Nonna's Castle

I am convinced that in another life, I was born, lived and died by the sea. There is no other explanation for the intense connection I feel to el mar—the way it sounds, smells, feels as it washes all the stress off my body the further and further I succumb into the waves, her gentle hands.  

I have always loved the water and never really felt like I was on vacation unless I was—you guessed it—on or near water. I’ve always needed to hear the waves, the seagulls, the lull that even still water somehow seems to provide to truly relax. Cádiz, San Sebastian, Toronto, Canoa, Lisbon—some of my favorite places on earth and the one thing they’ve all got in common: water. It is no wonder, then, that I find myself on the eve of our vacation wondering when I will see the water again. It’s never soon enough.

It is also no wonder that I’ve come to love and treasure so much our family’s vacation spot, St. Pete Beach, in what Joseph likes to call ‘Nonna’s Castle.’

The beach at Nonna's Castle. Life is always good here.

I’ve been coming to St. Pete Beach to vacation with my Mom and Bill for as long as I can remember—Colleen and I used to make up rockin’ dance routines in the pools of every condo Mom and Bill rented. We always had crushes on the British boys who used to vacation here with their families and we would flirt with servers who were twice our age in hopes of kindling a summer romance, mostly to no avail (the Brits always liked Colleen, though, with her pretty brownish red hair, her cute freckles, her awesome bangs). We had our favorite restaurants we frequented—with ice cream joints to boot—and always loved to shop for chintzy shell jewelry at St. John’s Pass. We loved to play putt-putt at all the touristy courses with waterfalls and Easter Island-looking statues (what a rip off!), and loved to go to the movies by ourselves at Tyrone Square Mall. I can remember we saw ‘A League of Their Own’ there together, chowing down on popcorn and Twizzlers, thinking we were so cool entering the theater by ourselves. Ohhh, what grown-ups we were.

Finally, in 1998, after testing out nearly every major resort on Gulf Boulevard, Mom and Bill bought what would become Nonna’s Castle some years later—a condo on the 5^th floor of a high-rise overlooking Blind Pass, an Intracoastal Waterway. Equipped with a pool and its own private beach, and within walking distance of some seriously authentic beach bars (namely Woody’s Waterfront, which happens to be my maiden name), the condo was, well, just what the doctor ordered. Still is.

My memories of the condo are far too many to relay. But there are certainly some highlights worth mentioning.

Thanksgiving 2002. A visit to the condo after the quarter at OU ended was much needed, as the Fall 2002 quarter was probably my roughest personally up until that point. I remember being in a relationship that needed to end, I just didn’t have the courage to do it. When I finally did some months later, I can credit Mom and I’s long walks on the beach that Thanksgiving trip that really planted the seeds of my thinking. I remember Mom saying “Steph, should you really be working this hard at a relationship?” Coming from one of the strongest women I know, who was once divorced herself and happily remarried, the woman who showed me more than anyone the importance of working at your marriage, that was a real wake-up call. More than once I have thought that the answers to the world’s toughest questions could be solved by a long walk on the beach, along the shore.

The October '06 trip

October 2006. My Mom, aunts, cousin Maria and I visited the condo to celebrate Mom’s 50^th and have my bachelorette party. There was lots of fun in the sun, stories being retold, and the intermittent calls from the guys back home who were enjoying Jack’s bachelor party at Keeneland in Lexington. My Aunt Toni was pregnant with my cousin then, and we were all emotional and sentimental because I was getting married. Add a few drinks to the mix and we were a slobbery crying mess of a riot. I remember giving each of my aunts and my mom a picture frame with a picture of me and each of them in it—along with a note explaining to them that no matter how old and ‘married’ I got, that I would always need them and would always love them. Little did I know that the older I got, the more and more I would come to rely on their strength and support.

December 2006. Jack and I drove to the condo for our mini-honeymoon. Our ‘real’ honeymoon was to take place in Spain in the summer of 2007, but we wanted to escape right after our December 9^th wedding. The whole way down, we did nothing but recall every minute of our wedding, from start to finish. What a great road trip, one I will never forget. As we approached the Pinellas Bayway, I got really nervous, panicked that Jack wouldn’t like our vacation place. A few beers and wings later at Woody’s, and a few days of getting acquainted with the place, Jack was won over. I remember looking out on him from the kitchen as he was leaning on the patio rail, looking out to the sea—he was at home. *Sigh.* It was the perfect way to start off our married life together, and was also the kick-off of our new tradition of going to the condo together right before Christmas every year.

