BEACH BOUND, BABY!!!

Oh, friends. I AM SO EXCITED!!!

On Sunday afternoon, I will be at my happiest of Happy Places! Hello Orange Beach, AL!! And guess who is going? Me and my parents. And that's it. No kids. No hubs. Just us. And the best part? I have my own condo. ALL.TO.MYSELF. For 4 nights. #someonepinchme 

Even if it rains the entire time we're there, just having a condo all to myself with zero responsibility will be incredible after 6 months of being at home day in and day out with my peeps. I love them dearly but what mama doesn't need some alone time to regroup and BREATHE every once in a while?!  I know this one does!

A few months ago, my parents were talking about how they had rebooked their trip to Orange Beach for September. They go twice a year and were supposed to go in May but canceled due to Covid.  So when my mom was telling me about the trip, I said what I always do when people get to go to the beach and I don't. "I'm so jealous. I want to go!".  (I'm such a brat sometimes.) And then I thought about it for a minute and was like, "Uhhhh...could I come??".

All of our vacation plans had gotten canceled too this summer and last summer we decided to switch things up and go to Branson instead of the beach for the first time in years. I loved Branson (you can read all about our trip here--we had the best time!) but I really missed zoning out in front of the waves with a good book until sunset. I wanted the beach!! So I asked to tag along on their trip and of course, they said that sure! My parents are great travel buddies and super laid back beach people--just the way I like it. And since they'd already booked their 1 bedroom condo, I decided to forgo their pull out couch (#hardpass) and just get my own! MY VERY OWN CONDO WITH NO ONE THERE EXCEPT ME FOR 4 NIGHTS!!! Is this really happening?! I talked to Craig about it and he was all for it. He takes guy trips a lot (mostly golf trips with a few hunting and skiing trips thrown in) plus he's gone a lot for football camps. He agreed that I needed this and that I should absolutely do it. #goodman

(Gulf Shores, 2017)

I've never been to the beach in September but I'm looking forward to slightly cooler temps (should be in the high 80s as opposed to high 90s) and much sparser crowds than when we go in summer. We'll have plenty of space to social distance from everyone out on the beach and all the restaurants (if we decide to eat at one instead of just ordering takeout) should be much much less crowded as well. But for the most part, it's just going to be a schedule of sleeping in, dragging myself and all my junk down to the beach every morning and sitting under my umbrella with my Kindle, chit-chatting with my parents, going back to the room maybe once to get some lunch, and then back down until sunset. Dinner on a restaurant patio or takeout and then maybe some TV watching on my laptop on my balcony at night. 

It's going to look a little different this time around, that's for sure!

(These are a few favorites from past vacations.)

Crab hunting at night will be an elective this year instead of compulsory since there are no kids losing their minds over the thought of capturing dozens of tiny white crabs in a bucket. 

I also won't have to deal with germy arcades (if y'all have been around here long enough then you know I loathe arcades!), and no "I'm bored", "I want to go back to the condo", "I want to go up to the pool", "I'm hungry", "I'm hot" from anyone at the exact moment my book is getting good. Just whatever I want, when I want and no one to answer to.

I seriously can't wait. But I also know I'll miss my fam like crazy and wish they were with me about 24 hours in. 😢

Now if you're wondering about the rest of my crew dealing with that crazy schedule I told y'all about on Wednesday, don't worry. I called in reinforcements. Craig's parents are coming in today and will be on hand to pick up where I left off. That was the only way I would leave them for this long. There's no way I'd be selfish enough to hit the beach while Craig was left dealing with alllll of these things by himself. Mimi and PawPaw have got this and even told me to stay longer if I wanted. (I mean...)

I leave tomorrow after Mason's first football game and will drive to my parents' house about 2.5 hours away in Texarkana. Then we'll leave first thing Sunday morning. Yes, we'll be practicing every single COVID safety measure there is on this trip. Trust me. My mom is on it. 😉

Of course, I'll be leaving a detailed list for everyone but since the boys are so independent now, I don't think it's going to be that hard. They will be fine. (Currently my motto on repeat...)

The only downside to all this is that my parents are staying Sunday to Sunday and I am only staying until Thursday. (I just felt too guilty staying longer.) So that means I have to drive by myself. Boo. It's about a 9-10 hour drive from my parents' house and I'll follow them there. But on Thursday, I'll have to drive back alone. I've done this before on several of our cross-country moves when Craig was in the NFL (Lousiana to Green Bay, Green Bay to Buffalo, Buffalo to Mckinney) so it's not a huge deal but it would be a lot more awesome if I got to sleep the whole way like I normally do. 😂  

I've got my audiobooks loaded up and ready to go which will be interspersed with some super embarrassing music like the Glee, Smash & Pitch Perfect soundtracks, a little Chicago, some 80s faves, and most definitely lots of songs from the 2000s because when else can I rock out to "Hey Ya" and "Nelly" without feeling like someone I know is going to pull up next to me at redlight. 😂

I'm sure I'll be documenting as much as I can on Instagram so if you want to follow along on my trip, you can find me @amandanall! It'll probably look a whole lot like this... 😉

Find all my travel recaps HERE. 

And before I go, I can't not mention the 19th anniversary of 9/11. I can't believe it's been 19 years! I can fall back into those horrifying moments in time so easily and see it all so clearly in my head. Last year I blogged about where I was on 9/11 and what my morning looked like as I started to hear the news. You can find it here if you want to read it.

GOD BLESS AMERICA. #neverforget

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Linking up with Erika and Andrea for Friday Favorites, High 5 for Friday, Nancy, Simply Sweet Home, Friday at the Firehouse, and Create with Joy.