Arriving at our rental condo around 3:30, we were delighted to find a) covered parking from the rain and b) no line up at either the check in or the elevator/luggage carriers.
We were amazed to see the condo we'd selected. You know how you see pictures online for a place and then arrive and are disappointed at the false advertising? Not the case here! Our little 1 bedroom condo aka home for the week far exceeded our expectations. Here's a couple pics for you to see "our" place:
Crescent Keyes condo
Bedroom
Bathroom
Kitchen
Living Room
Outdoor Pool
Lazy River
Indoor PoolThe pictures turned out a little dark, but that was mostly because it was dark and gloomy when we first arrived and we wanted to take pics before our condo looked too lived in if you know what I mean!
We quickly unpacked and were on our way to Barefoot Landing for dinner at Tbonz ~ hubby had the seafood special while I had the sirloin stir fry. After dinner we stopped to pick up a few groceries.
About an hour after getting home we saw lights flashing outside the balcony window. What is that? I asked myself. I head outside to look down the beach and to our surprise... there about 2 hotels down along the sandy shore were spectacular flashes of multi-colored fireworks. Other tenants along our floor were peeking out on their balconies to catch the show. I couldn't help but ask myself Does it get any better than this? A FABULOUS condo AND fireworks on the beach! Apparently it does! Keep reading...
So... after a great night's sleep on a nice firm bed (much like ours at home), I awoke around 8am and prepared a steaming cup of my favorite "vanilla black" tea, grabbed my Bible and head out to the balcony to enjoy the early morning sunshine overlooking the Atlantic Ocean. This is the life I'm thinking to myself.
Around 9am I head back into our well-stocked kitchen and throw together a scrumptious Sunday morning breakfast of French Toast, bacon and fresh fruit for my hubby who had just awoken from his night's slumber. After breakfast we got our beach necessities together and head down to find our sandy plot along the shore where we read and walked along the water's edge. The riptides caused by Hurricane Bill made it more dangerous to venture out into the surf so for today we decided to stay out of the water... sort of.
On one of our morning walks down the beach, hubby & I passed the watersports booth where they offer banana boat rides and parasailing. Before hubby left on vacation, he and a co-worker had been talking about the many adventures the co-worker been on and she encouraged hubby to embrace life more. Apparently today he decided to take her advice.
As we walked by the watersports booth, hubby suggested we go see what it costs to parasail. Neither of us had ever been before and to be perfectly honest, I'm not sure if I ever would have suggested it, but hubby had a hankering to try some adventure and before we knew it we were walking back to our condo to pick up his Mastercard and soon found ourselves splashing through the surf on a Kodiak boat on our way to the big parasail boat.
The girl at the booth had quoted us a discounted price for our adventure which was totally cool, and the boatrides taken both to and on the parasail boat were worth the money alone. Once on the big speed boat, we watched the first couple swoop up into the sky with the happy faced parachute behind them. Are we really doing that? The waves were very bouncy out on the boat and often I found myself squealing. "Are you ready?" I asked hubby. "Oh yea... it's going to be fun!" he responded. I wasn't completely convinced but wondered at the same time how my usually cautious hubby was now "Mr. Adventure". Life is full of surprises for sure!
Couple #1 was pulled back into the boat. "Okay, you two... skooch up here" the tanned young man formerly from Hawaii and part of the boat's crew, instructs us. He clips our harnesses onto the big rig and within minutes we are making our way up into the sky, far above the water. What are we doing? that little voice of "reason" says inside me.
Do you ever wonder why it is that as we get older that voice speaks louder than in our youth? I was reminded while I was floating in the peaceful air high above the birds, of similar fearful feelings I've experienced riding the rides at the local amusement park. What if the equipment fails? At this height, I would die if the ropes failed and we hit the water. I wish my mind didn't go to those places but a few times during our ride I had to remind myself to just enjoy.
Up in the sky riding the big yellow happy face parachute, hubby & I looked down and saw many stingrays below the water's surface. How cool is THAT! we thought. Soon our ride was coming to an end but first the boat captain dipped us down into the water and then whooshed us back up into the air before pulling us back into the boat.
