This summer, there’s no beach house visit; we feel so FREE

[Anonymous]

Unfortunately, FIL sustained an injury in January. While he is recovering nicely, and DH and I have both gone up to help several times, he’s not as mobile as usual, so no beach house rental for this summer.

I’ve never dreaded or hated it or anything, it’s just not my favorite vacation, but it’s certainly pleasant. I’ve never felt anything but neutral or positive feelings toward the entire week.

We went up to stay with ILs for a week over the Fourth, so we still spent the same amount of time with them this summer, so this is coming from strictly a surprising place…

It feels SO FREEING to not be at the beach this summer! We did all sorts of things when we visited them that we’ve never done, like go to Hershey Park and the Crayola factory and a wolf preserve. We had a party on the Fourth with their local friends and family, which was very nice.

It’s just so nice that not once this summer did we have to crazy-pack in such a way where we had to bring hand soap and dish soap and toilet paper and every little thing. It’s so nice that dinner prep or going out was no big deal. It was so nice that we weren’t doing the exact same thing every other day.

It’s just been an amazing summer overall, and when I finally put my finger on it, it was like…beach-free! Does anyone else not hate the beach but accidentally realize that maybe you feel free as a bird when you skip a year?!

[Anonymous]

I come from a state on the coast where almost all the white people go on huge extended family beach trips every year. The tradition slowly stopped as my parents' aged. I loved those trips as a kid, but as an adult with extended family, they were hell, in retrospect. Everyone winds up fighting and being cranky and not getting enough sleep. I recommend that if you do, do it in different condos. Don't ent one big ass house and stuff everyone into it

[Anonymous]

We stopped doing the "pile into the same beach house" thing years ago (now resorts only so it's an actual vacation with no cooking or cleaning), and judging from the lack of beach house drama threads in the past couple years I think many have done the same. I have to say I miss those threads - I want to read about bacon moochers and broken boogie boards, darn it!

[Anonymous]

When we had a house in Bethany, we would do a week every couple of years where three other families would rent near us so we could all hang out together. It was fun, but I don't miss the chaos of planning meals and reservations for 15 people, keeping seven kids entertained, and being expected to be the cruise director and supplier of things people forgot to pack.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We stopped doing the "pile into the same beach house" thing years ago (now resorts only so it's an actual vacation with no cooking or cleaning), and judging from the lack of beach house drama threads in the past couple years I think many have done the same. I have to say I miss those threads - I want to read about bacon moochers and broken boogie boards, darn it!

Haha, I love Tales from the Beach House! -OP

[Anonymous]

Yep, I hate the beach. Never go to a beach unless there's really nothing else to do.

We might have gone to the same wolf preserve? It was great.

[Anonymous]

Any year that I don't receive a link to a "Family meal and grocery duty" spreadsheet is a good year.

[Anonymous]

I think the beach is fine, every now and then. I don’t understand people who go every single year as their main summer vacation. There’s so much more to do than sit around on the sand.

[Anonymous]

I think this is our last year. I've been getting more and more grumpy about it each year, and this year we have multiple grandparents with mobility issues and a house that is not particularly accessible (which we rented a year ago). I'm looking forward to not feeling compelled to do it again.

[Anonymous]

We just go with our nuclear family to a beach house. It's so relaxing because we take two cars and do what we want. We get takeout or have food delivered for all meals except breakfast. Beats flying anywhere.

[Anonymous]

DH and I quit doing the big, all-family beach trips to OBX years ago. It was anything but relaxing and we’d end up burning precious leave (two weeks) for my one with my family and one with his.

My ILs loved to “treat” us and pay for a beach house but they’d select something that was too small, miles away from the beach, no amenities and or maintenance issues. I’d rather have gotten a motel room. Then they bought a 980 sq ft condo and called it the “new family beach place” - again driving distance to the beach and no amenities. We took our family of 4DC to join them there exactly once and never again.

[Anonymous]

That DCUM moms hate vacationing with extended family -- especially in laws -- isn't exactly a Man Bites Dog story.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:That DCUM moms hate vacationing with extended family -- especially in laws -- isn't exactly a Man Bites Dog story.

We often vacation with extended family but I also have no real desire to do the drive to a beach house thing and go to the same place every summer. The only people I know for whom this is fun are the people with flexible jobs so can just work from beach house and not call it their vacation and then enough money to take a real vacation. Personally I like my house so the idea of driving hours to be in a much worse house with an instocked pantry and crappy kitchen gear is just aggravating to me. For people who love it, great. But it seems like there are tons of people who don’t love it who do it because they feel like they should love it.

[Anonymous]

I have always hated extended family trips. Even as a kid I would end up a wreck in tears from the “togetherness”.

We did it once as adults with our children (did it for my children). My nuclear family was MISERABLE the entire time. My sister and BIL made the trip unbearable. Even my mother hated it. NEVER AGAIN. Family in small doses where we can retreat to our own space is fine. Trips with extended family just don’t work for us and we are fine with that.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We stopped doing the "pile into the same beach house" thing years ago (now resorts only so it's an actual vacation with no cooking or cleaning), and judging from the lack of beach house drama threads in the past couple years I think many have done the same. I have to say I miss those threads - I want to read about bacon moochers and broken boogie boards, darn it!

I forgot about the broken boogie board!