Summer Dinner on the Beach and Sunday Morning Coffee

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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

Sunset Dinner on Ventura Beach

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!

Sunset Dinner on the Beach

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 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

Summer Beach Dinner by the Waves

I used Solar Powered String Lights and they worked amazingly!

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.

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.

Dinner on the Beach

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.

Summer Beach Dinner on the Beach

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!

Summer Beach Dinner at Sunset
My Latest Project

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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The Best Guacamole Recipe from A Beautiful Mess.

My friend Karianne shared How to Build a Giant Abacus. This is amazing!

30+ Easy No-Bake Desserts which are so perfect for summer!


And what a week it was!

  • Easy Christmas Button Crafts
    Today, I am sharing some easy Christmas button crafts. Buttons are a great crafting item and these crafts are inexpensive and so easy to make! Today is day five of Twelve Days of Getting Ready for Christmas and I hope you enjoy…
  • Decorating with Christmas Ribbon in the Dining Room
    It’s day four of Twelve Days of Getting Ready for Christmas and I am sharing how to use Christmas ribbons to decorate your dining chairs. For twelve days I am offering lots of ideas to get ready for the holidays.  Today,…
  • Gift Wrapping Ideas and Sunday Morning Coffee
    Welcome to day three of the Twelve Days of Getting Ready for Christmas. Today, I am sharing holiday gift-wrapping ideas for paper, ribbon, tags, and a gift-wrapping station! Today, I am sharing gift-wrapping tips to help you get ready for Christmas….
  • Stocking Stuffers for Christmas Morning
    Today is Day Two of the Twelve Days of Getting Ready for Christmas. Christmas morning is my favorite, and we are sharing stocking stuffers today! As kids, my siblings and I opened our stockings first thing every Christmas morning. I am…
  • How to Choose Christmas Colors for Your Holiday Decor
    It’s the first day of Twelve Days of Getting Ready for Christmas! Today, I am sharing ideas for Christmas colors and a theme for your decor. For twelve days, I will do everything I can to help you prepare for Christmas. Today is…
  • Easy Fall or Thanksgiving Wreath DIY
    Are you looking for a Fall or Thanksgiving wreath that is easy on the eyes and on your wallet? Look no further. This is so easy! Fall is a busy time, and it gets even busier as we near the holidays….

Martha shared How to Wash Blueberries the Right Way. She shared so many great tips!



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

A Home to Share, by Leslie Saeta

This Week’s Top Sellers

We shared a lot of our favorite home items this week and here are the top sellers!

SHOP HERE

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A wooden canopy with string lights shelters a table with flowers set for a meal on a beach. The tide is low, and the sky is overcast. Text reads "Summer Dinner on the Beach and Sunday Morning Coffee.

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5 Comments

  1. Those tricky tides and darn fog! 😄 Glad you still got to enjoy a beautiful summer night with your family.

  2. You were having such a beautiful time the ocean simply wanted to join you💙. Love your blog, so creative♥️

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