It was with tremendous thankfulness and a big dose of pride when I walked across the stage in May of 1979 to receive my BS degree in Elementary Education from Austin Peay State University. I was exhausted and needed a break. My friend, Angie, invited me to accompany her family to Florida for a mini vacation before we began our teaching careers. She had been hired at Dickson Elementary and I was going to teach social studies at Charlotte Jr High. So the first week of August we took off on a Tuesday night headed to Panama City. Angie was driving her moms station wagon which was as big a tank but provided plenty of room for everyone. Her three kids and aunt were going too. We set off in a jovial mood but soon Murphys Law kicked in. First the air conditioner stopped working and somewhere around Cullman, Alabama, Angie realized she had packed and loaded everyones clothes except hers! Not to be deterred we were determined to have a good time. Arriving early on Wednesday morning, we hit the beach. It was a lot of fun watching her kids splash and play in the surf. That evening we were absolutely in awe of the beautiful sunset. The vivid colors completely filled the sky before the sun set and the beach became dark. Angie and I were talking about the sunset and one of us, I dont remember which one, said the sunrise had to be just as majestic. So after putting the kids to bed, we decided we would sit up all night and experience the same beauty in the morning. Although, she and I had spent hundreds of hours together during our time at APSU we never lacked for something to talk about. We laughed and talked throughout the night. We discovered it get breezy on the beach at night and wished we had brought jackets and that people do things in the cover of darkness that shocked and entertained us as well. About 2:00 a.m. we were both getting tired and sleepy but were determined to power through till the sun came up. Here you had two proud college graduates who thought of themselves as intelligent. Again, I dont remember which of us, declared if the sun set over the water it was not going to rise over the water!! So all those hours of waiting on the beautiful sunrise over the water had been wasted! If we were into seeing the sun rise over the multitude of motels and t-shirt shacks we were in the right spot. We threw in the towel and made our way back to the motel where Angies aunt and kids were sleeping. Murphys Law once again reared its inconvenient head when Angie realized she did not have a room key. We knocked and knocked on the door but could not raise anyone from their deep sleep. We could see through a separation in the room drapes and saw the kids and Angies aunt slumbering away. After determining no one was going to wake up to let us in we returned to the beach to watch the sun rise over the Motel 6!
Posted on: Tue, 30 Dec 2014 09:36:00 +0000