Best Beach Weekend Ever.....

My sweet friend Callie just graduated from Vet School and in celebration we all headed down to Rosemary Beach, Florida for a weekend filled with sun, fun and a bunch of our friends. Our friend Napoleon's family owns a beach house there, and when i first heard of this, i was expecting a small beachy house, probably a bit older, with a cute white picket fence. What i got was a sprawling 5 bedroom mansion in a privately owned community outside of Panama City Beach with imported european sand....seriously....

When we walked inside, and i really thought i was stepping into the Real World House. It boasted 3 stories, a full gourmet kitchen, marble bathrooms, hardwood floors, 2 master suites including large full sauna/steam showers, 3 outdoor seating areas, a loft/game room, flat screens everywhere, and a booming surround sound system that we blasted music from all weekend long.... oh and a huge hot tub.... Needless to say, we were impressed.

We woke up friday morning, had some breakfast, and went to the grocery store to stock up on all the food we would need for the weekend. I was the resident chef, a job that i happily took, because i wanted control of the menu and again, the kitchen was amazing. Hands down, it was the best stocked kitchen i have ever seen... and to think, this is someone's SECOND home!

The day was a bit overcast, so we spent the rest of the afternoon at the house, and awaited the arrival of Napoleon's friends who were also joining us at the beach. This could have been a disaster. There is nothing worse than going somewhere and sharing space with people you don't know, only to have them end up being a complete pain in the butt and ruining your vacation. When they arrived, it was one of those very fortunate occurrences, where the dynamic of the house just worked. Everyone got along, laughed our pants off, shared stories of our lives, and were genuinely so excited to spend time with one another.... and what else do i like to do when everyone is getting along? that's right... KARAOKE!!

I quickly googled local bars that had live karaoke (did i mention the house had WiFi too?)..... and found a bar called Coyote's. We loaded up and headed out with nothing but a good time on our mind.... It turns out Coyote's was not our resort like accommodations in Rosemary...in fact...the closer we got to the destination, the more sketchy the situation became. Once we arrived there, we saw a parking lot full of dirty pick up trucks... this should have been our first sign... once we walked in, you could literally hear the record player scratch..... everyone stopped what they were doing, and gave us the most icy stares... i literally got goosebumps...

Now, if you know me, you know that my family is from the south... not just in the south, the country... the backwoods of lower alabama.....so i am used to finding myself in situations with scary looking men and women who look like they just stumbled out of the trailer park, with overalls on over their confederate flag t-shirts, cigarettes hanging out of their toothless mouths and arms covered in tattoos...however, this was one of the most uncomfortable experiences of my life...It honestly felt like i was in a scene out of a movie.....as all eight of us stood by the door, i was quite sure that we were about to get chased out of the bar with people swinging pools sticks at us.....had it not been the tequila in our system,we would have just left... but i looked over at Callie, we grinned at each other and knew exactly what to do.... I walked straight to the bar, ordered everyone a beer ( $3 each of course!) and placed my song request at the DJ booth.....the moment i took the stage and started singing my signature karaoke song, "Proud Mary"... all was well.... In fact, every time each one of us sang, more and more people lightened up, and by the end of the night, everyone was cheering us on and dancing to all of our songs... in fact, a lovely lady that we met called Crazy Connie said to me as we were leaving.." Girl, thank ya'll for comin' in and breathin' some li-ife into this funeral." You're welcome Connie...

Yes, there was an actual coyote statue in the bar.....

Saturday was a day dedicated to the beach... we spent the whole day laying out and swimming in the ocean. After our fun day in the sun, it was time to go back to the house a fire up the grill for Callie's official graduation bar-b-que. We all ate and drank way too much...

Roasted corn....delicious!

On Sunday as we ate breakfast and said our goodbye's i was very sad to leave, but so greatful that i got to spend quality time with old friends, and have the opportunity to meet wonderful new people. We are like a little crew now, we all send mass e-mails to each other every week, and have sworn to make this beach trip an annual event.

Napoleon sent an e-mail after we all returned back to our respective homes that i thought truly summed up our beach weekend:

I'm glad you all were able to come together for a good cause and party with a purpose. Although the venue was remote, all participants made the effort. I greatly appreciate you all for that, and also for making Rosemary Beach a memorable experience. Hopefully you will take the weekend, as I have, a harmonious moment where old friends make new friends & the sea meet the sky. Until the next time....