Love the Gulf

My friend Erin participated in this blog carnival to show her love for the Gulf in light of all the oil spill mess, so I thought I would follow suit.

Our family has been so lucky to have been able to enjoy the Gulf Coast for many years. We have been going to Seagrove Beach, FL since my grandparents bought a beach house there in 1983. When we were little, we went every year during Spring Break and the Fourth of July, as well as many other holidays throughout the year. I have such happy memories of spending precious time with my grandparents there, as well as cousins and other friends we would always bring along. Now that we are older, we go as often as we can, sometimes even driving down just for the weekend.

When my grandparents grew too old to continue making the trip from Yazoo City to the beach, they sold the house to my parents. When my parents were debating on whether or not they should buy it, my dad remarked to my mom that the Beach House was where us kids got to spend so much quality time with our grandparents, and he wanted the same with his {future} grandchildren. We certainly know how blessed we are to have this special place to relax and enjoy spending time with our family. Curran has already been 5 times and will be going again in a month. I hope she will have as many wonderful memories of her time down there as I do!

One if the many things that I love about Seagrove {and the surrounding towns} is how quaint the area is. We have seen it grow a lot over the years, and it has unfortunately started to get more touristy, but it still has a very small town "feel" to it, and you can basically walk most places you need to go. When we were little, my dad would give each of us $5 and we would walk to what we called "The Little Store" {really called the Village Seagrove Market, but I swear we didn't know it had a name until we were in high school or college} and buy all the candy we could with our money {which in the 80's was a fair amount}. There was also a restaurant in the back of the store that we loved because we could get chicken fingers and french fries {we were the children that refused to eat seafood}. Back in the day, it was mostly construction workers that ate there, but now it has become a pretty popular spot. Unfortunately, they are about to tear the Little Store down to build some boutique hotel, I think.

We pretty much have the same routine down there. We walk to Modica Market every morning to get breakfast. I always get a couple of books from Sundog and bury my nose for the whole trip {not so much since the baby was born}. We eat at the same restaurants. We shop at the same stores. My parents know most of the other homeowners, and people stop to talk on their way down to the beach {our house is next to the public walkway}. Seagrove is a place I treasure, and I can't imagine not being able to go there! We certainly do not take it for granted!