Panama City Beach- Day 2
The Day From Hell
Sunday, June 5, 2022
It's show time and #LuketheDuke is READY!
Morning
Despite the comfortable conditions, I did not have a very good night's sleep at all. I was so anxious and nervous about the car that I was up and down all night long. I was getting sick in the bathroom nearly every 30 minutes. So much so that I went to the 2nd bedroom as to not keep waking Chris up when I had to go to the bathroom. Thank God for this extra bedroom so I did not have to sleep on the couch.
Chris woke up around 7AM to went and checked on the car and see about the anti-freeze he put in late the night before. As we expected, all of the coolant was not in the reservoir and we did not see a pool of fluid under the car so we were once again at a loss for words. I decided to go to the nearby Winn-Dixie and get some stomach medications as I was so nauseated I could not stand up.
I was able to go to Winn-Dixie and get more sunscreen, water and Pepto to hold us over for a few more days with little to no issues with the car. Upon my return to the condo, Chris put more coolant in the car and we got ready for the Opening Ceremonies at the Ripken Experience.
What a GORGEOUS picture of my babies and the emerald waters of Sunnyside, FL.
The start of our daily baseball picture from our balcony!
A view towards the WEST Florida panhandle from our balcony.
The FAR top left may (or may not) be Destin.
Since we had not made our way out to the Panama City Beach Publix Sports Complex yet, we decided to leave the condo very early to get a feel for the traffic and scope out the complex prior to our weeklong tournament. We left the condo at 9:15am for a 10:30am call time. We were at the complex with nearly an hour to spare so we sat in the shade of one of the concession pavilions.
TIP- The Panama City Beach Publix Sports Complex is a brand new state of the art baseball park that features 13 fields. The facilities are ALL turf and the dugouts are very nice and well kept. However, there is hardly any shade at all in this complex. There is a small bleacher section that is covered with awnings at each field but it is very limited seating and often times the shade is non-existent. Be sure to bring a canopy shade or at bare minimum umbrellas for sun protection. Furthermore, this facility is so large that if you are playing at one of the back fields (7-8-9), you will be walking well over half a mile just to get to the field. Let's just say we got our steps in every day at the ballpark! There is no gate fee and nobody checks your bags so you can literally bring in whatever you want to the field, but no alcohol is allowed. This was a HUGE bonus compared to other ballparks that check for outside food and drinks. But at $355 ($420 team fee to pay for the coaches too) per player tournament entry fee, we definitely payed for this in the long run.
The entrance to PCB Publix Sports Complex.
My #2 is ready for his Florida World Series debut
And big sister is ready to cheer him on... Loud and Proud!
According to the schedule, we thought we had to be there at 10:30am for the Opening Ceremonies but in reality the Opening Ceremonies did not even begin until 11:30am. This meant we were at the ballfield for an extra 2 hours before we needed to and the Florida heat was a killer. It was almost as if we were sitting in a sauna.
Once all the team arrived, the boys got lined up and ready to take the field for the Opening Ceremonies. This was a really special event where the boys took the field with 40+ other teams made up of 9U to 14U players from all over the southeast United States. Each team was announced on the field and the tournament manager explained many of the rules and procedures to the players, coaches and spectators.
Marucci Elite North Houston- 9U Codrington
Then the Guest Speaker, Andruw Jones, came to the field and spoke to the boys about this tournament, baseball in general and how to be successful in life. This was SO COOL as I literally grew up watching him play for the Braves with Chipper Jones. This guy was a complete class act and I was highly impressed with him. He told the boys to keep practicing, keep giving more than 100%, stay in school and stay grounded. Keep your head high because you are on your way to success.
I feel the only person who could understand my actual excitement at this point would be my dad or my sister. All three of us used to lay in the den of my parents house and watch him each and every single night! This was SO COOL!