After our ride, while Couple #3 was having their turn, the young tanned man pointed out a school of dolphin swimming by on the ocean side of the boat. I was beyond excited because that is always my dream/wish when at the ocean... to see dolphins! Like a giddy school girl, I was thrilled at this latest development in our parasailing adventure.
Couple 3 made it safely back into the big boat and soon the Kodiak boat was back to pick us up to take us to shore. We all hopped back into the smaller boat and began to make our way back to shore. I spotted more dolphins and next thing we knew the boat driver whipped us around out deeper into the water to find the dolphins which we finally spotted about 50 feet in front of us. I was beyond excited and SO happy that I had pointed them out, otherwise the driver may not have turned around.
As our adventure came to an end I couldn't help but think back to last night when I questioned whether our vacation could get any better than fireworks in front of our hotel and apparently it could! I was pinching myself all afternoon at the exciting turn of events our first full day of vacation brought.
Our afternoon was quiet. We sat on the beach, me reading & hubby soaking up the sun before we head to the pool and lazy river for a bit. Around 4:30 we went up to the workout room to exercise for about an hour before having dinner (left overs from last night) and a couple games of Bocce Ball on the beach. By 8pm we were back up in the condo, ready to watch Big Brother (Go Jeff!)
As I reflect on today I am amazed at God's goodness to us and His incredible gift of this vacation. This is our first time alone at the beach in probably 10 years and we are enjoying one another's company and our surroundings SO much! I am speechless as to how amazing this has been already & I can't imagine anything more, yet we have 5 more days before heading back to Raleigh for a few days.
Thank you Jesus for this incredible gift. I know hubby needs this vacation to unwind and it has already been SO good for him! After today, I seriously doubt it could get any better than today!
Oh... and before I go today... check out my nephew-in-law's blog for an updated prayer request for K & P and the triplets at their blog Quickly Outnumbered.
We quickly unpacked and were on our way to Barefoot Landing for dinner at Tbonz ~ hubby had the seafood special while I had the sirloin stir fry. After dinner we stopped to pick up a few groceries.
About an hour after getting home we saw lights flashing outside the balcony window. What is that? I asked myself. I head outside to look down the beach and to our surprise... there about 2 hotels down along the sandy shore were spectacular flashes of multi-colored fireworks. Other tenants along our floor were peeking out on their balconies to catch the show. I couldn't help but ask myself Does it get any better than this? A FABULOUS condo AND fireworks on the beach! Apparently it does! Keep reading...
So... after a great night's sleep on a nice firm bed (much like ours at home), I awoke around 8am and prepared a steaming cup of my favorite "vanilla black" tea, grabbed my Bible and head out to the balcony to enjoy the early morning sunshine overlooking the Atlantic Ocean. This is the life I'm thinking to myself.
Around 9am I head back into our well-stocked kitchen and throw together a scrumptious Sunday morning breakfast of French Toast, bacon and fresh fruit for my hubby who had just awoken from his night's slumber. After breakfast we got our beach necessities together and head down to find our sandy plot along the shore where we read and walked along the water's edge. The riptides caused by Hurricane Bill made it more dangerous to venture out into the surf so for today we decided to stay out of the water... sort of.
On one of our morning walks down the beach, hubby & I passed the watersports booth where they offer banana boat rides and parasailing. Before hubby left on vacation, he and a co-worker had been talking about the many adventures the co-worker been on and she encouraged hubby to embrace life more. Apparently today he decided to take her advice.
As we walked by the watersports booth, hubby suggested we go see what it costs to parasail. Neither of us had ever been before and to be perfectly honest, I'm not sure if I ever would have suggested it, but hubby had a hankering to try some adventure and before we knew it we were walking back to our condo to pick up his Mastercard and soon found ourselves splashing through the surf on a Kodiak boat on our way to the big parasail boat.
The girl at the booth had quoted us a discounted price for our adventure which was totally cool, and the boatrides taken both to and on the parasail boat were worth the money alone. Once on the big speed boat, we watched the first couple swoop up into the sky with the happy faced parachute behind them. Are we really doing that? The waves were very bouncy out on the boat and often I found myself squealing. "Are you ready?" I asked hubby. "Oh yea... it's going to be fun!" he responded. I wasn't completely convinced but wondered at the same time how my usually cautious hubby was now "Mr. Adventure". Life is full of surprises for sure!
