My parents have had the same beach house for the last 10 years. We come down for Memorial Day, Fourth of July, random long weekends and almost any other time of the year that my mom can convince us to come down here. Most of my summer memories include watching storms roll in over the bay, and adjusting the rabbit ears on the tv so they are just right in order to watch the big game. The amount of memories I have that take place here is insane and I'm so happy that they all involve the sand, the water, boats, friends, and family.

For as long as I can remember my mom has been urging my dad, brother and I to make the hour drive from Tallahassee down to Alligator point to spend X amount of days at our beach house. My brother usually tries to find some way to talk his way out of going while we pile all the food we might need for the week into our big white cooler. Once we make it down to the point the closest grocery store is about thirty minutes away so we have to pack everything. When we finally make it down and the groceries make it up the stairs and into the fridge is when the real fun begins. It could be anything from pulling a chair onto the small strip of sand out front that we call a beach or going on a boat ride to Dog Island. Whatever we end up doing is guaranteed to be a blast.

Recently there have been a number of mishaps with the power, the AC and any other number of issues. Most recently, we showed up for fathers day weekend and the power had been out for at least a week. Everything we had left in the freezer had gone bad and it was hot in the house since the AC was also out. We cleaned out the freezer, sprayed some air freshener and loaded back up in the car and headed home. There have been a couple trips that turned out like that, but I would venture to say that the good times outweigh the bad for sure.

There have also been many hours spent on and behind the boat. I've tried (and failed) to waterski, tube, wakeboard, and kneeboard all within sight distance of the beach house. I actually asked my dad, the boat captain, how many circles he had done around the bay and he simply shook his head and said "Too many." Well, Dad, I would say it was definitely worth it as some of those circles around the bay created some of my best memories.

I'm so thankful for this place and the summers we have spent down here. Here's to the last ten years, and here's to hopefully many more (with working AC). I love you, Alligator Point!