After he was done speaking I got up from the very front of the field where I was sitting and ran onto the field to try and get him to sign the Ripken Experience hat that was given to all the players. However, I did not have a pen for him to use so I shook his hand and told him how much I loved watching him instead. I was so upset I didn't get his autograph. I walked back to our team near the back and told them the story and a mom gave me a sharpie to get him to sign my hat. I took her son's hat too and literally ran back on the field with the other 100+ 13 year old's and got in line for him to sign out hats and he did! Thank You Andruw Jones... You truly are a CLASS ACT!
Only Luke and 1 other teammate got their hat signed by Andruw Jones!
I have news for Luke... This hat is now MINE!
After the Opening Ceremonies was the Skill Competitions. Our team started at the Home Run Derby and we cheered on one of Luke's friends Kyle before moving to the Infield and Outfield relays. Luke participated in the Outfield Relay as well as the Turn-2 relay as the catcher and he did exceptionally well. Unfortunately, Marucci Elite did not place in any of the competition events but the boys had fun!
Luke during the Outfield Relay.
He did so well!
Marucci Elite North Houston Outfield Relay 2022
Marucci Elite North Houston Turn Two Relay 2022
Afternoon
As soon as the Opening Ceremonies were over, we knew we had to get the car looked at but it was Sunday so our best chance was an AutoZone Store near the ball field. We found a worker who was an Ex-GM mechanic and he told us to take it to Pepboys Auto as they are open on Sundays. We drove a few miles to Pepboys and their mechanic was looking at our car within 20 minutes. The mechanic came and told us "I do not see anything wrong with it". The car had stayed at the 210* all morning and afternoon so we were at a loss as to what had happened. At first he was going to just send us on our way but I was adamant about him taking another look! GOOD THING... He dug deeper and found a leak in the water pump.
An hour into our wait at Pepboys... Good Lord, will this day EVER END???
From there we quickly made a reservation with Enterprise Rental Car at the airport so we could get around the next few days. Pepboys estimated it would only take 1 day to fix the car but we reserved the car for 2 days just as a precaution. The drive from Pepboys to the Airport was nearly an hour but we had to feed the kids as Luke was already HANGRY!
Once we got to the airport and got to the Enterprise Car Counter we were told they did not have any cars, even though I had reserved one nearly 2 hours prior to this. Chris was LIVID and nearly "lost it" (which he has NEVER done in all our years of being together so you know this was serious). He moved over a counter to Hertz and they were able to get us a small Ford Escape for 2 days at an even cheaper cost (Thank You God). Hertz... You just made a customer for LIFE!
Evening
It rained hard for over an hour while we were traveling back and forth between Pepboys and the airport and back. By the time we got back to Pepboys to drop off the Buick, it was after 6PM and we had been dealing with this car since 1PM. The kids were DONE! Poor Luke was in tears just trying to get to the beach! But we MISSED THE RAIN! We finally got back to the condo at nearly 7PM and quickly got changed for the beach but we noticed the condo AC was set at 72* and it was 76* in the unit. We knew something was off so we sent a message to the property manager.
Nooooooo... This is miserably hot! We need a BREAK today!
We enjoyed the beach until sundown and then a little pool time before going back to the condo to make dinner. We made sloppy joes at 9PM in the condo and the AC was not working very well at all but it had got down to 74* so we called that a win after the day we had. The property manager finally answered my text around 10:30pm stating there was a large tower issue with all units ACs in the condo complex. But no help or fix was given. Lucky us...
This is truly my happy place!
The kids are happy again!
Frisbee time
Frisbee at the beach!
The kids tried to bury Chris... It was comical!
We all had way too much fun with this!
Me and my boy... Be still my heart!
At least our day ended at the beach!
We stayed up a little while just to try and forget about this awful "vacation" day and hoped the AC got colder as the evening progress. Chris ended up turning the AC off for 20 minutes and then turning it back on and that worked wonders. By the time we went to bed, it was 71* indoors and we were satisfied with that.
Luke found these MEGA stuff Oreos in Florida... This kid was hooked!
It was a long, terrible, no good, very bad day but it was OVER! Now we are ready for the rest of this trip and for the real baseball fun to begin with Day 1 of Pool Play for Marucci!
Stay tuned for Day 2 and POOL PLAY!
God is good... ALL THE TIME!
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