I'm terrible when it comes to taking pictures. As obsessive/compulsive as I may be sometimes - and as many lists as I make prior to taking a trip, my camera rarely seems to make the list. So, it should be no surprise that my recent trip to Panama City, Florida is contained in a disposable camera that I may not ever actually get around to having developed. That's just how I roll, I guess. (camera pun intended!)

Lack of photo evidence aside, it was a great trip! I promise it was, even though some of the following accounts may not seem to reflect that...

THE GOOD:

#1 Our accomodations

Tidewater Beach Resort

Twelve of us stayed comfortably in a three-bedroom/three bath beachfront unit. The rooms were spacious and the views were as good as it gets!

The staff was kind enough to let us check in about 3 hours early, which was a major bonus.

Tidewater has tons of amenities:

2 pools

hot tub

gym

sauna

steam room

movie theater

arcade

movie rentals

a restaurant

wi-fi

um...I'm sure there's more - that's just what I noticed/experienced first hand

I swiped these photos of our room from the website, because the procrastinator in me is more likely to toss that disposable camera in a drawer than take the time to have it developed --- plus, with 12 people in one condo, it never really was photo-ready anyway...

#2 The food!

Day 1, we chose a super-casual restaurant called Shuckums. I ordered steamed shrimp and fries. And even though I am not a big French fry fan, these were, without a doubt, the best fries I've ever had. The shrimp was great, too. LOVED the cocktail sauce! My only complaint was that the service was slow - even though it was only 2 in the afternoon. But, hey, it's the beach! Might as well be laidback.

Day 2, we went to the local Publix and got 5 pounds of steamed shrimp to take back to the condo. I would absolutely plan to do this again next time. It was quick, easy, and I'm sure far cheaper than it would've cost 12 people at a restaurant. (Also noteworthy, this Publix had a section of gluten-free foods - good to know so I don't necessarily have to pack my own next time.)

Day 3, we went to a standard favorite: Montego Bay. And I ordered - can you guess? - steamed shrimp :-) No complaints. Good stuff! My husband got Jamaiican Shrimp and said it was among the best shrimp he's ever had.

#3 The fun!

Okay, most of my time was spent in a lounge chair on the beach, but I loved every second of it! I did, of course, venture into the water also. It was clearer than I've ever seen it. And green flags everyday! Besides that, there is plenty to do in Panama City - shopping at Pier Park, for example...and at night, there's always Super Speed Fun Track! They have a go cart drag race there, which was sooo much fun! A three second race, over 60 miles per hour. I'm proud to say, I won! In the past, we've always had a blast at Shipwreck Island water park, too. Didn't make it this trip. Maybe next year, though!

THE BAD:

#1 What dollar?

When we arrived at our room, there was a note saying that a dollar was hidden somewhere. We all - all 12 of us - looked everywhere imaginable. There was no dollar. What a letdown. We hid a dollar before we left, though. So the next group won't spend all that time searching for nothing. Like we did.

#2 Car trouble...

On night one, a window in my car got stuck all the way down. My husband and his brother spent about half an hour trying to pull the window up, to no avail. We had to tell security about the problem and they let us park by a security camera and assured us they did regular patrols throughout the night. The next morning, my husband took my car to a local dealership and had the problem fixed. Not a great way to kick off a vacation. Just a minor issue, though.

#3 Creepy beach guy

Beware of the creepy beach guy! He walks the beach with a child and pretends to take pictures of the child, but is CLEARLY taking pictures of women in bikinis. No kidding. That is SO not okay with me...Just imagine this guy constructing a "Women of Panama City" scrapbook - armed with colorful cardstock and embossed beach-themed stickers. (Hey, it's a better mental image than any alternative use he might get out of these pictures)

#4 Holiday check-out

IF you happen to travel on a holiday weekend, as we did, consider staying an extra day or leaving extra early - like hours before checkout. Because if you leave AT checkout time, you will be faced with what I can only describe as deleted footage from The Towering Inferno. Minus the fire. And minus OJ. 30 floors full of people checking out at the same time. All with overflowing luggage racks. Our group of 12 adopted a survival of the fittest policy - when an elevator would open, one or two of us would squeeze on and hope for the best, calling "Good luck!" to the others as the doors closed. The lucky ones made it directly to the correct floor (Me and my cowboy nephew). The unlucky ones had to ride all the way up to floor 30 and then make 17 - yes, 17, stops along the way until they got to ground level. (This happened to my 12 year old cousin-in-law who was carrying 3 boogie boards and at least one heavy bag) And the REALLY unlucky ones (my husband) would wait for nearly 45 minutes just to get an elevator he and the luggage rack could fit into. It was a crazy, chaotic experience that can absolutely be learned from! Where's Steve McQueen when you need him?

