What Part of the Beach Is Yours?

[DBOldford]

In response to jdarg...yes, present Conch Out is the house that replaced the old Conch Out after it was washed away during Hurricane Opal. It is considered bad luck to change the name of a house. The old weathered sign from Conch Out #1 still hangs on our house. Conch out #1 was one of the old Butler cottages that was moved from over at Eden, where it was a lumber mill laborer's house for many years. I remember it well at Grayton.

When I was a child, that part of Old Grayton was a series of sand dunes on the south side of the private lane called "Hotz Avenue." In fact, the sand dunes came all the way up to the porches of old Washaway House in those days. The dunes behind what is now The Red Bar and extending all the way down to what is now Gulf Trace were 20 to 30 feet tall and were covered with sea oats. There were small dunes all the way around Butler's Store except for the streetfront. The inlet between the Gulf and Western Lake would open and we would shrimp and crab with a plastic laundry basket (crabs) and Sunbeam Bread wrappers (shrimp) punched full of holes. One night our catch was 152 Blue Atlantic Crabs and over 70 dozen shrimp! We had to invite everyone we knew down for dinner.

Little posses of tanned children wandered around everywhere and would crash at the kid's house where they ended up latest. The strictest parent seemed comfortable with this arrangement. Not all beach houses had telephones, so there was a lot of trust. At the same time, there were also some pretty wild things that one could witness by walking up and down the lanes of Old Grayton on a hot summer night... So there's my stroll down memory lane!

 

[Jdarg]

Thanks Donna! I'm glad you remember how everything looked from years past. I'm doing well just to remember the last 10 years!!

 

[Jdarg]

Even though times (and traffic!) have definitely changed, we love that Grayton is not dissected by a busy road. I feel comfortable with the older kids in our group cruising around on bike or foot by themselves. Even in the dark (with a few rules attached!). They have an independence there that that don't have here at home. And our car stays parked except for a few Publix runs, occasionally Seaside and Watercolor, but those are bikeable.

 

[seagrovelover]

We have stayed in Seagrove for the past five years, stayed in the same house in old seagrove up untill last year. We are considering moving our group down to grayton for next summers trip. Does anyone have an opinion on the good vs bad of grayton vs seagrove??? I have never been to the beach at grayton, much less looked for a rental (we really need 3 or 4) what are some good qualities that grayton has to offer? Our children love to ride bikes and wander, is it safe? are the boardwalks to the beach hard to get to? any info would be a great help!!!! thanks to you all

 

[KISH7374]

For the last 6 years we have stayed in houses from Carrillon Beach to Dune Allen beach. The last 2 years we have stayed in Seacrest Beach. Rented from the same owner both years though different houses. My kids(older) like it closer to Panama City for the night life but my wife and I like it because it is more laid back in Seacrest. We are already planning our next trip down in August 06 and getting the group together to figure out how big a house we will need. Donna I will have to get in touch with you after the 1st and see where we are at numbers wise. I thought about Conch Out before but we did not have had the numbers to justify that house. Maybe this year we will get the crowd. I will be in touch.

 

[Rita]

Donna and others -- Feel free to take us on trips down memory lane anytime something pops into your head. Love the stories.

 

[Mermaid]

Donna, I don't think anyone in Seaside knows it's bad luck to change the name of a house! Every time a cottage changes hands, it gets a new name in that town. It can make it hard to track down your favorites if you aren't aware it's been sold.

 

[DBOldford]

Well, I guess a lot of people are not superstitious. And we always liked the name "Conch Out," which makes me think of Key West. It might have been different if the house had been named "Wuthering Heights" or "Myrtle's Grove" or something similar. When we first looked at that house, it was so NOT what we wanted...too big for us. We laughed and laughed and didn't even go back to see if before returning to CA. But we loved the expansiveness and the location/view and finding a nice Old Grayton property at that time could be challenging. We called and made an offer the next day.

Over the past few years, we have filled that house to the rafters with shared dinners, dancing, swimming, and laughter. We have hosted and renewed family and friends relationships. And yes, we have also had occasions to shed many tears, when the close comfort of lots of family and friends under one roof meant everything. My brother spent the first Christmas following his wife's death there, trying to heal and remembering their first high school date being at Grayton. He took a series of sunset photos that was heartstopping in their beauty (hanging in the great room of Conch Out now). Every time we think of selling (storms, distance, value, etc.), I think of saying "goodbye" to my sunshine yellow walls, the memories, and those Gulf views that just go on forever and think, "Not just yet, I'm not ready."

My goodness, these rainy days make me feel so sentimental! I am looking out the window at a steadily falling rain and fingers of dense fog that fill the crevices of the canyons that march up the mountain behind our house. The harvest is in now and the entire Valley smells like fermenting grapes. The trees and vineyards are all gold and yellow and red and still pumping color. Our olives are ready to harvest. (Do you taste that martini, Smilin' Joe?)

For those of you who are also nostalgic about summer houses, there is a wonderful book in paperback now entitled "The Big House" by George Howe Colt. It is a national bestseller about a century in the life of an American summer home on Cape Cod. Wonderful story! :clap_1: :clap_1:

 

[Paula]

What beautiful stories about the beach house and memories, both sweet and sad (and, as we know, memories can be both sweet and sad at the same time). We're just starting to build memories in our cottages, but we've made quite a few in the almost 3 years we've been at the Cottages at Camp Creek. Can't believe we've been through 3 hurricanes already!

 

[CastlesOfSand]

Wow Donna, that was beautiful!! Thank you so much for sharing.... all of you! We stay in Seagrove and love it. I do love Grayton though! I love the homes there. I think we will rent in Grayton next and we are planning on bringing our closest friends and their kids! Lots of memories to be made!!