Seaside

Florida is a big place! So many options for family fun and beach shenanigans. I have a big (loud) gregarious extended family and twenty-seven of us thought it was a good idea to show Florida what we are made of!

We came we saw and we made our mark that’s for dang sure! TWENTY SEVEN family members, two big fancy beach houses, 7 days and we still ~~like~~ LOVE each other. Can you believe it?

This was supposed to be a low-key, kick back, relax and hang out kind of deal. A no pressure, no plans, no make up, no high heels, no gussing up kind, no fuss kind of time. We collectively decided not to make reservations and eat big fancy meals out. We were there to beach, pray, laugh and cut up for 7 whole days. We did what do what we do best, HUGE family style meals with no real set time frame. And that’s mainly what we did. Eveyone has a part and plays the role. Im not th grocery store person! I have never seen lines that long in my entire life! All the way down the isles like The local Publimust have set some kind of record! It I’m on the clean up crew. I’m a dishwasher, scrubber, put things away and wipe it down girl. I leave the ~~dirty work~~, cooking to the adults! lol Thanks to the chef’s in the family we had some massive, tasty FITastic cuisine. Have a look!

PICTURE PLEASE!

However, thanks to my thoughtful cousin, we did have professional beach family photos scheduled for the FIRST NIGHT! It was dreadful and exciting all at the same time. I have always wanted professional beach pics, but despite my ~~best efforts~~, full-out tantrums, Mr. Chicken Fry and the baby girl would never relinquish an ounce of beach time to go clean up and look decent. This was usually poor planning on my part. I always scheduled the photos for the very last day so that we would all be a bronzed golden brown. What I didn’t anticipate was that NO ONE wants to give up precious beach time on THE LAST DAY to take pictures.

Y’all, I have dreamed of this moment. Perfect sunset photos with my family. What hadn’t crossed my mind was the wild wind factor and thick humidity. Neither Me or Mr. Chicken Fry’s skinny frizzy hair is beach wind picture worthy. No amount of primping, styling, mousse, curling iron, blow dryer, or gel can withstand the ocean breeze conditions. We just smiled and did our best.

Have you been to the HUB? It was about three miles from Seagrove. It was a happening spot. This large area is like a concert venue with vendors, restaurants and stage with live entertainment. It was bustling with families and kids of all ages rocking and rolling. People everywhere. Did I mention we chose to vacation over July 4th?

Our schedule was pretty much the same every day. We slept in, made big breakfast, packed up beach necessities, called the squat on the beach. Rinse and repeat! We are like many other families, we toted ever beach tool, toy and game we owned. We played football, wadded in the water, boogie boarded and built mermaid sand castles. We totally called each other out and made a big scene when someone seemed to be getting sunburned. Sunscreen alert…whoop whoop whoop! Life is better at the beach with 27 of your family members! The houses we rented came with a cool full service beach chair set up. Every day our block of chairs and umbrellas were arranged in orderly fashion in the same spot. If you book a house on VRBO or Air B&B, make sure to ask or read the details because some owners don’t offer this as an inclusive service.

For more info on the vacation house, check out Stairway to vacation .

Our last night, our bon voyage was a beach bon fire. My cousin’s sweet hubby reserved a set up for us. Here is what you get: one large buffet size table, chairs for your people, a barrel with wood and a fire.

Here’s a tid bit of advice, the beach patrol is serious about the no glass containers of any kind law! It’s widly prohibited.

The beach patrol came rolling up and we all say hello and wave. To our surprise, the big bronco stopped and an officer got out and made his way over to our buffet table. We had wine bottles lined up, along with anything else you can think of. We were purging because it was our last night. We had wine, cake, cookies, dips, chips and sandwiches. OOPS…we were not thinking that wine botles are glass and you can’t have glass on the beach! This patrol officer was ready to write my cousins’ hubby a hefty ticket for a fine to the tune of $1000. EEK!

Kindly and politely we (because we all got involved because that’s what we do) began to pull the wine bottles down and discard of them immediately. By discard I mean move them off the beach premises as fast as our feet could scurry across the sand. We (sometimes several adults were talking at the same time) pleaded for a warning. Arguing our case…that (WE) were not “thinking” about the BOTTLES per say and proved that ALL of the adults, ages ranging from 27-77, all had plastic drinking glasses. Either the officer had a weak moment based on our very true dramatic story and saw us as no threat, OR he felt threatned by all of us over talking one another grasping for the attention and spotlight to be heard. Either way he let (US) go with a warning.

SPECIAL NOTE.. even the glass dishes were a total NO NO! When they say “no glass.” it means NO GLASS!

This trip was one for the record books! It provided us laughs and more joke opportunities that will haunt some of us and tickle some of us for YEARS to come!

The area of Seaside, if you haven’t been, is very townsquareish and quaint. It’s flat out adorable. Remember the movie the The TRUMAN SHOW with Jim Carrey? It was filmed in Seaside. There are houses and bungalsow for rent and a small hotel further down in Watercolor. The Watercolor INN. All hours of the day and night people of all ages are out riding bikes, eating, drinking, and enjoying life. In the town square of Seaside, they have gial MOVIE nights on the lawn. It’s wonderful, clean and safe!

There are ridiculous amounts of food trucks lining the streets. Icecream, sno cones, you name it…it’s all there. What do you know but I managed to find the local gym. I’m a gym magnet what can I say.