I Got Away...Again

Or, Laughing and Eating In the Florida Panhandle

I hope you like all my photos in this week’s post! (click any photo to expand it!)

You probably know of my love of traveling. I love the adventure and the thrill of experiencing new things and meeting new people. (I wrote about a couple trips I took last year into the hubbub of New York and into the solitude of northern Minnesota.) I can’t speak highly enough of changing up your scenery from time to time to expand your vision of the world and other people, experiencing some discomfort (lol), and increasing your appreciation of home.

This particular trip was extra special for me. Not only was I getting away from the monstrous winter we’ve had in Minnesota (with over 80 inches of snow in the past five months!), aiming my sails for warmer temps and sunshine, but I was meeting up with one of my most amazing friends, John Yoast. I can’t tell you how much we laughed together. Well, I can. It was a lot. We’ve spent a considerable amount of time together in the past, as John has been incredibly generous to me and my music ministry, with the support of his radio station WBYN Positively Different 107.5FM, bringing me up to the Philadelphia area to perform many concerts over the past decade.

It was with John that I got to experience what it was like to actually have people know who I was when I’d show up to do a concert, because of his playing my songs like “Pilgrim Man” and “You’ll Get Through This,” and promoting the shows. That is something most musicians only dream about. We explored ministry opportunities all over his area, made so many really great friends, and collected a ton of stories.

One of the craziest things we ever did was a “mock” interview where he pretended not to know me, or even care about what I was doing. Watch it on YouTube HERE. It’s hilarious! We uploaded the video to Facebook at a coffee shop, sat back and cracked up as the comments rolled in from people who thought we were being serious. They were strongly defending my honor, which I’m grateful for.

John and I were long overdue for some face-to-face time. I couldn’t believe it when he agreed… AND could fit it into his schedule running the station!

We found a great place online down in Destin, Florida that was gorgeous (when the fog didn’t cover up everything!) The fine, white sandy beaches are incredible all along much of the panhandle. Full disclosure, we loved looking at the great pools and scenery, but our favorite activity was conversation. And boy, did we cover everything. It was awesome.

We found some great harbor-view seats for dinner the first night. You just can’t script how beautiful it was. I had the Mahi Mahi. Another meal, I had an amazing Cobb salad that was covered with shrimp, instead of the normal cold cuts. I’ve never said “I don’t think I can eat all these shrimp!" until that meal. (Yes, I stomached through and ended up finishing it all! Huzzah!)

I never used to want to do “touristy” things when I traveled, but I’ve recanted my ways and have found great joy doing some things tourists do. For instance, in New York City a few years back, I took a double-decker bus tour around Manhattan. It was awesome to cover a lot of ground and hear details only the locals would know. This trip, we both agreed to a “Dolphin Sunset Cruise.” There were a ton of companies wanting our money for this kind of trip, and thankfully, we landed on a great one. The dolphins and other boats (and choppy waves) were plentiful. Someone would see a dolphin pop out of the water for a brief second, then they’ll yell and point, “THERE’S ONE!” It was an exuberant crowd, managed by pro tour guides who made it super fun.

We ate a ton of really great food. Plenty of seafood, of course. But by our last meal we were both craving some steak… which we found and devoured. It was also during that meal we made some new friends: Stephanie and Dr. Matt with their fascinating story, and Pete, a strong, grounded young man who is part of the local Air Force. (Thanks for your service, brother!) The conversation trumped the impressive steaks.

If you’ve ever traveled to the beach you know that you can never guarantee good weather. Thankfully, the rain and clouds waited until after our boat cruise… and provided the scene for a pretty cool and mysterious photo. These peeps were determined to enjoy their time at the beach. Good on ‘em.

The trip back home was a challenge—as flying anywhere can be with ever-changing weather and logistics affecting flights, schedules, and tempers. In spite of getting this amazing photo of the clouds out my window, we flew through the greatest amount of turbulence I can ever remember. I’m amazed how planes don’t rip apart, considering how we twisted and shook.

I was thankful to make it home to my own bed, my favorite pillows, and the hum of my favorite fan. I closed my eyes a grateful person. I’m grateful for the extremely meaningful time with my friend, John. And for the chance to meet some really fantastic people—for instance, my favorite Lyft driver was self-professed “hillbilly peach” Vanessa who, even though she had just lost her daughter to pancreatic cancer three weeks prior, is committed to continue doing stand-up comedy as a way to honor her. Laughter as a way to help process grief. She had me cracking up the entire way to the airport with her hilarious jokes.

I hope this week’s post inspires you to think outside the box, or perhaps outside your normal perimeter of living. There are some amazing places to see and people to meet, who I promise will make your life richer and more beautiful.

Get out and find the beautiful.

P.S. One hilarious side note: the door of our hotel room was a little tight on its frame and would let out a loud … umm … fart noise (!!!) when it was opened. Our favorite thing to do when opening the door, just following the sound, was to say, “Oh, excuse me!” Which cracked up us so hard… especially when people were walking by in the hallway and would turn around to look. Life is so good when you laugh. Thank you, John, for all the laughs, all the tears, and all the love.

Check out this live performance of “Pilgrim Man”!

It was super early in the morning and I had a lot of makeup on.