Beached, Part 1

Lately, I’ve been waking up to this:

That’s the view from the top deck of the beach house I’m currently staying at. Melanie’s family rented the beach house for a week, and we’re living here until Saturday. This marks the first time in three years that Melanie’s entire family of origin has been together under one roof. Her older brother, Mark, won’t be here until tomorrow, but everyone else had arrived by Sunday afternoon. Melanie and I were the very first to arrive, living a mere two hours from St. George Island, where the beach house is located. We’ve visited this island before, and we’ve also visited the fairly nearby Alligator Point Beach, but it’s a whole different experience to stay in a rented house right on the shore. We’re having a ton of fun.

A more direct, southward facing shot taken from the same deck as the photo above. You can see the boardwalk that leads directly to the lower deck.

The beach house features five bedrooms, 4.5 bathrooms, two living rooms, a sun room, a kitchen and ample dining space, and both an upper and lower deck. The house is on stilts, so the “lower” deck is still a bit above ground. Underneath the house is a double carport and an elevator that goes into the house (which is fortunate when you’re trying to bring in lots of luggage, or groceries, which would need to go to the top floor, where the kitchen is located). Being the first to arrive, Melanie and I got first dibs on a bedroom (although we left the master suite for Melanie’s parents). Our room leads directly onto the lower deck via a large sliding glass door. If you have the curtains open, you can lie on the bed and stare out at the water. It’s gorgeous. The view from our room is all but indiscernible from the view offered in the picture immediately above.

Creegan heads back toward the beach house after spending some time at the water.

One of my very favorite activities thus far has been lounging on the deck chairs and spending some time with a good book. With kids in tow, Melanie and I haven’t been afforded as much of this kind of downtime as we’d like. But when we get it, it’s exquisite. There is a constant breeze, and it’s generally nice and cool. The waves offer some pleasant white noise, and you’re greeted with a beautiful postcard view every time you glance up from reading, which I personally feel compelled to do after every few paragraphs, just to enjoy the scenery once again.

Eddie enjoys the view from the upper deck.

Even when I’m not reading, I like to be on the deck when I can. I have eaten my breakfast on the deck every morning since we arrived. As I munch on my cereal, I watch the dolphins making their morning commute. For the first several hours of the day, you’re more or less guaranteed to spot a pod of dolphins continually bobbing above the surface. Sometimes one of the dolphins makes a good leap through the air, eliciting delight from all us human spectators.

Peter and Eddie on the beach, trying to pick the perfect digging spot.

As if being here weren’t luxurious enough, the accommodations are quite plush. Literally. The king size bed Melanie and I are sleeping in is super comfortable, and the pillows are wonderfully marshmallow-like. Even the deck chairs are shockingly comfy. Though they appear to be made of hard wood, they feel about as relaxing to sit in as almost any chair I’ve ever sat in. You feel like you can really sink into them.

Beauty abounds.

Despite our being away from home, the Easter Bunny was able to find us and left a basket for Eddie, Peter, and Creegan to discover on Easter morning. There weren’t any other children here at that point, so Melanie and I enjoyed some nice, peaceful family time that morning. The egg hunt was saved until Monday morning, when a handful of cousins were able to join in the festivities.

Creegan loved the baby doll in his Easter basket, even though he later chucked the baby from the lower deck in an attempted infanticide.

Peter checks out one of the fun items in his Easter basket. The green item still in his basket is a squirt bottle, one of which Creegan and Eddie also received.

Creegan stuffs his mouth with Easter candy on the upper deck. I haven’t tried that white chair, but the green chair in the leftmost part of the frame is super comfortable.

There are many other fun things going on, but I’ll save those for a future post. For now, I’ll leave you with a few more photos from our first couple of days here. Enjoy!

See ya!!!