Ooh la la, Beachfront, private heated pool, firepit in Cape San Blas

What day is it?

That was the question I was asked at a beach bonfire one night on Cape San Blas by a man I only know as Jim.  Jim's family and our family were the only ones building sandcastles on the beach one chilly afternoon before New Year, and we all happened to reconvene that night over a fire built of driftwood found on the beach where we licked melted marshmallows and chocolate off our fingers.  

Despite my mouthful of s'mores, I easily answered his question, "Wednesday," I said.  Jim smiled rather knowingly and replied, "Then, you're haven't relaxed yet.  You're not really on vacation until you lose track of what day it is."    

He's right.  

Since then, time has no importance when we go to Cape San Blas.  So, to help you lose track of the days, we wanted to share our home and the things we love to do here.  We hope that if you run into Jim over an impromptu bonfire on the beach one night, you won't be able to answer his question the same way I did.

                        The Singletons

First Floor:

1. - Bedroom with King Bed and television

2. - Bedroom with 2 Queen Beds

3. -Sitting Area with Television

4. -Bathroom with Tub/Shower, Separate Shower, and Laundry

5. -Covered Patio and 2 gas grills

Second Floor:

1. -Kitchen

2. -Counter with 4 Stools

3. -Dining Table with Seating for 8

4. -Large Sectional Sofa

5. -Sleeper Chair that Converts to Twin Bed

6. -Television

7. -Screen Porch

Third Floor:

1. -Master Bedroom with King Bed and television

2. -Master Bathroom with Clawfoot Tub (and Shower) and 2 Sinks

3. -Bedroom with King Bed and television

4. -Bedroom with 3 Bunk Beds (Sleeps 8: 5 twin beds, 1 double bed, and 1 twin trundle bed)

5. -Bathroom with Ship-shaped Tub, Separate Shower, and 2 Sinks

6. -Desk

7. -Covered Deck

   Satellite Television

   Wireless Internet

   Unlimited Long Distance

   Beach-Entry Pool

   Pergola with Grill

   Firepit

When we’re there, I find myself doing things I never thought I would do – like being in my mid-thirties playing “tag” with the ocean waves and proudly hot gluing a tacky sea shell collection to a mirror. I have the time to watch boats drift from one horizon to the other, make up silly lyrics to songs (only to hear my daughter announce that I need to tune up my voice), and play “what am I thinking?” -- our family’s spin on the classic game of 20-questions. One of my most favorite memories is last year when my daughter was five and went scallop hunting with my husband on the bay side of Cape San Blas while I stayed in the water closer to shore just watching the hermit crabs creep in and out of the dunes. My daughter, who hadn’t quite mastered the skill of breathing through a snorkel at that time, opted to sit on my husband’s back with her face above the water while he swam, and she used his snorkel like a microphone to talk to him before putting the snorkel to her ear to listen to his replies while he swam underwater. I don’t know what they talked about through that snorkel but it must have been important because their conversation lasted about an hour and they only found a handful of scallops. 

Meal times at the beach house are vastly different than those in our normal life where we rush to drive thru’s and restaurants because there’s always some place we have to be next and there’s too much exhaustion to actually cook. But, at the beach house, the only rush is to pack a picnic to catch the sunset over the ocean. When we’re there, I’ll look around at the hodgepodge mix of people sitting down to share a meal– those who took us up on our invitation to take off to the beach for a few days - and watch them enjoying themselves with water dripping from their hair, sand stuck to their calves, but eyes dancing with laughter. Some of their paths would not have crossed, especially without makeup and deodorant, if it wasn’t for being there in such a relaxed environment together. That’s the kind of magic that happens only at the beach and makes my soul smile. 

Each trip, we make a point to go to the only eating places within miles of our beach house, and they feel as comforting and inviting to me as wool socks at night. My daughter’s favorite is the convenience/bait/gas store where the employees wear different matching t-shirts each day with clever sayings and the hot dogs spinning on their cooker taste better than any other when paired with a Jones Soda that is made with real sugar. My husband’s favorite is the Raw Bar where you sit on plastic chairs at uneven tables in an old converted gas station devouring one of just five fresh seafood dishes on the menu and only stop to help yourself to a drink at the back cooler or to tear off a “napkin” from the paper towel roll in the middle of the table. My favorite? The meals we lazily cook over the fire on the beach at sunset and top off with s’mores when the stars come out. Or, if we are lucky, we’ll run into a neighbor who is grilling something they just caught while fishing, and they tell us to come over as we are. And, they really mean it. 

The beach house and the ocean forces our family to remove ourselves from business suits, carpools, and to-do lists and to simply enjoy the present, to rejuvenate, to engage in honest conversation that lasts longer than a text message or daily itinerary briefing, and to escape from responsibilities any bigger than remembering to hang up a wet beach towel. The only thing to do at our beach house is just be yourself. And, for some reason, that’s more natural at the beach. 

So, when I say that we just built a beach house, some people automatically want to know how many bedrooms it is or what we picked out for the countertops in the kitchen, or they think it’s only about the status of having a house at the beach. But, it’s not any of those things to us. Our beach house is about finding a place where we belong and can enjoy being together with family and friends. We actually feel more comfortable and at home when we’re at our beach house than in our real home where we are each pulled in so many different directions. Going to Cape San Blas gives us the opportunity to notice the details in life that would otherwise pass us by in a blur. It still seems surreal that we own a piece of the beach, and I can’t explain how that translates into capturing a genuine piece of ourselves for a sliver of time. But it definitely feels right.

Spring 2012:  3/10-5/26  $3,100-$3,800 week

Summer 2012:  5/26-8-11  $5,200 week

Late Summer 2012:  8/11-9/01  $3,600 week

Fall 2012:  9/01-10/27  $3,100 week

Winter Weekly:  10/29/2011-3/10/2012  $2,000-$2,900 week

Winter Monthly:   January Only  $4,000

Rates include cleaning & linens.  11% Sales/Bed tax.  $100 Non-refunable pet fee.

$25 Accidental Damage Protection fee.