Wednesday, October 07, 2009

Arriving at Navarre Beach

View form Condo Dinning Room
View of the bay from the Condo Breeze Way. Our Condo over looked the bay and the ocean.
The fountain in front of the condo

The pier that led from our condo to the beach


We arrived at Navarre around 7 pm Thursday evening. We had hoped to be there sooner but with 5 children and 3 adults there were several potty stops along the way. We also got a latter start than we had anticipated. Wednesday we drove till 2 am then stopped for a few hours of sleep. We were up by 8am and out of the hotel by 9.

A friend of ours had suggested that we take the scenic route and drive along the coast. I am so glad that we chose to take their advice. It added some extra time but was worth every second. As soon as we hit the coast all we could see was the never ending ocean and what looked to be snow. Of course it was sand but it was hard to convince your mind otherwise. James and I had Noah and Philip with us and Amber had the 3 girls. We took walkie talkies so that we could communicate anytime we wanted. The kids faces were plastered to the windows and they were about to jump out of the vehicles. About 15 mins from the condo we let the kids out to play. The sun was going down and we had promised them that they would see the beach by the end of the day. We were so close; we were not about to let them down at this point. As soon as we parked they were off. I wish that I had captured better photos of that first night but I was having trouble with Danny's camera. He had it set on delay and we could not figure how to get it off. The kids just ran and ran. We did not tell them that they should not go in the water so the first thing they did was run in knee deep. This would not have been a problem except Olivia kept getting splashed and was soaked. She then went and laid in the sand and was covered from head to toe. There was no place to rinse off (except the ocean) and that only made things worse. In the end we stripped her down at the van and found some new clothes. This would only be the beginning to the mounds of sand in the vehicles.

The first night was amazing and one we will never forget. There was a full moon and the water was warm and beautiful. We were a little concerned that we saw so many dead jelly fish on the shore the first night, but we did not see any the rest of the trip.

The condo was beautiful and spacious. We had never stayed in a condo so we did not know what to expect. It was very well kept and had so much room for us to spread out. The kids loved it. We were a little worried the first night. There were lots of pretties and tow little boys that were wound up tight. They settled after the first night and thankfully we never broke anything. James and I had our own room with walk in shower, jacuzzi tub and separate balcony. Amber had a room with jacuzzi tub, balcony, kitchenette and washer dryer combo. The kids all shared a large room with two queen size beds and separate bath. Their bath tub was huge but did not have jets. One of our favorite things in the condo was the main balcony and the ice maker. The kitchen was great and the dinning room and living room were beautiful. There were views of the ocean from every room except the bathrooms. We also had an office area off the kitchen along with a laundry room. This came in handy so that we could have laundry going in both areas. That was a big plus when you are dealing with that much sand. The owners of the condo painted all the art work. They were beautiful pieces and I wish that we could have taken a few of them home. The pools were very clean, though the heated pool was not very warm. We did enjoy the hot tub a few times though. The kids did not care that the pool was chilly so that was all that mattered. Every thing at the resort was easy to get to and well cared for. They had carts so that you did not have to carry groceries or supplies up. The pier was beautiful and made for a very short walk to the beach.

We still have more stories to post and pictures to share. We have been so busy since we got home, but I will continue to add to the post so that we have these memories to look back on. Noah is ready to sell the house and move to Florida. My caliente boy is just too warm blooded for these Arkansas winters. I'm not sure he will ever adjust.

More later...must get to bed.

1 comments:

Reba said...

I am with Noah. I am always ready to take off for Florida. What precious pictures and memories! I cannot wait to hear more. Truly...one of my favorite places to be (the beach). I am so glad you went!