THE SILLY:

Her name was Jean - and she was always there for us, waiting right outside our room. Taking us where we needed to go. Giving us helpful information along the way. And, as fate would have it, it was trusty ol' Jean who was there for my husband in the midst of insanity (see Holiday check-out, above). To some, she was just an elevator. To us, she was practically our 13th guest. You see, these elevators at Tidewater talked. They'd say "Going up" or "Going down" and they'd alert you to what floor you were on as the doors opened. The first day we were there, I jokingly said "Thanks, Jean!" upon leaving the elevator - and soon enough, everyone in our party was saying it. I even heard my husband say it to his brother once, while deciding which elevators to take - "Let's just take Jean". Sadly, I failed to take a picture of Jean - as integral a part of our trip as she was. BUT, that only makes it more imperative to go back next year...to get that picture of Jean. IF I remember my camera, that is! :-)

BEST VACATION EVER...

2 days in Atlanta = BEST VACATION EVER?

YES!

I spent the past couple of days in Atlanta, and I had the absolute best time! Read on!

On Valentine's Day this year, my husband surprised me with 2 tickets to the June 24 Yankees/Braves game. A few weeks later, I found out that Eddie Vedder was embarking on a solo tour - with a stop in Atlanta on June 23. It could not have worked out more perfectly...but it ended up being even better than I could have imagined!

On Tuesday, we headed to Atlanta, checked into our hotel, and headed straight for Cobb Energy Center to enjoy our first Eddie Vedder solo tour. If you don't know, Eddie Vedder is the lead singer of Pearl Jam - and I've been a fan for 17 years now. My husband and I have been to six PJ concerts - and we've always gotten our tickets through the fan club, which gets you the best seats in the house. We've been front row - or very near front row just about every time. But, unfortunately, Pearl Jam hasn't toured the southeast in a few years, so we let our fan club membership lapse. I got these tickets through ticketmaster. I did it AS SOON as tickets went on sale, however, our seats were BACK ROW center. No kidding, the wall was right behind us. No complaints, though - we were happy to be there. We sat for awhile, completely alone in the back row, but finally, another guy joined us. "Could your seats be any worse?" he cracked. We laughed, assuming he was another nosebleed section resident. But then, he flashed a crew pass and pulled out two tickets from his pocket. "I work for Ed and he would like to upgrade your tickets...to the FRONT ROW." Of course, I was skeptical, but my husband readily agreed and swapped our tickets for the upgraded ones. So, down we went, from back row center to front row center. And we weren't the only ones! Ed had reserved most of the front row for people like us! We sat among three other couples who were enjoying the mysterious ticket upgrade. Meanwhile, our old tickets went to people outside who were unable to get tickets to the show. We went from bad seats to best seats in the house - and they went from no seats to enjoying a great show!

And it WAS a great show! I wish I could've taken pictures or video, alas cameras of any kind were forbidden by the venue. (Fingers crossed for a dvd release in the near future!) Ed did all the Into the Wild songs, some awesome covers, and a few Pearl Jam gems like Lukin, Sometimes, I Am Mine, Small Town, Soon Forget, Dead Man Walking, Porch to name a few - and the most amazing performance of Arc using this wicked looping technique (used brilliantly by opening act Liam Finn as well in his set)...Ed's voice was unbelievable throughout and the crowd interaction was great. Just a really incredible vibe. Indescribable, in fact. All I can say is...you had to be there!

Front row upgrade, excellent show, and a handshake from Ed himself...

that's a pretty GOOD night!

Complimentary video (not from "my concert", but this is one of the songs he did perform Tuesday night):

NOW, onto day 2...

(aka my FAVORITE part!)

For those of you reading this who don't know, I am a big baseball fan. In fact, it's really the only sport I like. I grew up in Baltimore as an Oriole's fan. When I was 12, I became obsessed - collecting baseball cards, watching every game, spending an hour pouring over stats in the sports section, and watching Sports Center and Baseball tonight over and over all morning long. (This was also the start of my love of baseball PLAYERS. Shout out to Brady Anderson, my first baseball love.)

Now, 19 years later, I have evolved. I am a PROUD New York Yankees fan. And so, of course, I was THRILLED when my husband got us tickets to the June 24 Yankees/Braves game! (Thank God for interleague play! Did I just say that? Well, if it brings me the Yankees, then yes, interleague play rules.)

So, my husband and I headed to Turner Field - he in a Braves cap, me in a Yankees cap - and took our seats - right behind the Yankees dugout (yay!). If you watched the game on tv, you probably saw us. I was the one between the tall idiot in the Braves cap (aka my husband) and a guy I will refer to as Chatty McFatty. This guy talked the ENTIRE game (not to me, thank goodness) and repeatedly shouted obnoxious things to the players. Boy, I'd love to go heckle him at his job...

Chatty McFatty aside, I had the greatest time cheering for the Yankees along with all the other Yankee fans in my section - and there were tons!

There were SOOOO many great things about the game...

Joe Girardi got thrown out (I LOVE when that happens - it got the Yankees fired up!) ...

Derek Jeter stole a base (love base stealing, LOVE Derek Jeter!) ...

I got to see Mariano Rivera pitch (woo!) ...

...and the Yankees won!

Call to the Braves bullpen: You suck!

Now, time for one of those cheesy Mastercard commercial homages:

*Price of a coke and water at Turner Field: $8.50

*Price of primo seats to the Yankees/Braves game: Who cares, 'cause it's on my husband's credit card

*Making eye contact with my favorite baseball player: sigh...priceless...