Couple #1 was pulled back into the boat. "Okay, you two... skooch up here" the tanned young man formerly from Hawaii and part of the boat's crew, instructs us. He clips our harnesses onto the big rig and within minutes we are making our way up into the sky, far above the water. What are we doing? that little voice of "reason" says inside me.
Do you ever wonder why it is that as we get older that voice speaks louder than in our youth? I was reminded while I was floating in the peaceful air high above the birds, of similar fearful feelings I've experienced riding the rides at the local amusement park. What if the equipment fails? At this height, I would die if the ropes failed and we hit the water. I wish my mind didn't go to those places but a few times during our ride I had to remind myself to just enjoy.
Up in the sky riding the big yellow happy face parachute, hubby & I looked down and saw many stingrays below the water's surface. How cool is THAT! we thought. Soon our ride was coming to an end but first the boat captain dipped us down into the water and then whooshed us back up into the air before pulling us back into the boat.
After our ride, while Couple #3 was having their turn, the young tanned man pointed out a school of dolphin swimming by on the ocean side of the boat. I was beyond excited because that is always my dream/wish when at the ocean... to see dolphins! Like a giddy school girl, I was thrilled at this latest development in our parasailing adventure.
Couple 3 made it safely back into the big boat and soon the Kodiak boat was back to pick us up to take us to shore. We all hopped back into the smaller boat and began to make our way back to shore. I spotted more dolphins and next thing we knew the boat driver whipped us around out deeper into the water to find the dolphins which we finally spotted about 50 feet in front of us. I was beyond excited and SO happy that I had pointed them out, otherwise the driver may not have turned around.
As our adventure came to an end I couldn't help but think back to last night when I questioned whether our vacation could get any better than fireworks in front of our hotel and apparently it could! I was pinching myself all afternoon at the exciting turn of events our first full day of vacation brought.
Our afternoon was quiet. We sat on the beach, me reading & hubby soaking up the sun before we head to the pool and lazy river for a bit. Around 4:30 we went up to the workout room to exercise for about an hour before having dinner (left overs from last night) and a couple games of Bocce Ball on the beach. By 8pm we were back up in the condo, ready to watch Big Brother (Go Jeff!)
As I reflect on today I am amazed at God's goodness to us and His incredible gift of this vacation. This is our first time alone at the beach in probably 10 years and we are enjoying one another's company and our surroundings SO much! I am speechless as to how amazing this has been already & I can't imagine anything more, yet we have 5 more days before heading back to Raleigh for a few days.
Thank you Jesus for this incredible gift. I know hubby needs this vacation to unwind and it has already been SO good for him! After today, I seriously doubt it could get any better than today!
Oh... and before I go today... check out my nephew-in-law's blog for an updated prayer request for K & P and the triplets at their blog Quickly Outnumbered.
9 comments:
You tell it so well...I feel like I am there with you.
Enjoy!!
xox
Oooh, lazy river! I'm jealous...
... sounds like you guys are having such a good time though! Way to be adventurous Doug!
Wow! It sounds so relaxing...other than the parasailing, which would have freaked me out! I'm so glad the two of you are able to enjoy this time together. Your condo looks absolutely lovely! Blessings to you both!
What a great post! Looks like you had a wonderful time with a wonderful man at a wonderful place.
Hi Sue! Sounds like everything is perfect! How nice that your hubby's coworker suggested he embrace life and he took it to heart. Now he's got you doing it, too! :) I still think it's very brave of you to parasail. I think you're ready for Survivor! (((Hugz)))
Wow, what a day for you guys :-) Did you get pics of the parasailing? Can't wait to see if you did.
Hope the rest of your week just keeps getting better sweetie.
huggles
xxxxx
Way cool! It is a great feeling to see dolphins. Your condo looks great!
Hi Sue!
What an awesome time for you and Doug!! The condo looks fabulous!
Love to you
xxxx
Wow! What a vacation!! I'd like to wiggle my nose and be on the beach where you all are! How beautiful! You'll have to tell me the website that you found that condo on. I'm always worried to book a vacation without knowing someone who has been there!
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