Beach Vaca 101 for 2018

Every trip to the beach brings new experiences and new discoveries to add to the list:

Must bring items:
1.  A muffin pan.  Martha White muffin mixes are and easy breakfast treat.  I also discovered from FB, a other muffin pan treat. Line the muffin cups with ham slices, add cheese, then a whole egg, salt and pepper.  Bake 400 degrees, for 15 minutes.

2.  A dash mini waffle iron.   Waffle mix that you just add milk or water, and your babies have a waffle breakfast treat!  The dash mini makes them the size of an Eggo waffle!

3.Quisinart ice cream maker.  Put the mixer bowl in the freezer.  Mix up the 4 ingredients and 20 minutes you have a frozen treat.  Make it the day before and it's good and firm.  No ice or salt needed!

4.  Homemade cookies.  Bag all the dry ingredients in ziploc bags.  Sugars together, flours, salt, and baking soda together.  Mix in wet ingredients at the beach, and bake for a homemade treat!  I also bring parchment paper and a simple cookie scoop.

5.Hand mixer.  I made my chocolate chip cookies by hand, since the condo didn't have a mixer.

6.Margarita machine. (Repeat item) Best discovery ever!  Mix them up overnight, store in ziploc bags.  Use the frozen bags as ice for your beach lunch.  Pour into a steel 30 oz tumbler, add a smoothee straw, and you have a frozen adult beverage that lasts for hours!

7.  Beach wagon, with wide wheels.  Must have for all you bring! The heavier the load, the more you end up dragging instead of pulling.

8. Beach chairs and umbrella.  A three day rental at Sandestin is $100, or $150 if you aren't a card carrying guest.  We go to the beach so often, we bring our own.  Best umbrella ever is the Cool Cabana.  You can find it at www.cool-cabana.com.

9. Beach.  The beach at Sandestin is usually way over crowded, and the chair rental guys takeover the prime spaces, pushing tent and canopy  users way back from the water.  Down here, Henderson State Park is between Destin and Sandestin and only $6 a car load.  It's never been busy when we go, and you can set up any type of shade at the waters edge.  Worth it if you are going to make it a full day.

10. Bluetooth speaker.  Hook up your favorite Pandora channel without having to use earbuds.  The sound usually doesn't disturb your neighbors.

11. External battery charger.  This will keep your phone battery fully charged, a long with any other USB devices.

12. Rainy day entertainment.  We were here seven days and it rained six of them.  We managed to get some beach time every day, but with several "pack it up quick " moments.

13. Go early.  Best time for restaurant dining is EARLY!   We target 5-5:30 to miss the long wait times for a table.  Sometimes when it's just two of us, we will eat at the bar!

14.  Bacon.  Cook it at home till "floppy".  Place on paper towels.  Once cool, put into ziploc bags and freeze.   At the beach, microwave slices for one minute, and you have crispy bacon without the mess of frying!

15. Plastic tubs.  We store all our kitchen supplies in small plastic tubs.  Paper goods, washing pods, seasonings,  etc...  we restock pack at home, saving on trips to the store for those "local marked up pricing "!

Wow!  15 items for the Beaching 101 list!  Some old ones, but more new!  We have another trip in August, to Hilton Head.  Maybe there will be some new items from the Atlantic coast!