There's No Place Like...a Beach Front Condo

I know Dorothy always said that "there's no place like home," but I feel the need to contradict her today. Kate is hosting a little Vacation Destination Party today at Centsational Girl, and I thought it would be fun to share one of my very favorite vacation spots with you all today.

I've done a fair amount of traveling compared to some. I've been to Europe twice, the Bahamas, Jamaica, various little islands, Mexico, and all over the US. I once spent the night in a real medieval castle in Germany. I've seen Paris from the top of the Eiffel Tower. I climbed stairs at the Empire State Building. I've been hit on in a casino in Las Vegas (when I was pregnant!). I've been in a West Virginia coal mine. I walked through the Alamo on every childhood visit to San Antonio so my brother could get his Davy Crockett fix. Like Johnny Cash says, "I been everywhere, man..."

But really, my most favorite spot is a little beach condo in Atlantic Beach, North Carolina.

That picture pretty much sums it up for me. There's nothing like that first sight of the ocean as you hit the top of the dunes or hearing the waves crash on the shore as the salty air brushes your cheeks.

I'm not much of an outdoorsy girl, but I love the beach. My grandparents bought a little vacation condo when I was a couple of years old and every summer, without fail, my parents would load three kids in our Volvo and make the trip to North Carolina. Down the coast, past Nagshead, where everyone else seemed to stop, until we reached Atlantic Beach.

I love that the beach is private, so it's not packed with travelers jockeying for a coveted shoreline spot. It was perfect for my sister and I to build sand castles and make "sand soup," which my mother dutifully pretended to enjoy when she wasn't trying to rinse sand off of our brother.

When we grew older, we enjoyed dancing parties in the condo family room before heading out on the town for dinner.

Speaking of out on the town, we loved crossing the bridge back to "mainland" Morehead City, North Carolina for dinner at the best seafood place you will ever find, Sanitary Fish Market and Restaurant. Yes, it is the worst name ever for an eatery, but it opened in the 1930s as a fish market and the owners wanted to demonstrate their compliance with local codes.

On any given night you'll see loads of people hanging out on the dock, waiting for a table to open. Best hushpuppies you'll ever eat.

I've sported my Sanitary t-shirt in various cities across the country, and I always run into someone who loves to dine there.

Sadly, my deadbeat aunt has been living in our family vacation spot for several years now. My exasperated mom rented out a separate condo a couple of times so we could all enjoy the beach life, but the last time we visited was in 2007, when I was pregnant with Michaela Byrd.

The stars aligned and my mom decided to rent a condo in the same complex as our old vacation spot. It even overlooks the pool I grew up splashing around in with my brother and sister. At the end of July, the girls and I will spend a week with my mom, sister, niece, sister-in-law, and nephew. It's been several years since we've been on a real vacation, and I am so excited. I'm already thinking about trips to the little shops in Beaufort, the aquarium, and yes..the hushpuppies at the Sanitary.

I can almost feel that salt air on my cheeks!

{What's your favorite vacation spot?}


*Stop in tomorrow for Session #2 in my new Blogging Myths series!