Day 4

We checked out of the Hampton Inn at 11:00. We still had at least 2 hours before we could check in to the condo. We decided to drive on down the coast to see the area (Alec was not happy about this). Anyway - we drove down scenic highway 30A to Panama City Beach. We saw some cute little coastal towns along the way - including Seaside, FL.
A day before we left I found out that one of my oldest friends was also driving to Florida with her family for vacation. They stayed in Seaside. We did not get an opportunity to visit them - but Jennifer and I are going to get together when we get back and share our vacations. Jennifer is actually the first person I came to Florida with. When we were in our 20's we came to Florida twice. Once we drove and stayed on the gulf coast in Venice and once we flew and stayed in Ft. Lauderdale. Those were fun trips.
Back to day 4....
We were able to check into our condo at 1:00. It has one bedroom and 2 baths. There are bunk beds in the hallway and a sleeper sofa too. There is also a full kitchen and a great view from the balcony. We are on the 9th floor. Plenty of room for the 4 of us.
We went shopping for food and beach toys then came back and finally made it to the beach.
We got 3 air mattresses and a tube. We all went out and rode the waves. I did not last long. The waves were strong! I decided to go back and sit on the beach. Brad, Jay and Al kept on riding the waves and were having a blast. They kept getting farther and farther out. I kept watching them thinking - when the heck are they going to head back? I finally got up and walked down the beach a ways and kept trying to wave them back in. Some guy said - "Is that your family out there?" He told me that the waves just keep taking you out and it is really hard to get back in. You can swim and swim and get no where. Well that scared me! Then he pointed out a rescue guy heading out towards them. Apparently he thought they were out to far too and was going to bring them back. Whew! That made me feel better. He didn't technically 'rescue' them. He just told them they needed to go back to shore and stayed with them until they were safely back. I just stood there and felt helpless until the made it back. I was not happy with them. They, however, thought it was awesome. They were never worried and had a blast on the waves. Jason said "Raft $4, going out so far Rescue has to come for you - priceless". That's my boys!
After that, we gathered up our things and headed back to the condo. While I was in the shower, Brad unpacked the bag and discovered that his glasses were missing. Not a good thing! His watch, phone, wallet, etc were all there - but his glasses were missing. I am not sure why he took all those things to the beach anyway - but that is beside the point I guess. Alec and Brad went back down to the beach and searched and searched. They asked the front desk if they had been turned in and then searched some more. No luck! They came back up and then we all 4 went down and searched. Still no luck! He also went down later with a flashlight and looked some more. They are lost and gone forever and we will probably never know what happened to them.
We cooked frozen pizzas for dinner and just hung around the condo the rest of the night.