When we walked into the cottage called Sandcastle in the Sun, we were delighted to see a bright, clean home prepared for us.  On the dining table, the owners had made up a welcome basket with snacks, cookies, pre-measured filter packs of coffee - Island Blend or Mountain Blend (enough coffee packs to last the entire stay), candy, popcorn, and even cereal.They had put sodas (diet and regular), water, juices for our little ones, milk for the cereal so we did not have to worry about breakfast for a couple of days, and, even, condiments like packets of ketchup, mustard, and mayonnaise.In the pantry, Becky had put extra coffee packs for the automatic coffeemaker we could program to start brewing at whatever time we wanted in the morning, teas, sugar, creamer, extra boxes of cereal, spices, and misc. other items. We felt at home already.  On the table was a welcome letter and booklet with important information and where to find notebooks she had created with detailed information on everything from how to work the remotes and equipment to things to do in this area all the way to Orlando.There are 2 bedrooms and 3 full bathrooms.  One of the bathrooms is downstairs in the Fitness Center.  All the bathrooms had showers with handheld massage shower heads and the main bathroom also has a tub.  In the master bedroom is a queen-size bed with a special cooling bead gel foam topper and the softest Egyptian cotton sheets. Extra sheets and blankets were available in one of the dressers. There is a bathroom attached to the bedroom.  It also had a cable flat screen HDTV and a view that was unbelievable.The second bedroom has a daybed with a trundle bed underneath it that pulled out and lifted up easily.  Once again, since I had little ones, a playard with soft mattress, changing pad, baby wipes, baby wash and shampoo, new teething rings and toys for my 1 year old as well as my 3 year old.  She had put up a special safety bed rail on the daybed so my toddler couldn't roll off; it folds down to get in and out easily. Safety gates had been installed at the top of both sides of the deck in case one of the little ones went exploring.  I almost forgot to mention that in the cabinets in the second bedroom were spare pillows, comforters, and lightweight jackets of varied sizes for us to use on cooler days or evenings.A high chair and booster chair were already in place by the dining table.  Toddler-size dishes, cups, and utensils were there.  Bibs for my littlest one were in ample supply and larger bibs for my toddler were there.  It is like the owners had read my mind.Oh, they had even purchased a stroller for us to be able to use.The living room had a large cable flat screen HDTV with DVD/VCR attached.  A library of DVDs for adults was there and in the cabinet by the queen sofa bed was a nice library of DVDs for children. In the cabinet were also games for young and old, books for all, card games for all, 3 sets of binoculars, flashlights, space heaters (a couple evenings got a little cooler), the notebooks of information, and the linens for the sofa bed.  Memo pads, pens, pencils, (color pencils for the little ones), scissors, tape, and those extra things you don't realize you are going to need until you get there.  There were also 2 of the most comfy overstuffed rocking recliners that swiveled. WHAT ELSE DO THEY HAVE READY FOR YOU?The kitchen was fully equipped with a ceramic top range  (cleaner for it was also supplied), a dishwasher, microwave, blender, toaster, electric can opener & manual opener, a 4-cup automatic coffeemaker,and so more. There were settings for 8 of dinnerware, glasses, cups, and utensils.As I started to look in the cabinets, I discovered a crepe maker, quesadilla maker, George Foreman grill, and a hand mixer.  Opening the next door, a full set of cookware, full set of bakeware, large serving trays above the microwave, even a dutch oven.  Hot pads, dishrags, dishtowels, utensils, and cooking utensils were in the drawers.Under the kitchen sink was more than enough dish soap, dishwasher tablets, cleaning supplies, and slider bags (quart and gallon size).All three bathrooms had hair dryers, soap, body wash, and shampoo in normal sizes to last your stay and more.   We even found full-size tubes of toothpaste, adult-size toothbrushes, children-size toothbrushes, first aid kits and other supplies one might need.  Bath towels, hand towels, wash cloths, and children's bath linens were in great supply.There were several rolls of toilet paper, paper towels, boxes of tissues everywhere needed with extra packages in the closet of the main bathroom.  In the main bath, I found a full-size ironing board with a steamer iron. A toolkit and Devil Dirt vacuum for little spills were available. How do I even begin to describe the views from each of the rooms?  I won't soon forget them.The loungers, sand chairs, large folding table upstairs (in case you wanted to eat outside), foot rests, trays, child-size chairs, beach towels, beach umbrella, sand tent for the children, and coolers for enjoying your private beach.  There is an electric barbecue grill downstairs on a large porch that also has tables and chairs.  Once outside looking around, you see two hammocks large enough to hold two adults each over-looking the gulf. Another hammock is on a raised part of the side yard if you don't want to be seen. There is a wooden swing in the side yard with a palm garden separating us from the public beach next door.  It had a playground and cafe we made good use of.Then, there is still the complete home fitness center downstairs off the porch and in the back is a laundry center with a super size washer and dryer (of course, she had laundry  detergent cubes in ample supply there) and there was a large chest deep freeze.I could not have thought of anything else I could have wanted and know that I would never have had it provided by a hotel.*Added note by owner - We have now added two kayaks and all required safety equipment.

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