Vacation by Numbers


As we wrap up our spring break in St. Pete Beach, Florida & head for the airport, a summary:

  1. New #1 favorite airport code of the Berry family: St. Pete-Clearwater International: it’s PIE!
  2. Hours we were in Florida before Richie declared that he would be moving here when he’s an adult: 0.
  3. Local restaurants recommended to us by our dear friends who used to live in the area: 3.
  4. Of those restaurants, the number we visited: 3.
  5. Of those visits, the number of times we tormented those friends by texting/posting while dining al fresco at their favorite warm-weather eateries while they were stuck up north in the cold: 3.
  6. On a scale of 1-10, 1 being very sure and 10 being not sure at all, how confident we are that we still have those friends: 5.
  7. On a scale of 1-10, 1 being smart and 10 being not smart at all, how Richie judges our friends’ intelligence based on their decision to move from Florida to Pennsylvania: 10.
  8. Sunburns: 0.  Yippee!!
  9. Times I mocked Rich and Jillian while they discussed the pain from their Pina Colada brain-freezes so virulently you’d have thought they were two baby bunnies being waterboarded: 1.
  10. Virgin Pina Coladas consumed by Jillian: 5.
  11. Virgin Pina Coladas consumed by Rich: 0.
  12. Times Richie asked us, while on the beach, what time it was: 742,851.
  13. Number of family members in agreement that we didn’t need to know the time while on vacation, so we would always answer “1:30” when someone asked for the time: 3.
  14. On a scale of 1-10, 1 being not bothered at all and 10 being incredibly pissed off, how annoyed Richie was by this policy: 7.
  15. Dolphin sightings from the beach: 3.
  16. Squeals of delight at seeing dolphins: 3. (From Rich or Richie: 0.)
  17. Times I offered to take another family’s picture so even the mom could be in it: 3.
  18. Moms who took me up on that offer: 3.
  19. Number of U.S. families now able to boast that their Christmas card picture was taken by the palest middle-aged Pennsylvania mom on St. Pete Beach: 1.
  20. Times I ordered a vodka tonic with 2 limes: 3.
  21. Received a vodka tonic with 2 limes: 0.
  22. Received a vodka tonic with 1  lime: 3.
  23. Added the lime from my first vodka tonic to my second vodka tonic in order to pretend that someone thought I deserved 2 limes: 1.
  24. On a scale of 1-10, 1 being a little and 10 being a lot, how much our family needed this vacation: 10.
  25. On the same scale, how grateful I am to my brother & his family for staying at our house and caring for our dogs: 10.
  26.  Loads of laundry I’ll be doing tomorrow: at least 6.

In training for Spring Break 2026.  Don’t tell Gram.


This kid is consistent.  The chaise lounge has always been his favorite outdoor play toy.


Herbie the sea chicken.  He liked us so much that he would find us every time we walked on the beach.


5 thoughts on “Vacation by Numbers

  1. Holly

    Dear friends may need to lower the friend likelihood number seeing that “stuck up north in the cold” translates to “travel to Chicago to visit family.”
    Big. Difference. But can’t wait to hear all about it!!!!


  2. Amy Koch

    My review of this post by the numbers:
    1. my two favorites from your list – 13 and 23
    2. the number of times I laughed out loud – 2
    3. the number of times those out-loud laughs would have resulted in beverages being spit across the room had I been consuming a beverage – 2
    4. the number of times I will visit this blog – infinite

    Liked by 1 person

Leave a Reply


You are commenting using your account. Log Out /  Change )

Google photo


Twitter picture


Facebook photo


Connecting to %s