the Geminid Meteor Shower.  Thanks so much for this great memory, honey! 

Ashlee also ordered us fancy mini-cupcakes for the night-time beach soiree.  They were fantastic and went down good with several adult libations that we had available.

We barely even got any second looks as we all ambled into a nearby Waffle House on the way back to the condo for a late-night snack in our matching onesies.  

Sunday, December 15 - We went to the beach a little while today, but the wind was relentless and we called it quits after an hour or so.  Before heading to the airport to fly back to Nashville along with Wendy and Charly, we had a tasty late seafood lunch at Dewey Destin's Restaurant. 

Saturday, December 21 - I flew down early today to the Panama City Airport on Southwest from Nashville and Ashlee picked me up.  We had brunch at Big Bad Breakfast in Rosemary Beach on the way back to Destin.

Despite the inclement weather, we toured through the quaint (and fancy) little town of Rosemary Beach.  We would like to come back and stay here sometime and explore a bit more.

We were in the midst of down-south'er nor'easter for a few days and to us it looked more like a Hurricane Light on the radar.  

With the crappy weather raining out the day, we headed over to AMC Destin Commons to took in a showing of the new film, Cats, based on the long-running Broadway Show.  What's with all the negative reviews?  We thought it was pretty good.  It's people dressed as cats...of course it's gonna be weird! 

Sunday, December 22 - We spent a lot of yesterday afternoon and this morning moving from the condo to a much larger house that we had rented before in the very nice Destiny East Subdivision.  This gave everybody much more room to hang out including Paige, Andy and Ella who drove down today from Chattanooga through the icky weather.  

It was an angry Gulf we were watching during an early dinner at The Crab Trap today.

Monday, December 23 - The highlight of this rainy day was going to see the new film, Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker which we all enjoyed immensely.  Me for the second time actually.

Tuesday, December 24 - We got to spend of some of Christmas Eve Day finally back at the beach as the storm moved north and blue skies were once again overhead.

We saw this giant jellyfish and scores of sea cucumbers washed up on the beach today from the storm.  Ashlee read that the sea cucumbers are usually found in very deep water, so no telling how far out those poor guys and this giant had been washed in from.

Wednesday, December 25 - Merry Christmas from the beach!  We had great weather for Christmas and took a stroll after a great early afternoon meal at the house.

Thursday, December 26 - Looking like something out of the aforementioned Star Wars film, this other-worldly looking shot at the beach today (no filters, by the way) does show we had a great afternoon of hazy sun and warm temps.  We even got back in the water a little to close out our holiday beach time here in Destin.

We all took in a showing tonight of the new sequel, Jumanji: The Next Level over at the nearby AMC Destin Commons Theaters.  It was a hoot just like the first one and well enjoyed it.

Friday, December 27 - We did get back to the beach briefly this morning to let our oldest cat, Ms. Bea, check out the sand and smell the surf for her very first time.  She's been a trooper on this long trip being as this is her first real time traveling from home.  

We packed up our U-Haul trailer today for our trip home tomorrow and rewarded ourselves after all the hard work with dinner at Camille's at Crystal Beach.  It was fantastic.  My rib-eye steak (photo above) was tremendous.  They have excellent sushi too.

Friday, December 27 - We finished packing up this morning and had a nice, uneventful drive home with all the cats doing fine.  Thanks to the small-town, true-crime podcast, "Small Town Dicks", for keeping us entertained for the entire 7-or-so-hour trip back home.  

It's gonna be a quick weekend at home before we head out on our New Year's adventure to Dallas!