The weather was gray. Our hotel was jam-packed with boisterous extended families. Our room overlooked A1A, not the beach, and backed up to a noisy elevator shaft.
But we quickly overcame the petty annoyances. In fact, it was one of our best vacations ever.
We spent most of our time frolicking on the beach, swimming in the warm Atlantic and getting walloped by the sizable surf. My kids can't get enough of the waves, by the way. They love to lie on their bellies at the shoreline and get smashed by the oncoming rush of whitewater. My wife and I kept a close eye on them, especially as our little girl continued to be sucked out into the sea. She always emerged laughing, however, spitting out salt water and brushing the abundant sand from her hair.
Another highlight was walking the Deerfield Beach pier. From that vantage point, we could easily spot fish and particularly large stingrays cruising beneath the surface. As the sun emerged in all its sizzling glory, we made a jaunt down to Fort Lauderdale for lunch and a walk on its crazy-busy beach. Lots of fun indeed. It brought back memories for me of bygone trips to Fort "Liquor-dale" with my college buddies. (Actually, my recollection of those escapades is a bit fuzzy.)
To top it all off, we lucked onto a great kid's movie on TV one evening – "Surf’s Up." All the cool animated surfing action inspired my kids to jump into the waves with even more gusto than before. Which is exactly what we did the next morning before heading back home.
I think we all still have sand in our ears.