Summer Dinner on the Beach and Sunday Morning Coffee

I love creating fun dinner parties for my family, and one of my favorite dinners with them was this summer dinner on the beach.

While spending a fun weekend at our beach house, I devised the idea to create an oceanfront, “sand at your feet, hopefully not waves at your knees, late summer dinner.”

You won’t believe what happened!

Season 4 Volume 28

Thanks for joining me for Sunday Morning Coffee, as this is a place to share, learn, explain, dream, and have fun.

About Me

Late Summer Dinner on the Beach

Yesterday, I shared Part One of this dinner and the beautiful centerpieces I made for my oceanfront table. You can read that post here.

I have previously hosted dinner on the beach, and you can read about them at Dinner on the Beach with Solar Lanterns and A Magical Dinner on the Beach.

For those dinners, I pounded tall poles into the sand, which was hard to do and didn’t look great (they were a bit crooked). I have been contemplating an idea I saw at a vintage flea market, so I teamed up with my handyman, and this is what we came up with!

Can I say that this was so much easier to set up … even on the beach!

I love these wooden boxes with the removable 4x4s and the 2x4s that support the top. Setting this up did not take long, and I did it alone.

The hardest part was carrying all these pieces from our garage to the beach. It only took twenty-one trips from our garage to the beach! (Fortunately, our home is very close to the beach!) I told the boys to play golf so I could set this up as a surprise.

I might have regretted sending them to the golf course at about trip #18, but I wanted it to be a surprise. It was so cute when they pulled up in the driveway because they all hopped out of the car and ran to the beach to see what I had done.

How to Make the Outdoor Dining Room

These are the pieces we built to create the outdoor dining room. I am unsure if I will stain or paint them, but at this point, I will leave them like this! I like the natural wood look.

How I Built the Outdoor Dining Room

Other than hauling everything out to the beach, this was a straightforward installation.

I picked out the location, confident that the owner of this umbrella and chair would be leaving before 5:00 p.m.! I set the table up first and added the wooden boxes and 4x4s next. As soon as I had two boxes in place, I added the 2x4s across the top.

Next, I used a screwdriver to secure all 2x4s across the top. I just wanted to make sure they were secure while we were dining!

Once the frame was built and secured, I added the tablecloth and lights and ran into the house to cook dinner.

Yep, dinner.

Solar Lighting on the Beach

I used Solar Powered String Lights and they worked amazingly!

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Serving Dinner on the Beach

I cooked a bit during the day, including steaming the artichokes, which I served with a homemade Garlic Lemon aioli. I tried to keep the menu simple, making baked potatoes (so easy!) and baked chicken with a yummy green salad.

When I ran down to the beach to add the flowers and lanterns just before dinner, I was shocked.

The fog had rolled in!

What the heck? The beach had been gorgeous, and I was so excited for the sunset. But in about fifteen minutes, the fog came in, and sadly, I knew the only sunset colors we would see were my fresh flower centerpieces.

It was ok. The table and setting still looked fabulous!

My One Big Mistake

The thing about blogging and doing crazy dinners like this is that things don’t always go as planned. As sad as I was about the fog, that was nothing compared to what happened next.

When we sat down for our late summer dinner, I couldn’t help but notice how fast the tide was coming in. I said nothing, but the waves were about five feet from my outdoor dining room.

They were within four feet when we opened the champagne and started dinner.

Soon, the incoming tide became the dinner conversation. About halfway through dinner, we hopped up and moved the entire “outdoor dining room” about three feet from the beach. Fortunately, there were four of us, so we could move it (aka drag it) without any problems. We sat back down and enjoyed more of our dinner.

But we were all watching the waves and ate a little faster. We all finished dinner, well, kind of, and the waves were knocking on the door again. They were almost at our feet!

We all jumped up and cleared the table as fast as we could. The boys took the frame apart and moved everything off the beach just as the water covered where we had just had dinner.

We didn’t enjoy a leisurely evening on the beach, but it was still amazing.

And in hindsight, the clean-up went way faster than I had ever expected. (See, I can always find the bright side!)

Now I know. Next time, I need to check the tide schedules to ensure I don’t set up an entire dining area on the beach too close to the waves. Lesson learned!

My Latest Project

I have been out of town for 11 days (with one day home in between) and am far behind on my Christmas crafts!

But the crafting is ready to begin, and I thought sharing some of my accumulated supplies might be fun.

It’s too early to share ideas or finished projects, as that will happen in October. But these napkins are going to make the best crafts. All of them are new ideas, and I cannot wait to share them!

But here are some of my supplies!

I may sometimes use affiliate links on this blog, which means a small commission is earned if you purchase via the link. The price will be the same whether you use the affiliate link or go directly to the vendor’s website using a non-affiliate link.

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And what a week it was!

• 
  DIY White Christmas Fern Tabletop Tree
  I wanted to create something elegant and unique for my home décor this holiday season, so I made beautiful DIY White Christmas Fern Tabletop Trees. Using a small styrofoam cone, preserved white ferns, and a painted tiny urn as the base,…
• 
  The Best DIY Christmas Gingerbread Houses
  I had so much fun creating the best Christmas gingerbread houses, and I love how they turned out. They were so easy and will last forever! I used premade paper mache cardboard houses, acrylic paint, puff paint, cellophane, small wreaths, pearls,…
• 
  How to Tie a Bow With Ribbon
  A beautifully tied bow is the perfect finishing touch to any Christmas gift, turning a simple package into something special. Whether using classic satin ribbon, festive plaid, or sparkly metallics, learning to tie a perfect bow will make your presents look…
• 
  A Nutcracker Christmas and Sunday Morning Coffee
  The Nutcracker Christmas story is one of those magical Christmas traditions. If you love the story, you will love this table I created. Christmas is just over a month away! If you want a unique way to set a Christmas or…
• 
  Christmas Tree Cupcakes
  I cook yearly for our Christmas party, and last year, I wanted to add a new, fun dessert. These Christmas tree cupcakes are the cutest dessert ever! The Christmas tree cupcakes are French vanilla with buttercream frosting and shaved coconut (to…
• 
  Oyster Shell Christmas Ornaments
  Creating oyster shell Christmas ornaments with paper napkins is an incredibly easy and enjoyable craft that combines natural elements with artistic flair. This project is perfect for anyone looking to add a touch of coastal elegance to their holiday decor or…

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Next week is going to be so much fun! I am sharing a DIY mirror, many ways to enjoy lemons this summer, and the hottest decor trend. I also have new outdoor entertaining ideas, such as using paper clay and some fabulous peach recipes.

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A Home to Share, by Leslie Saeta

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