I tried really hard to remember the first time I visited my in-laws beach house as we headed out beach bound this past weekend, but the memory is cloudy.

I suppose all my beach house memories intertwine together in my mind like a big hug, in the sweetest way.

Each visit somehow more beautiful than the last.

I feel so “at home” as we get closer to the coast. Maybe it is the flatland toward the coast that reminds me of my prairie – flat-farmland- upbringing? Maybe it is all the crop fields toward the coast that also reminds me of my midwestern hometown? Maybe it is the company? Yes. The company.

How sweet it is to be in good company. How sweet it is to just be. Together.

The conversation is lighter on the way to the beach.

We know what awaits us there.

Big, beautiful sky views, salty air, more radiant sunshine, slow living, a clean & brightly decorated house with cozy beds & recliners, a sweet elderly neighbor, Ms. Jeane, with her massive fig tree in the backyard (which are currently ripe & she lets us eat/pick all we want. I picked a bag full & brought them home to can fig jam! 😊)

Crossing the bridge over to Atlantic Beach is like a portal to a different world.

The bridge arches over the sound like a rainbow & we all can’t help ourselves but to smile as we are greeted with the most beautiful view. Crossing that rainbow bridge, we find our pot of gold on the other side in Atlantic beach.

Once we are over the bridge & onto the island, it doesn’t take long to reach the beach house.

Tucked away in the back of a community cluster of little beach homes, & nestled between the sound & beach, is “The Jacobs Sand Castle”.

Beautiful thorny rose bushes grow like a hedge of protection around the “Castle” & a collection of gathered shells sit decoratively around the porch. I too, have added to this collection over the years. Those shells sit as reminders of beach days past, found treasures from each adventure. Taken as a token of a time well spent together.

Before entering the front door, you must first pass through the screened-in porch with its white wicker-like rocking chairs that invite you to sit & stay awhile. If you arrive at night (which we have many times) the porch will welcome you in with its softly lit string lights. You can’t help but to take a moment before going inside & breath a few deep breaths of that fresh & salty air.

There really is no better way to start out a day there, than to take a coffee out on that porch & listen to the birds sing. Their song somehow sounds sweeter there.

As you enter the “Sand Castle” you step right into the heart of the house, the living room/kitchen area.

It takes much might to resist the couch’s call to “flop right down” upon arrival.

At every turn there is beach inspired decoration. From the ocean area rug in the living room to the big, beautiful arrangement behind the kitchen sink that says, “May you always have a shell in your pocket”. The decorations are so tasteful & thoughtfully placed. When I raved to my mother-in-law about the beautiful decorations, she informed me that a friend did all the decorating for her & has since passed away. I didn’t know her friend but every time I am there, I think of her. It is a reminder to me that the work of our hands matters even after we leave this earth. We will hold her handiwork in our memory forever. Just as I do my childhood home that is no longer in my family & no longer decorated as it was when I was a child. But that sunflower kitchen still exists in my memory & I still sometimes find myself there. & I know I will always find myself back here in this beach house as it is, in my memory, even if its ever sold or remodeled.

Down the hallway you will pass a large hanging net with Polaroid photographs clothes pinned to it. Each picture is dated & we continue to add to it with each visit. (I added two pictures this past weekend of the kids sitting on a big statue-like turtle at the Aquarium.) Once you’ve passed the net of captured moments, you’ll find the entrances to each bedroom with beds all made up with clean decorative beach theme linens & pillows. The bedrooms are the only rooms in the house with carpet, which, in my opinion, is what makes the bedrooms that much more inviting. I look forward to crawling into one of those beds but not before we have spent some time together rocking on the porch, sitting around the kitchen table sharing a meal or playing cards, or just sitting in the living room together watching a movie (which is what we did this past weekend).

As we cozied up around the television for a movie, I grabbed a soft blanket out of the beautiful blue cabinet by the front door. The cabinet that holds a starfish lamp that gives the living room a soft & gentle glow & a bowl (for keys I suppose) & is filled with games & cards & soft beach theme blankets.

I flopped down with my blanket, finally answering the call from the couch that had been beckoning since I arrived.

We all gathered there upon the big ocean area rug & slowed down for a moment. & when our eyes got too heavy, we wandered back to our cozy beachy beds & rested just as easy as the days are, at The Jacobs Sand Castle.

warmly,

kortney sue