Panama City Beach- Day 3
Welcome to the Big Leagues, Kid
Monday, June 6, 2022
It's the day we had been waiting for... And Luke was READY!
Morning
The alarm went off bright and early at 5:45am and we were up and out the door by 6:30am. The drive to the PCB Sports Complex was a breeze and without traffic it was less than 20 minutes. We arrived at the complex by 7am but didn't even get to the batting cages where our team was meeting until 7:10am due to the length between the parking lot and the back fields. I measured the distance with my Fitbit and it was .47 from the parking lot to field 8 at PCB Sports Complex. We definitely got our steps in on this trip.
The view from our balcony was INCREDIBLE... Even at 6AM!
Our rental car Ford Escape! Thank you Hertz!
We are here and ready to cheer on Luke the Duke!
Our first game of Pool Play was at 8AM and we were facing the Enterprise Diamond A's from Enterprise, Alabama. They were a 10U MAJORS team and we had our hands full from the get-go as we were a 9U AAA team. In fact, we were the only true 9U team in the tournament. This was a 9U-10U tournament and there were 2 teams that were mixed with 10U and 9U players but we were the only ones with a true 9U team. In fact, all of our players were 9 years old (Luke is the oldest on the team and was a week from being 10 at this point). Some of the players on other teams were already 11 or about to turn 11. Those 18 months difference between our guys and these guys became very apparent as the week progressed.
Game 1- Luke Davis
Luke sat out the first inning (as was the usual as the season progressed) to prepare to catch the second inning. One of the coaches explained that all 3 catchers would rotate all week to help avoid heat stroke. He caught for inning 2, played right-field for innings 3-4 and then caught the rest of the game. He did very well playing catcher during this game despite Marucci losing the game 11-3. Luke had a hard hit to left field for a pop-out his first at bat and then stuck out his second at bat. These pitchers were throwing well over 60 mph and we knew there was going to be an adjustment for all of our boys.
It was already a hot one at 96* at 8:45am!
Luke doing his thing... And LOVIN' it!
Go out swinging!
Day one was DONE! Way to go Luke the Duke!
My heart was so happy... Because HE was happy!
Afternoon
After the game we made our way back to our condo to eat an early lunch before going to the beach. We threw some frozen pizzas in the oven and we were on the beach before 11:30AM. We stayed there for the next 4-5 hours, reapplying sunscreen every hour. The kids loved being able to stand in the sandbars and ride the waves with their boogie boards. The kids had goggles they were wearing but Chris did not and got salt water in his eyes pretty bad.
Hello gorgeous emerald waters... it was just what we needed!
We spent some time in the pool as well but Chris went to check his phone to see if the car was ready and to our surprise, it was ready so we got out of the pool and changed quickly. Or so we tried... We were all sunburnt even though we put on sunscreen every hour. Poor Natalie's back was so red and it looked almost as if we didn't even spray her. Luke was ok except for his face and Chris was fine as well. The beach is one of our favorite places but it does not like us as much as we like it! I swear we ALWAYS get sunburnt!
We got changed and made our way back to the east side of Panama City Beach to Pepboys to get our car with a stop at CVS for eye drops for Chris and "Sunburnt" after sun gel for the rest of us. TIP- Sunburnt is the absolute BEST after sun car on the market. It really helps pull the heat out of your skin as goes on smooth without a weird smell or texture feeling.
$1,200 We'll Never See Again
Once at Pepboys, we got the bill and it was EXACTLY what they quoted us the previous day of $986. They even took off the original $99 diagnostic fee. This was a HUGE blessing! Thank you so much Joshua and Pepboys! May God bless you for your generosity!
We then had to go and return the rental car to Hertz at the airport. We were so lucky because when we turned in the car, they prorated the cost and we walked away only paying $90 for the 26 hour rental. Once again, Hertz may have made a customer for life.
The Buick was so low on gas when we turned it in to Pepboys to fix, the "Low Fuel" light came on. I have never let it get that low. I thought I had a 18 gallon tank! I was so close to $100...
Hahaha... I love you Florida!
Evening
As we made our way back towards the beach, the team notified us of dinner plans so we joined them at Under the Boardwalk restaurant at the Boardwalk resort in Panama City Beach. This was a very well laid out restaurant that allowed 5 large families to eat outdoors and the kids to play games near by. The food and service were great and we all had fun but we all got even more sun while dining outdoors.
Under the Boardwalk Menu
Chris- Shrimp PoBoy 6/10
Kellie- Oyster Poboy 6/10
Natalie- Chicken Strips 6/10
Luke- Chicken Strips 6/10
We are SO grateful for Kate and Abby Claire (Two baseball sisters) who were in PCB to support their brothers too! Natalie had such a great time with Kate!
Luke and his baseball bud, Connor!
After dinner with the team, we ventured down to Mr. Puff's Ice Cream on Thomas Dr. This was a place that another team mom went to and raved about so we knew we had to try it! It was a "rolled ice cream" style of ice cream and we had never tried this. We really enjoyed watching the workers make our dessert! We all enjoyed this but we all agreed that the scoops style like Marble Slab is better.
Mr. Puff's Ice Cream Menu
This was a HAPPY boy!
Welcome to ROLLED ICE CREAM!
This really is a neat experience for everyone to try at least once!
You could leave a post it note on their main wall!
After our ice cream we made our way to a Family Fun park where we had hoped to play putt-putt. By this time it was nearly 9PM and it was a 2 hour wait time so we opted to make this up on another day and go back to the condo. Once we got back to the condo we did a load of laundry in the full size laundry room and enjoyed the balcony and watched Deal or No Deal with the kids! TIP- I LOVED having the laundry in the condo. This may be the way to go when planning future vacations! Also, bring more than 3 pods of laundry detergent! We had to go and buy more!
The AC was still not working at 100% and even after having it was set on 72* all day and not using the kitchen in the evening, it was still reading 75* at 9PM. Chris turned it off for about 15 minutes and turned it back on and it worked better. This became a nightly ritual to help the AC work better but it never really cooled to the level we would have hoped for as we like to sleep at 69-70*. We went to bed around 11PM and we were all wiped out.
It was a much better day and despite the sunburns, we were feeling really good!
Up Next... Day 2 of Pool Play and our DOUBLE HEADER at PCB Sports Complex.
God is good... ALL THE TIME!
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