Sandestin Cottage vs. Eastern Lake Home - 1st Family Vacation...HELP!

[twins_plus_one]

Ok so when you say too far from the beach, are you saying it's too far to even drive?

 

[Paula]

Hi twins_plus_one. We talked by phone and email a few times and I'm glad you posted on this board. I knew you'd get lots of good advice. SoWallers - please continue to help her out (our cottages were booked or we would have been delighted to have her and her family at one of our cottages, and I know she would have been happy at the Cottages at Camp Creek - maybe next year!). Frankly, twins_plus_one, once you make a decision just go with it as a nice learning experience. If you decide to drive anywhere (e.g., grocery shopping), I highly recommend doing it only early in the mornings because the traffic crawls after that. As I mentioned, you really want easy access to a pool in case the ocean water is rough. You'll want a place that's nice inside and you'll want to bring stuff for the kids/family to do if the place doesn't have it (books, games, puzzles). Remember you may need to bring stuff to the beach (beach chairs, and you can get lightweight ones at Publix - I don't know if you can still get them for $10 but we got some for our cottages for $10 just this spring. If you want to spend the money, you could rent chairs that are set up for you when you go to the beach every day. We never do that, but it looks nice and easy. If you have to drive to a beach, be sure there's plenty of parking there - again, if your kids are early risers, go early. Then you can nap during the day, read on your porch, and stay out of the sun. Then you can swim in the pool. If you can do all these things, you'll have a nice vacation wherever you end up. Just enjoy wherever you are and relax, relax, relax - and come back to SoWal again once you have a better sense of the lay of the land (and, of course, book your summer vacation by March next year and you'll have a lot more choice. When you get to your place this year, let us know how it is! Again, once you make your decision don't worry about it any more. Just look forward to the adventure!

 

[twins_plus_one]

Paula, you have no idea how much better that made me feel . I just said out loud to my husband "This woman is just the best!". I will definitely let you know how everything turns out. And thank you to everyone who's posted so far. So helpful.

 

[Paula]

Yes, I really think your SoWal vacation should start once you make your decision and the worrying stops then! The kids will want to be at the pool, beach, eating, playing games, watching kid movies (there are those cheap movie rental kiosks at Publix (you'll want to know where the nearest Publix is once you get there), doing puzzles, etc - all with their parents. Just quiet time together. They won't know the difference between one place or the other as long as you can get them to a pool and beach - and have stuff for them to do. As long as they have stuff to do and you avoid traffic by getting your errands/travels done early in the day, the adults will relax, too. Traffic and parking are the main issues during peak seasons, and if you can manage to make these easy, you'll be happy. When you go to Publix, get your donuts, ready made chicken and other ready made meals and desserts, there and you can make your own restaurant on your porch or at the beach. If you need a cooler, just pick up a cheap one at Publix. And, of course, the closer you are to the beach the better, but if you do have to drive a bit to get there, just be sure there's parking. There are some public beach accesses that have bathrooms (e.g., I know Inlet beach does and that's great, and there are a few others). You can also pay to go to Grayton Beach State Park (not Grayton Beach) - maybe $5 per car and that's a great beach because it's undeveloped and has parking, bathrooms, showers, grills, etc. VERY convenient and lovely. Again, go early (and plan to spend a good part of the early day there. Here's the link - sounds like it opens at 8:00 a.m. but I'd confirm that: http://www.floridastateparks.org/graytonbeach/ Enjoy your vacation and just email me if you have any other questions about things to do and people on this board can give you ideas for easy things to do in the summer as well.

 

[ThirtyAGal]

The second one looks fabulous. We love Eastern Lake and stay there every year, however we don't have kids. There are no amusement parks, water parks, etc. in Seagrove for the kids. And the house at Eastern Lake is a 3-4 block walk to the beach and the pool is almost as far. Also, you can't count on parking at Eastern Lake walkover as there are only 1 or 2 spaces there. Most of the condos only allow parking for visitors. Wherever you choose, you will love the area!

 

[twins_plus_one]

Hi all! I want to thank you guys again for your input. We ended up renting this place:
http://www.vrbo.com/342517

and we couldn't be happier! It's in Forest Lakes and has a beautiful pool located directly across the street. We are beyond excited. Thanks again .