Dear Pelican Shores,
For decades my parents - The Brandts - rented the big cottage on the left at the entrance to your safe haven by the sea. Months, weeks and especially Memorial Day Weekend every year. From the time we were obstinate brats just out of our teens and on forward to the days that saw my own parents become grandparents.
Thirteen cottages, apartments and homes clustered together in a tiny conclave. Each residence is decorated differently (and updated regularly) and we have stayed in most of them as we eventually outgrew sharing the big cottage with our parents. But it remained the focus of our visits as we rented our own spaces within The Shores.
All of the rentals are fully stocked with linens, cookware, flatware, dishes, pillows, beach towels, you name it.
One of my favorite cottages is causally seated close to the stairs that lead directly down to the beach. It is clean and comfortable and reminiscent of the seaside cottages that still dot Cape Cod - wood paneling, small, compact appliances, screened porch and groovy mismatched patio and lawn furniture. (That's the ultimate beach compliment). All you need is an old transistor radio that can reach back in time and holler out some 1970s gold to complete a lazy afternoon of sunning.
Cast a line into the sea from your own private beachfront, the local pier or rent a little skiff. Fishing is a big pastime as is grilling what you grab. Most cottages have grills you can use.
The public beach is a walk up the street where you can also find great little places to eat and shop and even booze it up. After all, you're on vacation. The grocery stores (Publix, Winn Dixie and a local favorite - Sweet Bay), fancier eateries and fast food are a very quick drive.
Pelican Shores is a place to go to and then go back to, in order to make some of your own family memories.
Every Memorial Day for decades, my family squatted in the shared party pavilion (with huge community grills - just pick up your own trash!) and cooked for anybody and everybody who was around. My brother and I grilled lobster, shrimp, chicken, steaks, corn. My sisters served amazing salad creations and my Mom manned the camera as well as barked orders to keep it all moving.
I have hundreds of photos from those holidays.
One of the kids in the family, now a mother herself, caught her first fish at The Shores with Grandpa. She was so proud until it was time to filet him and she insisted he was thrown back.
Every new baby that arrived in the family ended up playing in that sand.
My nieces recall telling the grandparents they couldn't make it one year and surprising the family by arriving late at night and camping on the porch, sprawled across blown-up beach floats and scaring my Dad as he left early to go fishing. ("Who ARE you guys? The Manson Family? Get in the house before the neighbors think we're a cult!").
My grown son says some of his earliest memories are of the beach at Engelwood and being dragged across the sand on a board by his older cousins.
My parents have gone on to their next vacation and even the words Pelican Shores make me a bit teary now. I miss those vacations that ended not so long ago. The last photo I took of my Mom in Engelwood was the one she would want YOU to see and NOT BE TEARY-EYED, but joyous as you pack up and head to over to The Shores. She's lazily floating in the water and calling toward the shore, "Come on in, the water's just right!"
And of course it is. That's Pelican Shores.
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