Honeymooners: our December '06 trip

December 2008. It was during this trip to the condo that we brought Joseph home as a souvenir. Need I tell more?  

December 2009. First trip to the condo as a family of three, and Joseph’s first time on a plane. Our little man was just three months old, and we were still new parents, afraid to go anywhere with him for fear of him having a crying fit or for fear of there not being a changing table to diaper him if need be. Rookies! Now we traipse the kids along even if they are melting down and there ain’t no shame in changing them on a chair in the restaurant if the restaurant doesn’t provided the courtesy of a changing table. But how fragile we were then as parents! And how in love we were with our new son! That trip, our car broke down one night just after crossing the Sunshine Skyway Bridge. Holy smokes, talk about freakin’ out—thank goodness we made it across the bridge (you know what I’m talking about if you are familiar with the Sunshine Skyway). All three of us kept calm and managed to get back home to the condo safely in the back of a taxi that reeked of booze and illegal substances, driven by a man who did not know the brake pedal. Never ever was I so glad to see the condo as I was that night!

The October '10 trip: M, M and J poolside. What a life!

October 2010. A return trip with Mom, the aunt farm, Joe, and cousins Michael (who was in my aunt’s belly four years before) and Maria. It was then that the condo was dubbed ‘Nonna’s Castle.’ To four year old Michael, the high-rise seemed like a castle, and the name stuck. To this day, when Joe sees the Walt Disney Castle flash on the screen before Toy Story and Cars (the two movies allowed in the rotation), he says “That’s Nonna’s Castle!” I do not have the heart to tell him it’s not—or maybe I should just let him think it is, that way we’ll never have to take him to the dreaded Disney World and we can save a year’s worth of college tuition in not going.

May 2011. Our last trip to the Castle as a family of three. This was our babymoon (with Joe in tow) before P came along. We had a blast—our first few days we spent the three of us, then the last few days, Nonna and Papoo joined us. I wore a bikini and it was AWESOME. Never before had wearing a bikini felt so liberating. I didn’t have to suck it in because I was preggers. And I felt like I was floating every time I got into the ocean or the pool—a preggy woman loves nothing more than to feel weightless. I loved baring my belly in the sun—and I’m convinced that’s why P has rockin’ highlights.

May '11: Miss P bakin' in the oven

September 2011. A return trip with Mom, the aunt farm, Joe, cousins Michael and Maria and a month old Miss P. P and Joe were both champion travelers, but ‘vacation’ with two kiddos was quite different than with one. Thank the Lord for the arms of my aunts, who all bought me some much needed sleep. Fun in the sun? Not so much, it rained almost the whole time. But nothing like spending some time in the company of strong women to make me feel like I COULD be a mother of two under two—up until then I was questioning myself. My aunts have always been more like sisters to me than aunts—and they feed my soul like no one can. Can’t wait for Tallarigopalooza, SPB October 2012 edition. Is it appropriate to start a countdown yet?

May 2012. Here we are, vacationing with Joe and Miss P. It’s hard to believe that a year ago we were last here together as a family and waiting to see if the Jumpin’ Bean in my belly was a Pili or a Jude. Now that she’s on the outside, it’s impossible to think she could have been anything other than a Pili. As with last year, we spent the first few days as a family of four, then Nonna and Papoo joined us (P.S., in our humble opinions, there is no better way to family vacation than with the grandparents—they’re always up for watching the kids a time or two so we can sneak out on dates). While on out on our date night last night, Jack told me that as he looked down on P, Joe and I at the pool from the balcony the other day, he was a bit sad knowing that as each day ends, the kiddos get older and all growed-up, and we’ll never get to go back to how it was before. Such is the great joy—and the great sorrow—of being parents: we get to experience the miracle of them growing older, reaching milestones, coming in to their own, but in turn they lose a bit of their youth, their innocence, their dependence on us with each passing day. So bittersweet, but a feeling I wouldn’t trade for anything.

May '12: Goetz Fam of Four

As I rocked P to sleep on the patio the other night, in the dark and hearing the waves crash on the rocks below, singing to her my favorite lullaby—‘You Are My Sunshine’—and as the words echoed out in the patio and eventually drifted to the sea, I smiled to myself thinking how I’ve evolved since the evolution of the condo to Nonna’s Castle. My memories here are a reminder of the person I have become. And the only constant in my many visits to the Castle has been my old friend, el mar. She’s always there, helping me to find tranquility and peace.

Until soon, old friend, until real soon…