Palm Beach Break

So, you read about Libby and Matthew's stay with their grandparents in the previous posts.

While they were doing their thing with their grandparents, Michael and I were... alone.

Matthew left us on Saturday afternoon before we left town on Sunday to attend the convention we have attended the last several years for his work.

I got a little teary when Matthew left, especially since Libby already ditched us the day before to head to Florida. So I used the time to clean, clean, clean! This house was picked up and fairly clean all at once. It was kind of nice to leave a tidy house and come home to one after our trip.

However, Michael and I wanted to do something fun, too. We checked out the movies playing at the theater and weren't excited enough with the options to pay movie theater money, especially when we had a ton of movies recorded at home from the last few years that we haven't watched yet and really DID want to see. But we did want to get out of the house. So we walked over to the neighborhood courts for some tennis! Michael joined his singles tennis league again this spring so it was good to get him some practice and we both improved during out time out there. It was warm and late afternoon, but it was mostly overcast and wasn't nearly as hot as some summer afternoons, so we really had a nice time. We also went out to eat and then came home to watch "Silver Linings Playbook!" What a great date day.

On Sunday, it was off to the airport (but not too early) and to Palm Beach. I told Michael that usually we stop to hike one the way to this thing when it's in Virginia, but this year we'd just be hiking Hartsfield-Jackson! Not quite the same.

First, let me apologize for the lack of photos of the resort. I was just lazy about taking them, but it was really beautiful. You can check out photos online, though. One of my favorite things was the GIGANTIC floral arrangement in the lobby that changed maybe every day? At least once while we were there, though. Wow. And their magazine had photos of some of the events and weddings there. Let me just say that I would not mind attending such a function someday.

Also, like someone who hasn't flown since 9/11/01, we made the mistake of putting two bottles of sunscreen that was more than 3.5 oz. in our carry-on. One still had the SEAL ON IT. Well, TSA wasn't having it, so they tossed it. They had such an attitude about it too -- and come on. But whatever, we could surely guy sunscreen at the Palm Beach airport, right? Or see a drugstore on the way from the airport to the hotel and just have the cab pull over for a second. Nope and nope. So a resort-purchased $22 bottle of spray sunscreen later... yeah. Not awesome.

Our room was well appointed and we supposedly received an "upgrade" to a "partial ocean view." That meant if you tilted your head at the windows, you could indeed see the ocean!

However, we did discover that we were practically the only people with only a shower and no tub. We tried so hard not to make a fuss about it with the front desk. Ha.

Truly, our stay really was nice. I read three magazines cover to cover, as well as my book club book (that we got together to discuss this week) "Burial Rites." Plus, I finally finished Kerouac's "On the Road." Here's the first photo we sent to the grandmas.

The beach seriously could use some re-nourishment, as there is not a ton of actual beach. However, it was a nice touch that there was someone sweeping the wooden stairs between the beach and pool areas higher up to ensure that gritty sand did not spoil your pool experience. Also, there were plenty of fine staff members to assist you in covering your pool chair so you wouldn't have to overexert yourself by spreading your own towel out. The horror!

The BREAKERS!

So the first afternoon we went to the beach before the welcoming reception that evening, but after that, we mainly did just hang out at the pools. This little guy visited there, so I snapped a photo to send Libby!

I brought a tun of snacks with us so we wouldn't have to spend toooo terribly much on food. There was a reception the first night we were there where we spoke to some good folks and ate a bit. We walked to a locally famous restaurant off the resort that evening for dinner, but the next night we were on our own and decided to stay and enjoy some of the delights of The Breakers. We had planned to visit a couple of places, but first went to The Seafood Bar to have a drink, because I HAD to have a drink at a bar with an aquarium as part of the bar - yes, fish, sea stars, etc. swimming under my beverage! and we wound up running into one of Michael's golf partners from the tournament that day (they won!) and never left. He also picked up the tab, which was a nice touch.

Here's the photo I sent Sheridan of our signature drink:

We really missed the kiddos and were excited to get home to them. But the last night was the banquet, which also had quite tasty food - YUM key lime pie with a chocolate crust for dessert (a fave), but instead of dancing like previous years, we had a musician perform. Clint Holmes was actually pretty good, even if he was a one-hit-wonder back in the 70s. He had a pretty interesting personal story and his voice was definitely good. I missed the dancing, though! We may have also managed to pick up a new client for Michael's firm, thanks to the golf tournament and our dinner with the president and board members of the same bank. So we'll see...

Some members of the group spotted, and even got photos with, Rod Stewart the first night we were there. But shoot, I literally ran into him on the streets of London in high school AND he was with Rachel Hunter, so I think that was better. Apparently Jennifer Aniston had been there two weeks before us, too. I bet neither of them had just a shower and only a partial view... HA! (I mean, you even had to pay extra to use the gym.) But they may not have been hoarding snacks from home, either.

We really did have a nice time. Thanks, Michael's work, for sending him! And thank you, Rob, for dinner.