Beach House in the Burbs

I'm running a little late on part 3 because I spent most of last week having cheap summer fun. So, here's a rundown of my week, which also happens to be part 3 of 9 cheap ways to have fun this summer! 7. Use one of the online discount sites to get cheap tickets to an event or exhibition or two-for-one dinners or whatever. We went to the Titanic exhibit at Atlantic Station in Atlanta using tickets from Goldstar . A post on the exhibit is coming. 8. Invite friends over for a pot luck. All it costs you is one dish, some paper products (unless you use real plates, flatware, etc., which I DO NOT do for 40 people) and time. What you get is some really good food (invite at least a few people who can cook), lots of good times and plenty of fun. Set up games inside and out--cards, board games, foursquare, croquet, a basketball goal, sing, tell stories, and eat, eat, eat! We had a 4th of July/Anniversary party last week with fireworks, food, fun and flowers. 9. If you scroung...

Here you go, part 2 of "9 cheap ways to enjoy the summer, a list in 3 parts." In case you missed part 1 , I'll wait while you check it out. (humming Jeopardy music in my head) Now that you're back from reading (or rereading) part 1, here's part 2: 4. Catch lightening bugs (or oooohhhh and ahhhh when a sweet, precious child does it) 5. Go to the library. It's air conditioned (It's going to be over 100 degrees here at the beachhouse for the next few days. I'm melting already), has really nice people who work there (some of my best friends are librarians, literally, hi, Lesley), and has great books. A wonderful way to spend a hot afternoon. 6. Sit on the porch after dark (it's too freaking hot to sit out there in the day) and tell stories. Ghost stories, family stories, made-up stories, funny stories--all are even better when told to people you love--and accompanied by homemade ice cream. So, get away from your computers, get out there and...

I planned to post this list of cheap things to do over the summer on the first day of summer, but life got in the way. So, consider it a list of possibilities for summer weekends, in honor of the first one of the season. Because, despite not having any money or a whole lot of time off this summer (job's in flux, but that's a long, sad, silly story for another day), it's summer, that time of year when I want everything to change (which it's doing, what with the fluxy job), but really, it should be slowing down and being more fun and changing in a good way, not like it seems to be changing this summer! I want time off and a trip to the beach and lots of good books to read and friends and family to visit and good food and, well, you get the picture. I want a summer vacation, just like I used to have as a kid--only with wine. So, how do you get that, when you have no money and not much time off? Here are my first three suggestions, some kid-friendly, some not-so-much,...

For the past few years when we've been to the beach, we've hit uncrowded, uncommercialized, less developed places like Jekyll Island, Ga., and St. George Island, Fla. But this year we went back if not to the heart of kitschy Florida, which is probably Weeki Wachee and the mermaids, then at least to its liver. We traveled to Ft. Walton Beach, the home of sugar-sand beaches, emerald-green water, Big Kahuna's water park, the Gulfarium and a main street called the Miracle Strip. I've loved our low-key beach vacations, but driving past Cash's Liquors and Fudpucker's restaurant on the way to our beachside condo, I found myself getting caught up in the Fun, Fun, Fun that pounds you from all sides before you even see the Gulf. A high point--two meals in three days at the Back Porch , an open-air beachfront place where shirts and shoes are optional, but the seafood is fresh and fabulous. Their grilled amberjack (a white fish caught off the coast there) sandwiches in...

Nothing says summer in the South like the sight and aroma of boiling pig heads in the backyard. Okay, so this little adventure had nothing to do with being in the South and everything to do with having a sister with a dead-animal fetish (and I mean that in the most wholesome sense of the word). A student in one of her anthropology classes bought pig heads from a butcher, shot them with bullets, hacked at them with a machete, then buried them to see what would happen. Susan (the sister) was very pleased at the student's ingenuity. Then, joy of joys, when the class was over, the student told Susan she could keep the pig heads! Rapture! Unfortunately they still had a little tissue attached. And nobody wants that. So, she brought them over to boil in Chris's outdoor, turkey-frying pot. (Thanksgiving will never be the same.) The smell of boiling hog fat--it reminded me of the old-timey candle-making smell on steroids--permeated our yard and house for hours, but look at the payoff. T...