FAMILY FUN: Opulence & Night Swimming

Portofino Island Resort & Spa - Friday Night

I intended to blog every day through the fun, and then cap it all off with a Rebel Review (which is coming!), but the fun (and sheer exhaustion from the fun, at the end of each day) interfered with those good intentions (and that's not such a bad thing!)...so here I am, home again, home again, with my scribbled notes and fresh memories of our long weekend at the beach at the new Portofino Island Resort & Spa in Pensacola Beach, Florida -- which is, quite simply: STUNNING.

We arrived Friday evening, and I have to admit, by the time we got there, everyone was tired and grumpy from the five-hour drive, and then we stopped at the grocery store in Gulf Breeze on the way (there are no grocery stores on Pensacola Beach, other than gas station quicki-marts). I went into the store for the "quick" stop and shop, while Daddy was trying to finish a phone call from the office, the kids were jumping and screaming around in the backseat...it was ugly for a bit.

However, all of that was instantly forgotten less than an hour later, when we opened the double doors of our 17th floor, 3 bedroom "Sky Home" (after struggling up the elevator with luggage carts, grocery bags, computers and beach toys, kids fighting over the keycards and button-pushing, etc.), entered the grand foyer (in a condo!) and glimpsed the splendor and luxury -- not to mention the view! -- that lay beyond...

The kids immediately started singing a chorus of:
"Thank you, thank you Mom -- you're The Best!"

Hubby: "Are we in the right room?!"

This particular Sky Home (Tower 2 - #1701) was the ultimate in luxury and "rockin' cool" in design, decor and furnishing, from oversized, four poster beds to ornate bombe chests, mirrors, fixtures, throw pillows, carpets, marble, stone, glass, baubles and doo-dads (dustcatchers, but no dust!) everywhere. This vacation condo was more opulent and put-together than the million-dollar mansions in Buckhead, or the luxury hotels we have enjoyed (in wealthier times) in London and Germany. "Are we in the right room?" indeed.

We walked out onto the (wrap-around) balcony to enjoy the 180-degree view, from the Lifestyle Center and pool complex below; to Santa Rosa Bay, the causeway in the distance, and the lights of Pensacola back on the mainland; to the scenic desolation of the Gulf Shores National Seashore nature preserve adjacent to the east; to views of the beach and the Gulf of Mexico from both sides of the balcony. In a word: Breathtaking. (Fortunately, no one in our family is afraid of heights!)

We nested a bit, picking out bedrooms and sleeping arrangements, giving the beds a bounce, checking out every nook and cranny, moving a few of the more fragile baubles and doo-dads to safety. We enjoyed our admittedly somewhat-pathetic frozen pizza and salad dinner, but it did the job. (An old first-night vacation stand-by to get our feet back under us and figure out what's-what.)

We were all ready to head down to the Lifestyle Center and check out the pool(s). Once again: WOW. Aside from a private pool at the bottom of each of the five towers, the Lifestyle Center has two outdoor "infinity" pools, and two hot tubs, which are all next to each other, and an Olympic indoor pool in a wood-and-glass atrium just steps away. It is all particularly gorgeous at night, with low lights and a cooling breeze off Santa Rosa Bay.

The kids swam for two hours, outdoor-hot tub-outdoor-indoor-hot tub-outdoor (repeat). We enjoyed the pools and the hot tub and the comfortable lounge chairs all around.

Rebel Housewife Family Fun Adventure Tip:

Swimming at night can't be beat, and we enjoyed the pools every night of our vacation. (During the day, it can get HOT and quite crowded, both in the water and out -- it was tough to find a lounge chair during the day, and near-impossible to find more than one together, never mind by an umbrella or in a piece of shade.)(At the pools, not the beach, where chairs and umbrellas were plentiful and the service was great!) But night swimming: perfection.

During the long drive down, on a whim at a gas station in Opelika, Alabama, I had purchased three little light-up frisbees -- cheap toys you have to hit or bang on something to activate the little light ball inside the rubber and then it glows and changes colors -- cheap, but very cool (they put lights in everything anymore, don't they?!). The light-up frisbees were the hit of the pool after dark, because they were the only things the kids could see to throw and chase after. The kids made new friends instantly and had a great time playing -- well worth the minimal investment.

Stay tuned for Days Two & Three of The Adventure, and the Rebel Review of
Portofino Island Resort & Spa...