Home Away From Home

(originally posted on July 30, 2014)

I'm sitting at the outside bar at "The Great Southern" in Seaside, FL, reprising a splendid afternoon I visit I had last summer w/Sleeping Joe.  If further proof is needed that my visit this afternoon is indeed a sequel, Sleeping Joe is alongside once again, his stroller bellied up to the bar.  I love this place.

We're on vacation for the 6th consecutive year in Santa Rosa Beach this week, staying in the same house in Old Florida Village ("Cracker Jack") we stayed in last year.  Joe and I slipped over to Seaside this afternoon, so he could catch a nap and I could catch a cold beer or two.

I've been thinking, there are advantages and disadvantages to vacationing at the same place every year.

If you're a creature of habit, like I am, and averse to change, like I am, vacationing in the same place every year brings with it a certain allure.  Over the years, I've explored and discovered several running routes in and around Santa Rosa Beach, including most recently the Longleaf Pine Greenways Trail that is near our house and simply the perfect place for a 4-5 mile trail run.  I've discovered coffee houses I can sneak away to with Joe (or J.P. in the old days) while he naps and I catch upon e-mail, blog a bit or just read (Grayt Coffee House, Starbucks in Grayton Beach (gone now) and Ama Vida in Seaside.  The same holds true for bars/restaurants I like to slip into while Joe naps, places like The Great Southern, Crush in Seaside, Red Bar in Grayton Beach, etc.).  As a family, we've found restaurants we like to eat at every trip, places like Local Catch, Elmo's and the Pickle Factory.

And we always, always return to see our friend, Jed, at Blue Mountain Beach Creamery, an ice cream shop he and his family opened shortly before our first trip to Santa Rosa Beach 6 years ago.  We've stayed in touch with Jed and, as such, one of the highlights of our vacation every year is stopping by his shop for the first of several afternoon or evening visits and seeing him again.  The ice cream there is amazing.

Disadvantages?  Well, I'm not exactly exploring ne running routes, coffee houses, bars and restaurants.

Same old, same old?  Probably, but for me, that's just about right.