Above: Back row left … Ralfie; Jake; Jack; Willy; Ralf  Middle row … Brett and Sam
Front row … Nancy; Lisa; Payson … Photographer; PopPop!

Where do I start? We all love our summer getaways! You know, those classic “Chevy Chase” like adventures. My family’s recent experience with summer bliss? Seaside Beach. An exquisite small town on the Florida Panhandle. Our first full family reunion in ten years. I thought I’d order a “cornhole” set on Amazon! What fun that would be. Box arrived weighing about a hundred pounds. Take it with us? Sure. Just be prepared to replace the car’s suspension system. UPS picked the box up for return.

Let’s start at the beginning of this… fantastic journey!

We board our precious puppy Gracie when we travel. Twenty-minutes away. Nancy eyes me, “Gracie has to go. Now! The Barking Hound Village opens at 7:30!” Obediently, her second favorite “pet” Bob, puts Gracie in the car and drives the twenty minutes to Barking Hound. We arrive at 7:30? Oops! Looking at the the sign on the door? “Open Saturday – 9:00am.” Hmm … Gracie crying, wining in the back seat. It’s now 7:50. No way “pet” Bob waits in the parking lot for over an hour. Drove twenty minutes back home. Waited 45 min. And yep! Drove twenty more minutes. Back to Barking Hound! Gracie safe in place. Phew! Oh well … what do you expect after fifty two years of marriage.

Next? … go get daughter Lisa some chardonnay. Twenty minutes to Tower Liquor (Discount store) for two bottles of French chardonnay. To save $1.47! Get home. Lisa calls … “Dad, French wine gives me headaches!” Oh ok, you got it. Twenty minutes back to Tower and back home for two bottles of domestic chardonnay!  And this all before we drive the first of 320 miles to get to Seaside.

I’m now beginning to “channel” Chevy!

Off on the road we go. GPS of course. Otherwise, Bobby ends up in Texas. But wait! Our Google lady is inaccurate?! Just ask Nancy … the first travel satellite ever invented. “No Bob! Google is wrong. We have to take Rt 185!” (Ten times) “185! 185! 185! …” Felt like Groundhog Day “Ok, I give up! You’re now my Google for the rest of the trip!!” Next stop? Fort Benning, Columbus GA. That’s right. We arrived at the gates of a military base. How? “Google Nancy” got us so far off course; we ended up at the entrance to Fort Benning! “First class private Robert Brickley reporting!” We were so lost. So screwed. Other travel issues I won’t share. But I can only embarrass my wife once every ten years. Just know. Believe it or not. The “Google Girl” admitted she was wrong on this one. Actually, made our surprise stop at the gates to Benning totally worth it.

So, miraculously we made it to the house at Seaside Beach … barely, without killing each other! The rest of the family arrives. Perfect place. multi-million dollar beauty. Sleeps eleven. Living room, dining room, wet bar, kitchen, deck, and pool outside. Fantastic! As we all gather. Hugs, laughter. Especially happy … our five grandchildren. Wonderful start.

Then this … Our first evening, everyone was so tired, my son in law Ralf and I decide to go pick up pizza for the gang. Waiting to pay for our pizzas by the bar of the pizza place? BA WAM!! This lady catapults off her bar stool and lands on her back atop of my left foot! Bangs her head on the tile, tossing her black-haired wig on the floor right next to me. Sans wig, white haired, bald as a jaybird. Not a pretty sight. Wow! Over-served? Trying to get away from her oversized hubby sitting next to her? Didn’t know. She was Ok though. Thankfully! So … “Check please?” Our pies were getting cold. Nice.

Next day? Off to the beach of course! Absolutely gorgeous! Tropically blue water, pristine sand. Ten chairs with umbrellas. (second mortgage for these beauties) Grandsons, Jake, Ralfie and Jack think they’re expert wave riders. Right. What they forget is that their grandpa has ridden waves for six decades. The waves here are “half breakers.” No way to ride ‘em. But as usual grandsons think PopPop is full of it. OK guys, nice try. “I’ll give each one of you $100 for every wave you ride successfully. You give me $0.50 for every one you don’t. Final tally … PopPop $50. Boys $00.

Then there was the night our beach house became a dance studio. Fueled by a “few” glasses of wine (surprise?) and my granddaughter Payson’s expert DJing! We were all ready to audition for “Dancing with the Stars.” Not pretty. Kids had the best moves. Ralf and I looked like two elephants struggling to get to the burial ground. Payson, like her mom had great steps. On and on. Nancy rocked away with each grandchild. (Hadn’t see the frug since ‘64!) Nance ended up dancing in the arms of her favorite (and only) husband. Lisa swooned to and fro with typical “Brickley” rhythm. Ralf put the final touch on the party, though. Donning Nancy’s straw hat, he pranced around like an inebriated panda bear. Could have been mistaken Ralf for a guy driving a rickshaw in Beijing! Hilarious!

Dinner that night was wonderful. Ralfie suddenly got very teary. “Are you Ok Ralfie?” … “Yeah, I’m just so happy.” This was the first of a number of heartfelt comments … how blessed we were to have our family so connected … how thankful we were to be able to support each other through the trials and challenges we’d all faced. Accented the true gift of being together … our reunion.

Some other highlights …

• Burgers and franks one night … chef Brett!
• $50 per lb. … Grouper and gulf shrimp!
• Eggs and bacon… coffee every morning… chef Brett!
• Meme game … so good!
• “Bud and Alleys” … great spot! (4 times!)
• Ahh … those afternoon naps!
• Lounging in the pool. Another Ahh!
• All those pictures.
• The “secret” room and all those empty beer bottles.
• Always some work stuff to be done … Brett and Lisa.
• That Key Lime pie!
• Food, food, and more food.
• Willy … just so, so good.
• Talking the “Birds and Bees” with Jack and Ralfie.

As we know, family reunion horror stories abound. Things like old family grudges surfacing; old Uncle Al unable to control his bowel gas; a little car or other damage here and there. So many things just show up that can send a reunion sideways.

Fortunately, we had no such issues this week. How best to sum it all up? Grandson Jake had to leave early with Brett for football practice back in Atlanta. He came to say goodbye to Nancy and me. “Nanny and PopPop … we need to do this again, real soon!”

That was the clincher. No more need be said. Our reunion at Seaside had been a great success. A gift to be remembered always.