At the Beach: Memories and Tablescape

I do love the beach, but only in small doses. Growing up, we never took vacations to the beach. Our fair skin kept us from having just a whole lot of fun at the beach; we came home sunburned and miserable. My parents preferred the mountains, so that is where we went the most often. Also, once a year my daddy had a convention on the coast and was able to take us with him. So that long weekend served as our beach trip. We usually stayed at the Biloxi Broadwater, and it was safe enough back then for my sister and me to walk across Highway 90 and go play miniature golf by ourselves at night while our parents were in meetings. I certainly would not let my two children, one in junior high and one in elementary, go by themselves to do that now!

Mama always made sure that the four of us spent an afternoon or two at the beach; we took blow-up floats and walked as far out in the ocean as we could, then rode the waves in. I did not know until I was grown that the Gulf of Mexico is perfect for small children; it has a sandy bottom and you can walk out forever and it is still shallow. I think most oceans do not have this characteristic. When they were in meetings, we were happy to spend the time at the hotel pool. I’ll never forget our first trip to the coast for Daddy’s convention after Hurricane Camille. Even though it had been almost a year, the devastation was awful. But I digress. Back to the beach stories!

When I married a redhead, he had even worse memories of childhood sunburns that I did. But because he loves me, he was willing to go to the beach with me. I promised that if he went to the beach with me, that we would go to the mountains as well.  We went to the Ozarks on our first ever family vacation and to the Smokies on the next two or three. Finally, I told him we were going to the beach. We went to Gulf Breeze, and the campground we were in was very crowded. We had to wait in line an extremely long time; it was hot and sticky, and we were tired and cranky. After we got our campsite set up and supper, it was dark. I convinced my husband that we could go on to the beach and let the boys (we let our son take a friend) run around in the sand. We stopped at the camp store and bought a couple of nets for the kids and a bottle of wine for ourselves. When we got to the beach, we sat on the shore sipping wine while the boys ran around chasing the sand crabs that come out at night. They had a blast while we cooled off in the ocean breeze and relaxed. Our bad moods dissipated; the kids wore themselves out and slept soundly. That was when my husband began liking the beach! (We also discovered 30 SPF sunblock for our blonde and red complexions!) Since then we have had great trips to Destin, Gulf Shores, Pensacola, and even Galveston, TX.  We always have a wonderful time and those memories are what my tablescape today evokes for me.

I’ve had in mind for a while to do a summer time tablescape. I started with a beach towel in the color palette of soft blues, greens, yellows, and white. I put it on the diagonal on the table to keep it casual.

Then I layered the placemats in the same summery hues and topped them with my standby octagonal white plates.

 I put the seashell-lined small plates (the inspiration for this tablescape) on top of the napkins which are color of the sea.

I have had this tablescape in my head for a while, and imagine my excitement when I found these small seashell plates on a trip to Dollar Tree. Of course, they had to come home with me!

Then I had the problem of a centerpiece. All of my normal go-tos (candles, vases, hurricane, etc.)  for centerpieces were too formal (crystal, silver, pottery) or too dark (my standby black candle holders). I stood back from the table and was thinking when I spied this platter which I had displayed on a plate stand on my buffet.

 It is a very old one that we found in Grandmommy’s house when we cleaned it out. The colors were perfect, but the roses in the center were not. Suddenly it dawned on me! I put the platter in the center and placed the white pillar candle in the center. Then I sprinkled “sand” (brown sugar) around the candle, propped a shell given to me by my friend’s child after her trip to the beach against it, and I was done. I was quite proud of my centerpiece inspiration. I finished off the look with playful mix-n-match flatware and mix-n-match wine glasses. Can’t wait to hear what you think!

am joining:

 A Stroll Thru Life for Tabletop Tuesday

Between Naps on the Porch for Tablescape Thursday

Under the Table and Dreaming for Sunday Showcase

Cuisine Kathleen for Let’s Dish

The Tablescaper for Seasonal Sunday

The Thrifty Groove for Thrifty Things Friday

Weekend Bloggy Reading at Serenity Now

Spotlight Saturday at Classy Clutter

You’re Gonna Love It Tuesdays at Kathe with an E

Wow Us Wednesdays at Savvy Southern Style

Centerpiece Wednesday at The Style Sisters