Where I'm At: Still on Vacation

 

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My Florida vacation has been extended an extra two days courtesy of Hurricane Irene. After two of my friend's flights were canceled on Friday (one was flying into D.C., the other into Baltimore), I knew the bell would soon toll for me and my flight into Philadelphia. I finally got notified that the Atlanta to Philly portion of my itinerary was canceled Saturday morning at 1:23a via email. Though I initially thought I might still be able to take the Pensacola to Atlanta flight and spend a few days with my brother before continuing on to Philadelphia, apparently breaking up itineraries in such a way is a no-go. And the earliest flight I could get out of Pensacola to Philly was Tuesday morning, flying via Memphis. Sunday was spent saying goodbye to my friends who were lucky enough to live in landlocked Midwestern locations, whose flights went off without a hitch. One of my D.C.-bound friends actually cut her trip short since she had to be back in D.C. for a big meeting this morning; I'm pretty sure she was on the last flight that got into D.C. before all flights were grounded. So that left two of us, and yesterday, after picking up a rental car and then ferrying another friend to the airport, we headed to Pensacola proper, where we hit up the local Barnes & Noble and then the movie theatre for a showing of "Our Idiot Brother,"  before returning one last time to Pensacola Beach and the hotel we had booked for the night.

This morning, after I hit up the hotel's fitness room for a much-needed workout (why, oh why did I consume so many brownies and chips during our vacation? Um, yeah, because they tasted sooo good), we packed up and headed to one of the ubiquitous Pensacola Starbucks for breakfast. Soon after, I dropped my friend off at the airport, and that just left me stuck at the beach. First stop? A local nail salon for a much-needed mani/pedi. Second stop? The Cordova Mall, which has a World Market. I really miss World Market; if I weren't planning to carry my bag onto the plane, I would totally have bought a ton of foodstuffs and some bottles of wine. They had Skinnygirl Sangria, which I've kind of been dying to try. But seeing as it would probably be a bad idea to drink a whole $14 bottle by myself, I resisted the urge to buy a bottle. (Although, I suppose that would have made for an interesting way to spend the evening!)

After getting my shop on, I hit up lunch at Panera (another restaurant that Philly lacks), and now I'm in my third hotel of the trip -- this time one near the airport. I think I may put some jeans on (even though it's 95+ degrees out) and head on over to catch a matinee at the movie theater. Though this vacation extension was unplanned, it's been kind of nice to completely unwind before heading back home and back into the "office," though I definitely miss hanging out with D and Leroy. Wednesday is going to be a rude awakening, for sure. Thank goodness for the upcoming three-day weekend!