I haven’t had a vacation in over five years. The last time I went to the beach was when I still lived in Dorset, UK. When my mother asked me if I would spend her 60th birthday with her in Destin, FL, I said of course! The theme of the trip was “do nothing.” This was a decompression trip, a time to let go of every day life. We achieved our objective and then some.

Our day began with coffee and breakfast and quickly moved to sitting on the beach for 5 hours (or till they kicked us out of the lounge chairs we’d rented along with an umbrella).

My mother gets 5 stars for doing nothing. You could not pull her from her chair. I, on the other hand, am not as excelled at doing nothing. I swam in the crystal clear gulf waters, walked along the shore, took a ton of photos, did some outlining for Other Worlds and caught up on some reading (all from the comfort of my lounge chair).

What I read:

Advanced Photoshop: The Premium Collection Vol 6 – It’s been sitting on top of my printer since March??

The Greyfriar by Clay and Susan Griffith – Five Stars!! Brilliant! I became so engrossed in this book I was startled several times when anyone interrupted my reading. The second and third books must be mine!

What else?

As I said, I did some outlining for Other Worlds. Now that Erin and D’aerul realize they have a map the story is going to explode.

I also bought John Anealio’s new album, Laser Zombie Robot Love. I can’t remember exactly how I found John’s music but it was probably via Twitter. The first song I recall hearing was his NaNoWriMo ditty last year. If you’re an artist, writer, indie music lover, and/or creative geek you must check him out!

Laser Zombie Robot Love by John Anealio

I wanted to insert a nifty widget for listening to the tracks, but WordPress is not cooperating with me today. Grr. Arrrg.

When our day at the beach was over we headed out for a meal.

The Most Scenic: The Back Porch

The Back Porch is a family favorite. We’ve eaten here in years past. The best feature by far are the large open windows that look out onto the ocean.

The Most Delicious: Camille’s

Camille’s is one of those restaurants that doesn’t look like much from the road, but it’s a gem.

At the end of the day we plopped ourselves onto the couch, watched a movie till we couldn’t keep our eyes open and then began the routine all over again the next day.