I fell off the wagon and landed on the beach....

Yes.
I know.

I fell off the Q&A of the day wagon.  And I was doing so well, too!
But I have a good excuse.

The last few days, my toes were here:

Oh yes ma'am.
My toes were enjoying the sand, surf and sun of the the beaches of Jacksonville, Florida.  I was there for a work conference and let me tell you.  It was great for so many reasons.

On the Wednesday prior to my departure, I received an e-mail from the Marriott telling me, "Whooops!  We overbooked!  We have no room at the inn on Saturday night.....but we're making it up to you by moving you to a 5-star, ocean front hotel, and you don't even have to pay for it."

Excuse me?
Free night in an oceanfront hotel?
YES PLEASE!

My travel day ran so smoothly.  Because the Big Guy put the fear of God into me that I'd be late due to the new security features put in place (due to the kid who fled home and flew to Vegas without a ticket), I got to the airport 2 hours before my flight took off.  As a result, US Airways moved me to an earlier flight and I got to stick my toes in the sand 3 hours earlier!

Fun story:  while at the airport waiting for the Super Shuttle, I got to spend 20 minutes talking to John, an 80-something year old man, who was a WWII veteran, who served on the USS Cavalier and the story of how it was struck by a torpedo.  

And our shuttle driver?  Oh.  He was a trip.
I enjoy a good shuttle driver who (a) likes to chat, but respects when people need some quiet time and (b) can sing like his soul depends on it to the radio and (c) doesn't mind asking for directions.  

We arrived at the Ponte Vedra Inn and Club, nestled between the million dollar ocean front homes.  

Folks.  This hotel?  Ultra swanky.
Here was my view:

Yeah.  I can live with that.
It was hot and humid but you know what?  I didn't care.  I walked up and down that beach for HOURS, looking at shells, watching the waves, seeing people who were way, way, WAY to young to be wearing bikinis that tiny (seriously!  Cover up will ya?  One strong wind and stuff will be exposed that shouldn't be!).  And you know what?

I could seriously consider being a snow-bird.

I collected shells, too....

(OK, not all of THESE came home with me....but I was tempted)
(Damn you Pinterest for all of your crafty ideas)

And then of course, I found this guy:

It sort of reminded me of Finding Nemo.  

Later in the afternoon, some of my friends from other Minnesota colleges who were also at this conference arrived.  We met for dinner and when I got back to the room, I found this on one of the beds:

Turn down service.

I came back into the room, the TV was on, the fancy pillows were in a neat pile nearby, the ice-bucket was filled, bottled water was in the fridge, fancy robe and slippers....and of course....mints.

Seriously.

The Marriott can "inconvenience me" all the want.

This was such a fun treat to have before the conference.

Of course, I joked and said, "if they can't find my reservation at the Marriott, I'm happy to take one for the team and come back here...."

I'll be back to my Q&A of the day posts on Monday.

I have to dump 12 pounds of sand out of my suitcase.