Beach Vacation to St. George Island 2024

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I’ve shared many times with you on the blog about going to St. George Island, FL with Mark’s family. They’ve been going for close to 30 years, but the last year the big family went was 2017. Things became more complicated after that, with jobs, marriage, babies, etc. The kids were growing up and it was harder and harder to get them all together for one week of the summer. That was the year Mark and I got married, but we did manage to go back to St. George a couple times after that, but it sure wasn’t the same without all the family. It’s so much more fun with everyone around. We went back in 2021, but it was a small group then. This year, Mark’s younger sister, Kim, really wanted to do it again so we made some last minute plans and got 2 houses booked the end of June and we had a crowd show up once again. We had so much fun and had great weather, it couldn’t have been more perfect.

St. George Island is a beautiful small island off of Apalachicola, FL. You go across a long bridge to get there and once you’re there, you’re away from it all. There are a few restaurants, grocery stores (there’s a small Piggly Wiggly) and enough to get you by, but it’s not the bustling beach towns of the rest of the Gulf coast. It really is getting away from it all. It is a pretty popular FL destination so the prices of beach rentals have gone up over the years.

Mark and I got checked in the house and then went for dinner at the Blue Parrot, one of the most popular restaurants on the beach. It’s right by the lighthouse.

It was a great start to the week on the beach. When we’re in St. George, all we do is sit on the beach all day, get in the pool, read, nap and then make dinner plans. It’s such a fun and relaxed vacation and we all love the beach.

We ended up at the Blue Parrot 3 times that week, but that was fine with us.

Mark got up every morning about 7 and headed to the beach to put up our tent and then later the other tent was put up in preparation for a day on the beach. We had to have shade with the heat, but we luckily had breezes every day which made it ideal.

As you can see, the beaches were not very crowded.

There were people, but now huge crowds. But most of the houses we saw seemed to be occupied.

Another night at the Blue Parrot and waiting for our table. This was only part of the group that came this year.

We got a few group photos along the way.

Sunsets are gorgeous on St. George. We all look forward to seeing what the sunset will look like each day.

Mark and I went to another place we like called the Red Pirate and I got the mixed shrimp for dinner and it was great. Broiled shrimp, fried, and coconut shrimp. Yum! The Red Pirate is just off the island.

Here’s the house we stayed in with 2 of Mark’s girls and their families. It was just right for us with 4 bedrooms and 3 baths. It’s called Sunny Moon if you want to check it out and it has a pool in the backyard. We went through Cape & Coast for the rental, but there are several rental companies so do a search if you end up going.

We hunted down 2 houses that were close to each other and Kim ended up in a beautiful house just across the road from us, also with a pool and right on the beach. We enjoyed the proximity of the houses and it was perfect. They have 3 adult children and they all stayed in this house. It’s called Southern Splendor and it certainly was all that. It had 5 bedrooms and 5.5 baths.

We sat up every day outside their beach house and it was perfect.

The windows overlooking the beach were gorgeous and we watched the sunsets from here and the beach every night.

There were plenty of little ones around and they had a blast. This is Kim’s grandson, Zeke and 18 month old Ivy, who belongs to Mark’s daughter, Traci. They are such adorable kids.

We saw some beautiful sunsets every night. I have always loved the clouds on St. George and they were gorgeous again this year. We only had one 1/2 day of rain and then the sun came out again.

Such an enjoyable vacation.

Sunset looking over our pool in the backyard.

Gorgeous beaches with dunes.

I love the dunes in St. George.

Cutie pie kids. This is Rose (6) and Ivy 18 mos.

Me and Mark, chilling.

We wanted to get a family group pic to commemorate this year at the beach, so we all got in the shot, 28 in all. This wasn’t all of them either. Several husbands and kids are missing.

Another shot with the house in the background. Many of us stayed the whole week, but some had to come and go so this was the day of the overlap for the biggest crowd. I won’t try to name them all, but Mark’s extended family is a big one. He and his two sisters had a combined 11 children between them. Those 11 children have 21 children between them with 2 more on the way. Those 11 cousins grew up together and had a great time. I love big families that celebrate together. I didn’t have that growing up, so it’s nice to enjoy Mark’s family with him.

Mark and his 4 daughters, from left to right: Kelly, Lyndsey, McKenzie, and Traci. He’s a proud daddy! These 4 produced 9 grandchildren.

Mark with his two sisters, Kim (on left) and Linda. Kim has been battling cancer for the last year, so please pray for her. The news is not great, but we are prayerful and hopeful for better outcomes. Kim has 2 sons and one daughter. The oldest son is married with one child and another on the way. Linda has 1 son and 3 daughters and those girls have a passel of kids between them.

Mark and me heading to dinner one night.

Lots of kids on the beach and most of them loved it. Two of the babies didn’t like walking in the sand which was funny, so they got held a lot.

Relaxing!

More beach shots.

One night out at the Blue Parrot on the patio for dinner.

Sunset

Those clouds, like cotton candy.

More sunset shots. It was nice to sit on the beach and watch the sun go down.

Out there with David and Kim.

I love the beach and always have.

We had fun watching a crab  one day.

And someone made a sand turtle one night.

Mark and the littles flying a kite.

Mark and me heading to the Owl Cafe. I’ve shared this one many times, but it sure never disappoints. We love this restaurant in Apalachicola.

Their fresh catch was pompano that night and we both got it. Outstanding!

And that’s it from the beach! I hope you enjoyed seeing our beach vacation. It’s just not summer without a beach trip!We sure had a great time and I’m so glad that so many could go this time. It gets harder and harder as the family grows, but it sure is a fun time. I hope we can keep doing it! It will be up to the younger generation to keep it all going and I hope they do.

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