Belleair Diary -- En Route

En Route to Belleair Beach

A beautiful day to run away from home.

At the Georgia Welcome Center, where the only barking dogs had parked alongside my car while I was "resting" at the "rest" facilities, German tourists were feeding the squirrels and taking pictures of the scavenging birds.  As I was just finishing listening to In the Garden of Beasts, the sound of German scented English was a little eerie.

Nonetheless, I was making great time, tickled that my new Baby iPod was revved up and running beautifully.  (Just in case, I had an emergency pak of iPods:  my original Nano that only holds 1½ audiobooks on a good day, but still has music, my refurbished and quirky iPod Touch that holds volumes but skips chapters and has to be teased back to the next subsequent, and freezes, which is what prompted me to my extravagant Baby Nano purchase.  I also toted extra USB cords, and AUX cord, charger, and probably other emergency items I can't recall.  My iPods and accessories had their own overnight travel bag.)

I decided to follow Route 301, which turned out to be one of those roads that go from 65 mph to 35 mph every few miles, sometimes because there is a traffic light, sometimes because there happens to be a house.  I double checked Google Maps with Mapquest, and they both said, go for it, so I did.  Definitely in Florida redneck territory, where I decided I needed to stop for gas, and worried a little bit about the effect my bumper stickers might have on the populace.  On the other hand, Florida rednecks aren't rich either, so the price of gas wasn't much more than I had paid in Charleston.

But then as I drove out of the gas'n'go, I found that my beautiful new Baby Nano wasn't working.  Having finished with Hitler and Germany, I had been pleasantly embarked upon Roger Ebert's recollections of growing up in Urbana, Illinois.  That wasn't the problem, though, because I had cynically also left the book on iPod Touch, and would play the jump back and forth between chapters game if I had to.  The problem was that it was my Baby Nano, that I had just bought for this trip.

So I played with it while I waited for a train to pass, and then decided to lunch at Wendy's.  While dining on a luscious fish sandwich (Wendy's had apparently gone so upscale while I wasn't paying attention that they even tell you what kind of fish) and fries (with "sea salt"), I decided I would try a different USB, then the AUX, and if that didn't work, I'd bite the bullet and use the Touch.

But apparently, both I and Baby Nano just needed a rest, because after lunch it revved up just fine, and Roger and I resumed our trips to Memory Lane and Belleair Beach, respectively.

Arrival

It's been years since I've been on the Gulf Coast of Florida.  I have a picture of my son when we vacationed in St. Pete.  He was two,

now he's turning 21.

It was the winter we left Long Island at 10 at night because a horrible blizzard was working its way down the coast.  We beat the blizzard, too.  The snow started on the Jersey Turnpike and stayed with us through North Carolina, turning to rain in South Carolina, sealing our fate when I was deciding just how far south to move to get away from it all.  We heard horror stories about people whose flights were delayed due to the blizzard that week.  And there in St. Pete it was an unseasonably cold January, 40's at night, not much higher during the day.  We had a timeshare exchange across the street from the beach, where there were beautiful shells and even more beautiful sunsets, which we could see if we strained our necks looking out the door of our little timeshare.  I remember jumping into a pretty cold "heated" pool and then warming up in the Jacuzzi so I could sit outside and read for a bit before heading back to the room.

This year has been unseasonably warm, and I had very high hopes for my reunion with the Gulf.

And as I approached the coast, I remembered how wonderfully different the west coast of Florida is from the crazy east coast.  It's lower to the ground and greener.  The water and the foliage are greener.  It took my breath away.

I was forwarned that this Belleair Beach Club was not going to be fancy.

But I paid an extra $100 for a view of the Gulf, and a $95 cleaning charge, which since it was so outrageous I did not have any expectations of sparkling cleanliness.  I just added it all up to $745 for a week on the Gulf of Mexico.  Just to make the arithmetic clear, I pay $605 for maintenance on the timeshare I don't use because my children have abandoned me, and get $800 after realtor's fees for renting it out, so I believe I am still ahead of the game by $50, giving me a $600 week in Florida.

Turns out there was a problem with my original room, so I had been upgraded.  Not to appear ungrateful, but after having spent a day here, I can understand how something could have gone so wrong that they had to give me another room, but I can't imagine what I might have been upgraded from.

You see, this resort is apparently breathing its last, and there is a desperate move to turn it into condos…

…and since they are offering special Pre-renovation Pricing,

whatever equipment breaks down is just left to die, oh, and bring your own toilet paper and soap.

But my gods the view!