Greetings Passatfish:
Which cottage will you be staying in? We have Ahhh The Good Life and Key Lime at the Cottages at Camp Creek. Our association has been in touch with us (as have others on this site) to say that the cottages, community, and pool are doing fine and we didn't lose electricity. So, the property you're in should be fine, and you'll have a nice porch to relax on and a great pool. The beach access has been damaged so you won't be able to get to the beach right across the street. You'll want to find another beach access and I think they will be posted here as soon as we know what they are (I think Kurt said he may post them once it's clear where they are). I've read on this site that access may be available at Inlet Beach (about 1.5 - 3 miles east of the Cottages at Camp Creek, although I don't know specifically where it is), Seagrove beach (about 4 miles West of Cottages at Camp Creek), Seaside maybe behind Roly Poly restaurant (about 6 miles West), and Grayton beach (about 10 miles West). All beaches will be messy and I'd stay far from the dunes since they sound unstable and I definitely wouldn't let kids go near the dunes. But they should have plenty of space to play down by the shoreline and by next week, the shoreline may look pretty normal as long as you don't look back toward the dunes!
I'll be staying at Key Lime next week beginning on July 18 with two preteens. I'm fully looking forward to our trip and plan to read on the porch, hang out by the pool (kids like looking for frogs in the mornings), taking walks in the area, going to seaside and rosemary beach for outdoor concerts and movies at night (both very close by), eating out a bit, but mostly relaxing. i'll miss not having easy access to the beach, but I assume the beaches will be open and I plan to find accesses every day. You will be awed by seeing what a hurricane can do to dunes, houses, etc. It will be quite the education and (sadly) very interesting photo ops. If you were to just stay at the Cottages at Camp Creek (and many/most communities on 30A) and along 30A and didn't go to the beach at all, you wouldn't know there was a hurricane that came near this area. The give-away is the beach and 30A is much more than the beach (though we can't wait for it to get back to normal).
Stop by and say hi at Key Lime if you're in the community. Also, feel free to send me a private email if you have any specific questions at
pcaproni@umich.edu.
If you made your initial contact through VRBO or other online owner website, you could do a search of your old emails or look on the website again to find contact information and contact the owner that way. The agencies seem to be overwhelmed right now.
If you had your heart set on a nice relaxing vacation in a great community and lots of easy things to do in SoWal (e.g., outdoor movies, outdoor concerts, activities, shops, restaurants, etc.), you'd get that. If you absolutely need to have to have a white sand beach with sloping dunes, you won't get that (Frankly, I honestly believe that seeing a beach after a hurricane is quite the education and worth seeing as long as you stay safe when at the beach and stay away from the dunes.) Hope this helps.
And you can try to email your agency as well. You may not get an answer immediately, but at least you've notified them of your plans.