We lived on the Gulf coast when I was young – in Texas and Louisiana. We vacationed in Gulf Shores, Alabama often. I have so many memories of crawfish/shrimp/crab boils and dancing to Zydeco…but I’d honestly forgotten how beautiful this part of the country is. Most Americans think that Texas is the south, but this is the true South, the deep South. Its like going back in time. The live oaks dripping with Spanish moss are stunning, simultaneously eerie and lovely. Everything is sort of gnarled and aged by the sea, and life here has a much slower pace. It’s really a dream to be here again, reliving so many long-forgotten memories with not only my parents and dear old family friends, but with my husband and our new baby.

We are spending a few nights in a modern-day plantation house literally on the Gulf Coast. The sea is mere yards from the back door, and we eat our meals in a glass enclosed porch that is the size of our house back in Texas. This home is a showpiece of handcrafted moldings and wood panelling, filled with oil paintings and antiques. It survived hurricane Katrina, but barely – the only remains of the house next door are a circular driveway. Yet 500 year old trees and houses from the 1800s all around this home were spared.

Coming here has been not just a lovely vacation, but a reminder of something that is easy to forget when you wake up in the same place every day with bills in the mailbox and laundry always needing attention. Life is unpredictable and often challenging, but it is also full of beauty.

I hope all of you had a wonderful 4th of July.