A Week in Paradise

I've been wanting to do a full-blast writeup of my thoughts about our vacation, but work has just been nutty since our return, and my post-work energy levels not at their peak. So, a synopsis:

We've never taken a real vaacation. Ever since starting college, I've always lived away from my Pittsburgh-area family. As such, "vacations" and hence vacation days from work have been spent on visiting our loved ones. This year though, I vowed that we would begin placing more of a focus on "getting away" and taking at least a few short immediate-family trips as our budget would allow. Gladly, we've been mostly on track.

Enter serendipity. My retired "big boss" from work owns a condo in Ocean City. He'd been having trouble finding renters, and as such offered it to his ex-coworkers at a (very) discounted rate. I jumped on the chance.

Let me set the stage. My friend's condo is on the 14th and top floor of a large condo building smack in the middle of Ocean City, right on the beach. His condo is the corner unit, and features a huge balcony that wraps the whole way around the space in an "L" shape, facing the ocean along the entire length of the Eastern end of the unit. Take the elevator to the 1st floor, and you're standing in the sand.

The view is absolutely breathtaking, the air is as fresh as it gets, and the ocean breeze never stops blowing. Luck was with us, and the weather was absolutely perfect. The humidity was low (very important to me), and the temperature at mid-day hovered around a comfortable mid-eighties.

My parents met us there, and the five of us spent the week sleeping in, cooking yummy breakfasts, swimming, sunning, reading, digging in the sand, flying kites, enjoying dinner with a beer, and in summary - relaxing!

We left all complications behind - no contact with work, no internet, no nothing. Zack did bring his GameCube, I my DS Lite, and Heather her laptop and beloved Bejeweled 2, but hey - the week was for relaxation. Even my workaholic dad managed to mostly avoid work. With a little kind badgering, we largely kept him off his dialup work access and kicking back.

We even had dinner with my ex-boss, maxing the relaxing with some killer taco salad and my scratch-made margaritas. (No sissy store-bought mixes here folks - fresh squeezed limes, tequila, and triple sec on the rocks. Sit down, drink up, and hold onto your chairs...)

Our week was simply amazing. Having never done so, I just couldn't imagine the whole-body and -psyche reset that a week spent doing absolutely nothing ina beautiful place could provide. I still feel more relaxed, even several weeks after our return. Viva la vacation!

We've got one more quick trip planned for the season, this a weekend of roller coastering at Cedar Point in Sandusky, OH. I can't wait! I think I've learned my lesson, and my family feels closer for it. Did I mention viva la vacation?