Grab a chair and a couple of root beers...

The Husbandly One is whisking yours truly and the kids for a few days at the beach. We're headed for Rockport again, but minus the visit to the Mold Hotel.

This time, we're staying at Holiday Inn Express. It may not be picturesque, but it'll be clean, and I can breathe, two very important requirements in Auntie's Vacation Book. Maybe after we get to know Rockport better, we can try a beach house, and get away from the corporate stuff. I have very good memories of my Aunt Maud's beach house in Crystal Beach, Texas, which was washed away when Ike hit back in 2008. It wasn't ornate or overly full of conveniences. It was built at a time when "modern conveniences" meant a stove, a fridge, running water, and an indoor toilet.

It had an outdoor shower.

There was no ground floor, except for that shower, and an under-house patio of sorts where there were picnic tables and hammocks strung to catch the breeze. The second floor was one large central room, which had the kitchen, with a small table (because you mostly ate outside), and a "living area" that was mostly twin beds disguised to look like couches. And there was a small bathroom and shower just off the kitchen, and a large pantry that held not only food, but an endless supply of beach towels and blankets for the sand.

And on three sides of that main room was a deep, screened in balcony/porch. About two and a half feet up from the floor was wall, and then the rest of the way up to the ceiling was screen. There were canvas flaps rolled up everywhere to let down if there was rain, because... there were no bedrooms. You slept on that porch. That porch had nearly ten beds at intervals, mostly twins, but there were two full sized beds, and everyone slept on the porch with only the lightest of covers, because there was no air conditioning. You stayed cool by being out on the sleeping porch or out in the water. That was it.

Wow, I didn't mean this to turn into a stroll down memory lane! Anyhow, the basic gist of this is, we'll be gone for a few days, so... I'll be lucky if I get so much as a peep at the f-list!

See you when I get back!!

Toodle-oo!!

Auntie