That weird time warp when you return from vacation

Reality hit this morning as I stumbled out of bed early and hauled myself the hour drive into work. Caught up on a million emails and had more existential thoughts.

BUT super glad we went on a trip. I enjoyed my kid so much we had the best bonding time. It’s funny to start see some of the random characteristics from yourself in your kid. I.e. when I go to new destinations I have so much energy to walk and run for ages. And on we ran so hard on the beach for HOURS.

we had the most fun running around

This beach was if not my top beach my 2nd choice for how pretty it was and non developed. In the distance we could see tall buildings but this particular stretch of beach was pristine.

fun fact you get to see a lot of aircraft and old aircraft fly over the beach here!

We stayed at Topsail Hill Preserve State Park. 10/10 recommend this place. It had the perfect combination of hiking trails, sand dunes, and a beautiful blue beach. I actually liked this place so much I am planning on returning and bringing my bike.

hiking here was so pretty but made me wish I had my bike

It’s about a 1 mile walk to the beach from the tent camping or the cabins and they have a tram that makes trips once an hour so you can get a ride to and from the beach! They also have dunes that are even prettier to hike but we just didn't have enough time.

park map

We originally planned to camp but thank goodness my sister had a backup plan of renting one of their cabins. It turned out to be fairly chilly the entire time so I was very happy I packed lots of layers for us.

would LOVE to come back here and camp though this was our campsite so pretty and very private. there is power here and showers and bathroom really close by

The only con to this area was the restaurants are fairly expensive and not within walking distance. Going more towards Destin would have much more food options but I’m not a high rise type of girl.

We packed tons of food and stopped by Walmart there for some groceries to eat healthier and cheaper! We also had restaurant food someone would run out and grab and bring back to the cabin to let the kids run for dinner every night.

Hope everyone is having a warm joyful almost spring so far. I’m ready to get into the swing of riding again!

Adios,

-A