There is just something very peaceful and serene about sitting on a balcony, enjoying the Gulf breeze and enjoying my morning tea. What a great way to start Day 2 of our family vacation at Portofino Island in Pensacola Beach, Florida (if you missed Day One, check it out here)! After breakfast, we decided to get our swim gear ready and head to the white sandy beaches. One of the amenities here at the resort is beach chairs (which recline!) and a beach umbrella. It was a great place to set up shop and start applying sunscreen. There isn’t a cloud in the sky here today!
I am sure you have all heard about the oil spill which is effecting the environment, livelihoods and tourism of many Gulf Coast states. The people of Pensacola Beach are worried as well, but I can tell you from first hand experience that the beach is beautiful and we have not seen or smelled oil at all. The kids dodged waves, made sandcastles and collected seashells before we decided to head upstairs for lunch. We were exhausted and were so glad to find the Portofino Island Tram waiting for us at the edge of the beach. While it is not a long walk, the tram ride back to our Tower was welcomed! Our tram driver was so nice and the kids just loved riding “the train!”
Lunch was turkey sandwiches, chips and fruit cups served in our condo. I just love that we are equipped with a full kitchen so we do not have to drag the kids to restaurants for every meal. We could eat lunch together and the kids could still have a blast. Perfect!
For dinner, we took the complimentary 63-foot catamaran, the Portofino I, to The Boardwalk which features lots of unique shops, restaurants and ice cream. It was a ton of fun for the kids and they even got to drive the boat (as you can see, Aubrie didn’t think we were going fast enough, so she wanted to step on it!)! The captain and crew were very nice and the music on board made for a fun and relaxing trip. We found a kid friendly restaurant called Flounders (it even had a playground!) which was very reasonable and yummy, too! Back at the condo, we are rounding out the evening by baking some cookies in the oven…..heaven!
Tomorrow after breakfast, we signed up for a dolphin cruise and I will be enjoying a relaxing massage in the afternoon. I am sure we will head to the pool at some point as well as my kids haven’t stopped talking about it. Totally looking forward to Day 3!
GIVEAWAY
To close out Day 2, I would love to offer my readers a giveaway of a product we found very useful at the beach today, Sand Gone! With a two year old who isn’t quite sure what to think of all the sand, this product was a godsend. It helped us to easily remove sand from her body without having to dunk in the Gulf and it smelled fabulous, too!! The microfiber applicator is very soft (resembles a powder puff) and is machine washable.
About Sand Gone:
“Sand Gone is a dry body powder, that when applied to sand covered skin, removes the sand and leaves the skin soft and smooth while feeling fresh and clean.”
This product was great to get the sand off before we headed to board the Tram at Portofino Island. There is nothing worse than tracking sand into a clean condo and Sand Gone definitely helped us keep the mess out! Both myself and my daughters loved the coconut smell of the powder as well. The 8oz screw cap jar was very easy to pack and kept the beach wetness out as well. I highly recommend this product for any beach goer, but especially if you have little ones that aren’t a fan of being covered in sand. Order Sand Gone here for only $12.00 plus shipping!
Headed to the beach? Want to try Sand Gone? One lucky reader will win their own 8oz. jar of Sand Gone!
How to enter:
1. Tell me why you need Sand Gone!
Additional entries:
1. Blog about this giveaway and link to The Not-So-Blog and Sand Gone (10 extra entries).
2. Follow me (@BridgetteLA) and (@PortofinoIsland) and (@SandGone) on Twitter and Tweet this giveaway. Every time you tweet you get an additional entry! Unlimited! (You must have over 50 Twitter followers to qualify for unlimited entries!)
3. Subscribe to my blog.
4. Become a Fan of The Not-So-Blog and Portofino Island on Facebook.
5. Place my blog banner on your sidebar.
6. Subscribe to my Feed.
Contest ends at 11:59pm CST on June 30th. Prizes not claimed in 72 hours will be forfeited. Open to U.S. Residents only.
I cannot believe how much Lily looks like you sitting on the beach at that age!!! Remember going to the Broadwater Beach Hotel? We had to carry Eric when we got to the beach because he couldn’t stand the feel of the sand!
We live near to the beach and this would definitely help with less sand in the car!
I’m a subscriber.
I follow and tweeted. http://twitter.com/susanlanai/status/16449248685
we live right down the road from the beach sow e could really use this…sand gets everywhere….would love to give it a try
Absolutely beautiful 🙂
I need Sand Gone because no one wants to bring the beach home.
I subscribe to your blog.
I am a fan of both on FB.
I subscribe to your feed.
We’re headed to the beach this summer and it will be baby’s first trip to the beach! this would be VERY handy for the diaper bag! 🙂
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I have your button
http://lilbabybootie.blogspot.com/
I have four kids who love the sand, this would be great so I did not always have sand everywhere.
We go to the beach a few times a year. A new necessity!
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The girls play outside in th sandbox and my carpets doesn’t need more sand!
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I have your button in my blog
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Okay, we totally NEED sand gone because we live in San Diego and are constantly at the beach. The worst of it is that my husband does beach workouts and gets sand everywhere! It can acutally cause a type of road rash. I’d be so happy if I could solve this problem for him!!!
Thanks for the great giveaway!!! 🙂
I follow everyone on Twitter as @katygmorris and just Tweeted here: http://twitter.com/katygmorris/status/16718160748
Thanks!!! 🙂
I’m already an email subscriber.
Thanks!!! 🙂
I liked you and Portofino Island on Facebook as Katy Morris.
Thanks!!! 🙂
I subscribed to your feeds with my Google Reader.
Thanks!!! 🙂
I follow you and PortofinoIsland and Sand Gone on Twitter (@jkgorcery) and I tweeted: https://twitter.com/jkgorcery/status/16723675402
very cool! we live near the Jersey shore and are always going to the beach–it would be nice not to bring half of it home with us.
I follow you and PortofinoIsland and Sand Gone on Twitter (@jkgorcery) and I tweeted: https://twitter.com/jkgorcery/status/16723675402
I’d love to win this 🙂
ktgonyea at gmail.com
We live in Florida, very near the beach. So we definetly need this for the kids!
I need this because we live an hour and a half from the beach…and it’s a long drive home when you have dry, itchy sand on you. Thanks for the review and giveaway!
jackievillano at gmail dot com
I subscribe via email
jackievillano at gmail dot com
I would love to try this product! We live close to Lake Superior and in the summer you can usually find us swimming in one lake or another. I am tired of sand coming back with us! We get it in the car, in the bathroom, in the shower, I am done with sand! I would love to see if this product can help us leave the sand back at the beach and reduce my cleaning time!
girlygirlugh at gmail dot com
I am an email subscriber!
girlygirlugh at gmail dot com
we need Sandgone because we plan on taking our 7mth old to the beach next month, it will be his first trip to the beach. This would come in handy and to help make it special for him, no sand! 🙂
Count me in for 06/28/2010 🙂
ktgonyea at gmail.com
We plan 2-3 beach trips each summer and this would be a super addition to our beach bag. Instead we always carry extra water bottles to “clean ourselves” as my daughter spazes over leaving with any sand on her feet.
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Every year we visit my inlaws. They drive us to the beach. Because we park on the beach, we always end up getting a lot of sand in their car. I believe this product would help cut down on the amount of sand we transfer from the beach to their car.
It would make coming home from the beach so much easier, thanks.
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