A Disappearing Destination

I'll be the first to admit, it's not the vacation for everyone.

But I like it. I really do.

I like cottages.

And I mean real cottages--the kind built somewhere between 1935 and 1950, where you make your own bed each day and have to sweep and wipe down the counters and strip the beds when you check out.

Maybe one or two bedrooms are packed in the little building, with a little kitchenette and a more shabby than shabby chic living room and a tiny vintage bath.

Outside is usually a beach of some sort, picnic tables, barbecues and maybe a fire pit for late night bonfires under the stars.

This picture is of a cottage where I recently spent a week. It's on beautiful Longboat Key in Florida--right smack-dab on the beach.

A wonderful place that alas, is about to be sold. The new owner swears they 'won't change a thing." I hope that's true, but did I mention, right smack-dab on the beach? The writing is on the wall.

Every year more cottages disappear. Their old, freestanding buildings are expensive to maintain, and they don't demand the dollars of a highrise on the same beach front property.

They are often replaced with slick, resort style chain hotels or condos that could be anywhere in the world. And our lives becomes a little more homogeonized, a little less rich. Another thing we lose in the name of progress and convenience.