Summer Beach Dinner - Part Two - and Sunday Morning Coffee

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

A table with a floral tablecloth and flower centerpieces is set up on a beach under a wooden pergola with string lights. The ocean and waves are visible in the background.

Season 5 Volume 29

Collage with a cozy interior featuring a dining area, kitchen, and coffee-themed text: "Sunday Morning Coffee.

About Me

Late Summer Dinner on the Beach

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

I have previously hosted dinner on the beach, and you can read about it 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.

Sunset Dinner on the Beach for the Family

How to Make the Outdoor Dining Room

These are the pieces we built to create the outdoor dining room. I am unsure whether I will stain or paint them, but for now, I will leave them as they are. I like the natural wood look.

How I Built the Outdoor Dining Room

Aside from hauling everything to the beach, the installation was straightforward.

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 then added the wooden boxes and 4x4s. As soon as I had two boxes in place, I set 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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Solar Outdoor String Lights, 20Ft Vintage Rope

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 all day, 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.

Mixed Eucalyptus Leaves Stems

Flower Vases with Wicker

Pink and Orange Faux Roses, 12pcs

Faux Gerbera Daisies

Mason Jar Flower Insert Lid Insert

12oz Ball Mason Jars, Set of 12

Glass Rattan Woven Vase

Vase with Rattan

Glass Vase with Decorative Cane Sleeve

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 farther 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 a fantastic experience.

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

A table displays pottery and clay sculpting tools, rolling pins, textured mats, stencils with floral patterns, and a block of clay ready for crafting.

I started a big clay project this week.

It’s going to be about 30″ x 20″ and it will hang on the wall of the beach house.

Embossed stamp on clay reads "Pottery by Leslie" with a simple leaf design in the center.

I won’t mention the specifics until I know it’s going to work.

So stay tuned!

A wooden pottery stamp with a custom engraved design is shown alongside three clay pieces stamped with different personalized logos and text. — Custom Letter Stamp for Clay

A block of off-white modeling clay with a slightly uneven surface and rough edges.

Deouss Mid High Fire White Stoneware Clay

Decorative stencil with intricate rose pattern design, packaged with branding from Stampers Anonymous and Tim Holtz Collection.

Flower Stencil

A set of clay sculpting tools including wooden and metal shaping tools, a round yellow sponge, and a wire clay cutter arranged on a white background.

8 Pieces Wooden Pottery Sculpting Clay

Seven sets of unfinished wooden shapes—hexagons, circles, triangles, rectangles, ovals, and squares—are displayed upright on white cylindrical stands against a plain background.

Ceramics Plate Forming Molds

A box of 10 wooden texture rollers with unique patterns; a circle inset shows hands using one roller on clay.

Clay Texture Rollers

A red patterned paint roller is shown in front of a cream wall with a matching floral embossed design created by the roller.

7” Texture Roller DIY Decorative Art Pattern Paint Roller Rubber Roller for Walls

Four round yellow cleaning sponges, two placed separately at the top and two stacked at the bottom, on a white background.

4 Pcs Round Painting Sponge 2.96inch Yellow Craft Sponges

Embossed rolling pin with floral patterns, accompanied by two round cookies featuring the same intricate designs.

Embossed Wooden Rolling Pin

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My Biggest Challenge This Week

Two raised wooden garden beds with lush green plants growing up and around a black metal arch, set outdoors with trees in the background.

Squirrels – 50

Leslie – 2

That’s how many tomatoes we have both enjoyed. Ugh.

Last week, I mentioned the battle I was fighting against “critters” who were eating my tomatoes. I spent an hour adding black netting, thinking it would keep out the predators.

Unfortunately, they can also eat through black netting. Are you kidding me?

On the bright side, I have some tomatoes climbing over the metal trellises, which are really high and very skinny. I think they may be squirrel-proof.

I will keep you posted as I am determined to win this fight. And please leave advice below if you can help!

Check out the new pottery studio opening soon, located just five minutes from our home. How exciting is that!
Finish the clay form for my newest project and prepare it for bisque firing.
Get ready for a fun vacation with the family!

Six ears of Mexican street corn (elote) topped with cheese, cilantro, and hot sauce, served on a white tray with lime wedges and a bottle of hot sauce on the side.

I am obsessed with fresh corn, and this Easy Elote Recipe is amazing.

A small red cottage with white trim is surrounded by a lush garden with various blooming flowers and greenery.

How cute is this? Check out the blog post, This Tiny Project Makes My Backyard Feel Like a Dreamy Fairy-Tale Escape.

A floor sander sits on a hardwood floor in a bright, empty room with built-in shelves and cabinets.

We need to do this soon, so I have been researching Refinishing Hardwood Floors 101. Do you have any tips for me?

A rustic tomato galette garnished with fresh basil sits on a wooden surface, surrounded by assorted heirloom and cherry tomatoes.

With so many fresh tomatoes available, this Heirloom Tomato Galette looks like a perfect item to make.

Several open books are arranged vertically on a wall, with red roses and small white flowers placed among the pages.

My friend KariAnne shared How To Host a Book Themed Shower. This is such a fantastic theme!

Electric Salt and Pepper Grinder Set

Set of 3 Oval Serving Platters

Raised Garden Bed Planter

And what a week it was!

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