Berrey Bash 2K12

I won the jackpot this year and got to enjoy TWO full weeks at the beach. The first with the Hergs, and the second with my extended family at Tybee Island, Georgia. As usual, the clan made the pilgrimage from our respective homes to our peaceful spot on Tybee, which over the years, has become familiar enough to feel like a second home to most of us (thank you, Granadma, thank you, Grandma). Speaking of Grandma, this year I had the honor of being her travel companion. I drove from Altus to Fayetteville, Arkansas to pick up Granberrey and escort her to the ocean.

The night I arrived in Fayetteville, we met up with my aunt, uncle, cousin, and some friends for dinner. Aunt Carol and uncle Charlie are pig racers and work during the summers; traveling all over the country. It's been a long time since they've been able to join us in Georgia, so I was thankful to squeeze in a visit when I could. The next morning, bright and early, Grandma and I took off for the beach. We had a great trip complete with time at the end to get the party started with cocktails while we waited for our family to retrieve us from the airport. It was five o'clock somewhere.

The beach was it's normal wonderful self. Over the years, certain traditions have developed. There's the haggle for beach chairs and umbrellas conducted by uncles John and Randy, which takes place on day one. There's the filling out of Grandma's dance card, which determines which sub-clan she will dine with on any given night. There is the cocktail party/pot-luck hosted by aunt Kim & uncle John each year. All the food is always delicious and sometimes impressively gourmet...is it wrong to say that I most look forward to the frozen pizzas cut into bite-sized pieces? Then there is the last-beach-day-lunch, hosted by Grandma at Marlin Monroe's.

In between each of these events, is a week full of fun, jellyfish stings (though hardly any this year), food, sand castles, beach walks, beach naps, birthday parties, laughter, Savannah Mud, and in our case, puzzles. Many, many puzzles. My mom's BFF, Tina, and her son, Jordan, joined my mom and I in our condo this year. While Jordan played games on his computers in the evenings, my mom, Tina, and I aggressively and obsessively (no, really kind of almost unhealthy) attacked all of the puzzles in our condo. We lost sleep over this, but it certainly kept us entertained.

Every year it seems, there is at least one episode that generates a good deal of excitement. Last year it was mom's Manta War attack (we were all impressed she got back in the water this year). This year it was a pretty wild storm. We were all out on the beach, enjoying the water, waves, and lack of jellies. We were thinking about how it was almost 4:30, the time where the chair and umbrella-hustlers re-claim their goods and kick us out of our camp. We also had an eye on the sky. Some dark clouds were rolling in and apparently they were rolling in quicker than we thought. All of the sudden a crazy storm unleashed on us. The wind picked up chairs and umbrellas; throwing them out to sea. People were making every attempt to grab as much as they could and run for shelter. Most people, that is. A few of my crazy cousins stayed IN the water. They didn't want to miss a chance to catch some wicked waves on their boogie boards. The condo lost power, but not for too long. At the end of it all, everyone was safe and we took a nice walk on the beach to look for treasures left behind in the storm.

Before we knew it, the week had come to an end. Grandma and I got dropped at the airport and eventually made it home in one piece. And so begins the countdown for next year. If Grandma starts feeling hesitant about making the trip again, we will get Phi to give her some encouragement. I mean, who could say no to a face like that!