Anna Maria

 Our Beach du jour was Anna Maria Island. It is an older established island about 45 North of our location in Sarasota. Very busy to tourists passing through but for those who were staying on the island it looked like it could be a very quaint experience.

The first place that we attempted to find the beach was on the sound side of the island. This was the opposite of the beach we experienced yesterday. it was probably a total of 10 feet in width.

Even though this beach was small (The larger was on the ocean side of the island) we were taken with the beauty and majesty of the this place and the history of all its residents.

We ate a quaint local cafe and drove the entire island.

A Beach in Time

 Emily Grace and I decided to spend the morning at the beach. One of Emily's vacation requests was clear water swimming. We tested the promised clear waters at Siesta Key. We arrived at the beach and had no trouble parking and found great facilities.

We were a little surprised to find that when we reached the white sand that we still had a 7 or so minute walk to the water's edge.

I was the youngest child in my family. I have fond memories of those last 3 or 4 vacations where it was just me. I constantly had those memories in my mind with hopes that Emily would hold similar memories for the rest of her life.

Either way, we had us a time this morning. We swam, frolicked, talked, and played. And, as one might expect, we came out of the experience knowing one another better, having shared this time. 

I can't speak to the success or failure of providing Emily with memories of a lifetime but I can say with complete certainty that it was a time that I shall never forget. My little girl is becoming a beautiful woman and the days can move quickly - but for this one day, I experienced it to the full. I am thankful to God for Emily Grace and for this day.

Siesta Key is beautiful and we shared the beach with many. We found that the water was clear. You could easily see your feet and many fish we shared our swim with.

Just a great day at the beach!

Change of Venue

This day was made up primarily of the move from Orlando to Sarasota. On the way we stopped to see Megan's "second family." Great friends that she has known since childhood. We stopped near Tampa for a visit with this entire family. We had a great visit for a couple of hours and we forgot to take even one picture of the great meeting.

We checked into the Home 2 in Sarasota. Megan and I were hungry because a power outage had shut down the Chick-fil-a. Emily was able to get a prepared salad from there so she was fine. Out to the Chili's next to our hotel for nice bar food.

After dinner we went to Lido Beach which was recommended by our server. Mostly we walked on the beach and enjoyed the late night breeze. Also, my girls are beautiful.

So - What do ya'll want to do?

 Vacation should be designed to give you down time and yet on an off day someone will say (usually me), "So - what do ya'll want to do?" It is just in our nature. That is the way it is. This one one of those days. The girls were certainly going to sleep in and then we made our way out to Disney Springs. Not many photos for this day - Addison and Megan went shopping while Emily and myself went to Toy Story 5.

One of Emily's Favorites in a Billboard in our resort. There had to be a picture.

Two Sides of the Same Coin

 Continuing to roll with different stages of life, our girls are certainly old enough to be trusted in the parks on their own. So it is that, mostly because of finances, only the two girls would park hop today. Megan and I would resort hop and we would connect at the end of the day.

Side One: The Resorts

From one resort to another using the tram - sky liner - and boats.

Then to the monorails

Dinner at the Polynesian and sunset on the beach waiting for the boat parade and fireworks

Side Two: The Parks

The girls started out in Disney Studios with early entry. I know because I was their Uber

Next they hopped via the Sky-liner to EPCOT

Addison got to spend some time at her old stomping grounds in Nemo

They spent some time with Arial and Moana

Then over to Magic Kingdom

We did get together one time during the day. We met the girls outside of Magic Kingdom for a few moments together.

Fireworks were one of the late activities that night but it would not be the last. While thousands of people left the parks the girls rode a few more rides and "shut down the park" as we say arriving back at the hotel around 1:00 AM

A great day for both Davis teams at Disney

Vacations in the Stages of Life

 Many times in this blog you will notice that our vacations are sometimes difficult to pull off. In fact, there is a year where the title of the first post was titled "the vacation that almost wasn't." That vacation was surely in jeopardy until the moment we left, but it was by no means the only one. Several of them were in doubt until the day we left - but so far, we have always left and this is no accident. Megan and I decided from the beginning of our marriage, that these experiences would be a priority - a high priority - and so it remains.

Our vacations have been in doubt for many reasons. Mostly financial but also job loss, job concerns, and health of family members just to name a few. This year we encountered a new one - it involves life circumstances, not for us as parents, but mostly for our children. All of our girls have jobs this year. Olivia is working at a Camp Sea Fearer and simply would not be able to go on this vacation. Addison is working at Little Fork Ranch and also would not be able to be off for an extended period. However, coming off of the Disney College Program, she was eager to accompany us for a few days if Disney World should prove to be part of our vacation. Emily Grace is a camp counselor at the Twin Rivers YMCA, but did have a somewhat more flexible schedule than the other girls.

Emily Grace was asked about preferences of where she most wanted to go. She said that she always loves Disney and that she wants to experience a beach with clear waters. And so with those parameters we were off.

Once again this is our vacation and welcome to it.

Megan and I left on Thursday afternoon and due to a problem with the rental car we were off - but later than scheduled.

We spent the night at a Holiday Inn Express in Kingsland, Georgia right on the Georgia - Florida line. 

We left Emily Grace with a friend in charge of the house because Addison spent the night at horse camp.  Two good girls but we were more than a little put off by the photo that arrived a few minutes after we talked to her until we noticed that Vivian had a third hand. AI nearly gave us heart failure.

We arrived on Friday about mid-morning.

We set foot in the Disney bubble at All-star Music Resort

We walked through the park to our room in the Broadway section of All-Star Music

Very much apropos for those of you who know us.

Disney always has a way of making us welcome - As corny as it is, it always feels good to hear those worlds from the security guy at the gate - "Mr. and Mrs. Davis, Welcome Home." 

I sit beneath the Newsies sign - One of our favorites

We brought their luggage and they await the arrival of our girls

Megan and I had lunch at Disney Springs and then back to the room for rest.

Soon it was to the airport to bring our girls home to Disney.

A cameo of our family at 42nd and Broadway and we were off to Disney Springs.

Addison ran into one of her best friends at Disney Springs just as we were leaving - So Addison and Emily went out to hang with the girls and Megan and I went back to the room. A pretty great day!