Our 2020 30A Beach Trip by the Numbers

We just got back from our annual trip to 30A, and despite the fact that we’re in a pandemic and there was a Tropical Storm churning and making its way towards us, we had an absolute fantastic time! 

I’ll be recapping the entire thing here on the blog as always, but here’s a little recap of our trip by the numbers first…

8 – Days we were on our trip

7 – Nights we stayed in the condo

84 Billion – People who asked me to send the link to our condo after I did a little tour on Instagram stories (see it in my “Beach ‘20” highlight here)

1 – Tropical Storm that blew through while we were there (Cristobal)

8 – Days it was supposed to rain/thunderstorm/be a complete wash out on our trip (we were seriously devastated looking at the forecast in the week leading up to our trip)

1.5 – Days it actually rained on our trip (the day we arrived and part of the next day)

6 – Days it was sunny and perfect (we got soooo lucky, y’all!!)

5.5 – Days there were double red flags (water too dangerous) and we weren't supposed to get in the water

1.5 – Days there were yellow flags and the water was serene

5 – Days we got in the water (we were suuuuper careful on the double red flag days and only allowed the kids to go in to their ankles)

2 – Times the police came through and told people to get out of the water

7 – Little beach towns we visited while we were there (Inlet, Rosemary, Seacrest, Alys, Seagrove, Seaside, and Panama City)

1 – Pandemic that was going on while we were there (The ‘Rona)

7 – Times Olivia asked for snacks (down from 15 times on our last beach trip… ha!)

10 – Times Olivia asked how long until we’re there (up from 7 on our last beach trip)

1 – Time Jacob asked how long until we’re there (he’s always perfectly content in the back seat with his movies!)

5 – Times somebody said “cows” on the way down there (all from Brian… haha)

1 – Time the GPS fell off the windshield (this may be a record low)

1 – Thing we had to buy when we got there because we forgot it at home (an Apple Watch charger because I forgot mine… rookie mistake since I’ve only owned mine for a couple of months and haven’t yet traveled with it)

18 – Holes of miniature golf played

1 – Hole in one scored during our putt putt game (Only Jacob!  And that little stinker beat me overall, too)

12 – Adult beverages consumed (+ 1 pitcher of margs when we had Mex)

24 – Donuts consumed (oh yes we did)

26 – Ice creams consumed (yep, we pretty much had it every night… haha… although, three of the times it was just the ice cream in our freezer from Publix)

3 – Beach sunsets watched

24 – Hours spent on the beach (daytime and evening hours combined)

2 – Times we went crabbing after dark

5 – Crabs we saw (3 the first night and 2 the second night)

1 – Time somebody got pinched by a crab (Jacob got pinched by one on his finger when he was playing in the ocean one morning… yes, it left a mark… poor thing!)

7 – Bottles of sunscreen that we went through

102 – Shells we found and kept for our family collection and the kids’ collections

5 – Souvenirs brought home (Had to grab another Seaside sweatshirt, and a tee this time, too!)

7 – Peanut butter and jelly sandwiches consumed by Olivia (still her favorite thing to eat after all these years)

3 – Times we had to move on the beach because people set up their stuff too close to us for comfort (it was probably still more than six feet apart each time, but we wanted to be way further apart than that)

4 – Times we had to wear our masks (once at Publix, once at Duckies the toy store, once at The Seaside Style, and once more at The Seaside Style)

2 – Times we got takeout for dinner and ate in the condo to avoid restaurants

4 – Times we ate outside at a restaurant for dinner

1 – Time we ate inside a restaurant for dinner (the only reason we did was because their patio was tiny and full and the actual restaurant was literally empty inside except for us… although, they ended up seating another party right next to us shortly after we got there… grrrr… but the rest of the restaurant stayed empty for the remainder of the time)

5 – Times we ate lunch in the condo to avoid restaurants

1 – Time we ate outside at a restaurant for lunch

1 – Time we ate inside a restaurant for breakfast (we were super far away from everyone else!)

2.5 – Books I read on the trip (1/2 of Evvie Drake Starts Over, The Thousandth Floor, and The Unhoneymooners)

0 – Times we were asked if the kids are twins (two years running now… prior to last year we were literally asked every year if the kids were twins)

823 – Pictures taken on the trip with my iPhone

296 – Pictures taken on the trip with my fancy camera (all family portraits we took on the beach one evening)

43 – Videos taken on the trip with my iPhone

?? – Miles driven (I totally forgot to keep track this time)

And there were a few firsts on this beach trip as well…

1. We watched a movie in the condo one evening for the first time ever and we also watched TV one evening for the first time as well.  We’re usually too busy exploring and adventuring and pretty much only use our condo to sleep and get ready, but this year we kept things a little more low-key since we had to be careful due to the pandemic.

2. We also went crabbing after dark for the first time ever… again, because we spent more time at our condo than ever due to the pandemic.

3. We ate dinner in the condo for the first time ever.  We’re huge foodies so we literally never do this because we love to go out to eat.  But again, pandemic.

4. We wore our masks as a family of four.  The kids have literally been to no public place since March other than going to the outdoor parks (no playgrounds) or my mother-in-law’s house, and Olivia had to go to the doctor once, too.  Every single time B and I have to go to a public place and wear our masks (grocery shopping, doctor, get gas, etc.) we leave the kids at home, so they literally hadn’t been inside a public place in three whole months.  And obviously, this isn’t just a first for a beach trip, this is a first for our lifetimes.  Lol.

5. We let the kids sleep in the bunk beds for the first time ever.  Pretty much every year for the last few years our condo has had bunk beds, but we've always made the kids sleep in their sleeping bags on the floor.  This year I finally gave in since they're older, and they were ecstatic.  Me, not so much.  Haha.  I worried my head off every night and prayed so hard that Jacob wouldn't roll off of the top onto the hard floor.  Ugh.

6. B and the kids played video games in the condo.  Again, 'Rona, so we spent more time in the condo.  Although, B technically only brought the Nintendo Switch because we thought we were going to be stuck in the condo for most of the trip due to the Tropical Storm and ugly weather forecast.

I’ll be recapping our entire trip soon, but if you want a little sneak peek ahead of time, you can always check out the “Beach ‘20” highlight in my Instagram bio.

Happy Monday, y’all!

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