Globe-trotting Grovers: Weekly Beach Ritual at Presque Isle, Lake Erie

our story

It all began on the evening of Nov 29th 2003, at former Chat Noir French Restaurant in Costa Mesa, CA. Brad approached me [Jana] and we instantly connected; it was love at first sight. The next 4 years that followed were a whirlwind of romance, growing pains, and adventures. We circled the globe, traveling to South America, Europe, and Asia. Then one night, Brad surprised me with a romantic beachside proposal. We made it official on August 23rd 2008 with an intimate wedding at a hip art gallery in Laguna Beach. A year later we finished redesigning our home in the beach village of Corona del Mar.

On May 18th, 2010, we were blessed with a sweet little miracle of our own, our baby boy Taj Leon. He stole our hearts and took our breath away! Then, 19 months later, his incredible little brother, Jax Franz, arrived on Christmas morning (December 25th) 2011. What an amazing gift we received! In an effort to slow down the clock and enjoy our beautiful family, in Spring of 2012, we sold our CA seaside home and moved across the country to our dream lake house in Brad's hometown of Bemus Point, a resort village on Chautauqua Lake in Western New York! Even though we are living a more slow paced life, we are living a life far from ordinary!

From the West Coast to the East Coast, our Grover family adventures continue! So won't you come along and join us on this journey of love, family, and travel we like to call our La Vida Grover!

Sunday, October 19, 2014

Weekly Beach Ritual at Presque Isle, Lake Erie

Living next to a beach for so many years has its effect on you forever. Because we made the decision to trade in the ocean for a lake, doesn't mean we have to say goodbye to a beach forever. Its funny but I feel like we make it out to a "beach" more often now living away from one than when we used to live right next to one. So funny how life works that way. You definitely take it for granted when its in your backyard. But when its not, you make almost double to triple the effort to go to the beach. Compared to some of my friends and family living in CA, we probably make it out to the beach more often then them! That's because we take plenty of beach tropical vacations, road trips, and even local weekends to lake beaches throughout each season of the year. The boys have been to Southern California beaches, Caribbean beaches (Turks & Caicos), beaches in the South, Northeastern coastline beaches, and yes, even our teeny weeny beaches on the Great Lakes.

But so far, the SoCal beaches and Turks & Caicos beaches take the cake! I love the cliffs and natural beach coves of the west coast, and of course the color of the ocean and white soft sand of the Caribbean.

In order to satisfy our beach fix when we are not in travel mode, I have found us the next best thing to the real thing…. and thats at Presque Isle on Lake Erie in Erie, PA. Its a little island on Lake Erie, a 30 minute drive, that is a mini (teeny tiny bitty bit) mix of Florida white sandy beach, Hawaiian aqua color clear water, and Big Sur (Northern California) trees….. minus the waves! LOL Its perfect for kids because it doesn't have the big waves and it's shallow. Beach 10 is our spot. We starting making visits to Presque Isle the first summer we moved here, and now go every year. But this summer I decided to make it into a weekly ritual when the summer began to wind down. We went a few weeks in a row, always on a weekday and on the warmest day of the week.