A Beach House Rental Will Make Your Vacation a Dream

After a morning spent on the beach watching my husband and girls swim with dolphins I walked back across the white sand to cool off in my own private beach house. As a born and breed Midwesterner, this week fulfilled all of those long winter vacation daydreams.

A warm beach and plenty of relaxation are the top vacation goals for our family. We work hard and expect to enjoy a bit of luxury during our time off. Unfortunately our limited travel budget means we must sacrifice some of our dreams. I was determined to make this beach vacation live up to our expectations despite budget concerns. My advance work paid off and we had the vacation of a lifetime, including our own private beach house, for far less than most other families pay for an ordinary trip.

We selected Pensacola Beach, FL as our vacation destination primarily because of the lure of the beautiful white beaches and the amount of driving time required to get there. Flying is nice but in general we prefer to drive ourselves. Using our own vehicle gives us greater flexibility. We select our own travel times, have more personal space and can drive our own vehicle around once we arrive at our destination.

Once we decided on Pensacola Beach I needed to find lodging. The thought of staying in a beach house never crossed my mind. We simply wanted a hotel room on the beach. Actually, we wanted two because five of us in one hotel room for seven days would be anything but relaxing. The luxury vacation we wanted was not going to be found on the budget we had. Before giving up I spent a bit more time researching and found condos and beach houses that were available as vacation rentals. Truthfully, I had never considered renting a beach house or condo before but the idea intrigued me. I finally located a three bedroom, two bath, beach house that perfectly fit our budget. The cost was half of what we would have spent on hotel rooms and we had all the luxuries of home. I booked it immediately.

Ben's Beach House became our home for one week that summer and again the following year. The beautiful white beach was only steps from our front door. We could walk to the water, swim, sunbathe and then easily return to the air-conditioned comfort of our own home to take a quick shower and nap away the hot afternoon. Food was always handy in the kitchen or at one of the great restaurants just down the street, like Peg Leg Pete's, The Crab Shack or Hemmingway's.

The Pensacola beach house truly was our home away from home. We had a Jacuzzi tub, comfortable beds, a fully stocked video library and an assortment of games to play on rainy days. Outside, under a covered patio, we could enjoy a cool drink while grilling a great steak. The garage came complete with boogie boards, beach toys and bicycles. We had every benefit of being a full-time beach resident while at Pensacola Beach.

A beach house rental made our dream a reality. We were no longer sharing a hotel with a crowd. We had our own space and plenty of it. We didn't have to cross a lobby and pool deck to get to the beach; we simply took a few steps over the boardwalk. Best of all was our nearly empty beach. Beach crowds were clustered around hotel and condo areas. Our home was in a residential area that was sparsely populated even on busy weekends. We often had the beach to ourselves.

Our dream could not be recaptured for a third year as a result of Hurricane Ivan sweeping over the island only weeks after our final trip. My daughter and her friend spied our beach neighbor, a year-round resident, preparing for the storm on a news segment shown in school. She was a friend who shared greetings and her cats with us while we visited. Post-hurricane news coverage featured photos of our house filled nearly to the ceiling with sand. The damage was devastating and our beach house was demolished.

Our temporary beachside home and our once-a-year neighbors are gone but the memories of relaxing ocean sunsets and cool ocean breezes still provide relaxing moments in our rushed, everyday lives.