Seagrove Beach (Part 1)

The boys play with their new Nintendo DS Lites in the car while we finish packing the van

The van is ready for takeoff

The surf was rolling for some good body surfing

Adam and I navigate our way to shore

Adam gets busy - there's always a hole that needs digging

We rented lots of movies

We went on our annual Spring Break trip to the beach last week. This year we went back to Seagrove Beach. It's always a challenge to find the right place to stay. Here's the email I sent out to my family once we decided on the place:

[Start of email]

Some of the things we looked for:

o At least 5 bedrooms (4 couples + 2 kids + a Nini)
o As many bathrooms as possible
o "Beach House" feel as opposed to a "professional decorator stuffy" feel
o Nice size family room with comfortable feel
o Nice size dining room table with additional counter seating
o Close as possible to the beach
o Decent pool
o Nice area (preferably somewhere we haven't stayed before)

We think http://www.beachseekers.com/details.php5?prop=AMAZINGPLACE meets all those criteria - except for the "preferrably somewhere we haven't stayed before). I finally realized that I had to get over that one. The other things are more important. We stayed in the same development a couple years ago (http://www.beachseekers.com/details.php5?prop=FIVESEASONS). The house this year (Amazing Place) is much closer to the beach and pool, has a big family room (unlike Five Seasons), and has 5 bedrooms plus a tower room (perfect for Nini). The area is close to Seaside with bike paths. I like it!

Be sure to click on the "Location" section of the property to see the satellite view (http://www.beachseekers.com/location.php5?prop=AMAZINGPLACE). You can click on the picture and drag it around and zoom in and out. You can even drag it in order to go up and down the coast. Cool!

[End of email]

We like the Seaside\Seagrove area for its charming beach town feel, powdery sand, and beautiful water, but the weather at Spring Break can be iffy. We've talked about going farther south to Fort Meyer's\Sanibel, but it's a longer drive for everyone so we haven't pulled the trigger.

This year my sister, Kelley, and her beau, Paul, flew to Pensacola from Anchorage. They normally fly into Atlanta and visit before driving down with my brother, but they had limited time off this year.

My sister, Katie, and her little cajun boyfriend (LCB), Todd, drove over from Baton Rouge, LA and picked up Kelley and Paul in Pensacola.

My mom drove down with my brother, Jason, and his wife, Laine. Normally, my mom would never give up her wheels, but she was willing to once she knew that Katie was driving and that she could take Katie's car whenever she was feeling antsy. She doesn't like to drive our van or my brother's SUV.

Usually I play tennis on the Saturday morning before we leave for Spring Break because I know I'm going to miss the match the Saturday that we're driving back, but it's always tough to play and get out of town at a reasonable time. This year, thankfully, it rained all Friday and Saturday, so there was no doubt that the match was going to be rained out. It's the worst when the weather is iffy and you have to wait around to see if you can play the match. This year it was a no brainer. We were tired Friday night and didn't get as much packing done as we would have liked, but we still managed to get on the road Saturday morning by 11. Our goal was 10, so that's not too bad.

It rained pretty much the whole way down, but never very heavy. There's a lot of construction on I-85 south of the city so we were in some traffic jams. My brother called to tell us that it was very crowded on our normal route through Eufala, AL so we decided to take I-85 all the way to Montgomery, AL and then head south. It worked out great. There was no congestion.

The boys played their video games, ate snacks, and watched Indiana Jones. We got to the beach house earlier than ever. The boys remarked how it wasn't even dark. Jason, Laine, and Nini were unloading groceries when we arrived. Everyone else arrived a few minutes later.

Each family has to cook at least one dinner. We volunteered on Saturday night and made quesadillas. Helen was in charge and I helped where I could. After all these years we're all getting the hang of pitching in to help so it's not too overwhelming for anyone to prepare and clean.

It stopped raining Saturday night. It was still overcast on Sunday, but warm enough to hang at the beach and even get in the water. It was red flag all week so the surf was churning, but that just makes for better body surfing. I hate all the sunscreen preparation, so I told Helen it would be fine not to do sunscreen since it was overcast. I was wrong. The boys got a little bit pinker than they should have.

On Sunday night, Todd and Katie cooked fried catfish, crawfish etoufee, and buttered potatoes. The catfish was lightly fried and tender, the etoufee was spiced just right, and the potatoes melted in your mouth. It was delicious! That meal proved to me, at least, that Todd is a keeper.