About Mermaid’s Tale

Mermaid’s Tale (formerly “Simple Interest”) was built in 1999 by Donna McBride and Barbara Grier. (You may know them as the founders of Naiad Press, a giant in lesbian/gay publishing). When Donna and Barbara decided to retire from publishing, they also decided to retire from running the vacation homes they rented to the lesbian and gay community. We (Urscia and Noel) loved staying at Simple Interest and couldn’t bear the thought that we would no longer be able to vacation there. So, when we had the opportunity to purchase the home, we felt fortunate to be able to do so. We are happy to continue offering the lesbian/gay community a beautiful, safe, clean, quiet home for beach vacations.

The house, situated on one acre of land, is designed with a large open living space with cooking, dining, and entertainment/living all in one area in the center of the house. There are private wings on both ends holding complete king-size bedroom suites. On the road side of the house are the pantry, the washer/dryer, and a complete gourmet kitchen. On the Gulf side, there is a covered, screened-in porch and an open-air deck and waterside stair system. Mermaid’s Tale can host six adult guests, since the new leather sofa includes a queen-size sleeper with a reclining seat on the shorter end of the couch. 

Along one wall in the living area you will find a new table holding games of checkers, chess, backgammon, Chinese checkers, and a deck of cards. New chairs flank this table. New art and lighting are in every room. The television has local channels as well as satellite with hundreds of channels. The bedrooms each have smaller televisions, which carry whatever station is on the main set. There is a CD player/radio for music (but little music yet), a VCR and tons of tapes, and loads of Naiad Press books along with fare from other publishers.

The kitchen includes a refrigerator/freezer with icemaker, a Jenn-Aire range, a toaster/broiler oven, a microwave, an espresso machine, a coffeemaker, a coffee bean grinder, a blender, a mixer, pots, pans, cutlery, dishes, glassware, plasticware to use at the beach, and utensils. The walk-in pantry has many of the basics kept in stock, including paper products and herbs and spices, flour, sugar, tea, etc. The pantry wall holds a First Aid kit. You will find many condiments in the refrigerator. The kitchen is stocked with kitchen towels and dish soaps, as well as placemats, napkins, and barware. The range is in the kitchen bar/worktop, a curved counter that allows the cooks to face the living area, the screened porch and decks, and the water and wildlife. Barstools flank the other side of the bar, giving ample room for several hands to participate in meal preparation.

The laundry area includes the laundry soap. Sample-sized soaps, shampoos, rinses, lotions, as well as extra toothbrushes are stocked in the bathrooms. There is a good sized shower in one bathroom; the other bathroom has a bathtub/shower. (Bubble bath is in the cabinet under the sink.)

Each bedroom suite has sliding glass doors to an outdoor deck, with comfortable chairs and a table on each deck area so you can soak up the morning sun. The screened porch has tables and chairs, perfect for having a meal while you watch the gulf wildlife on the beach and in the water below you. Or, open the floor-to-ceiling plantation shutters on the sliding glass doors and hop back into bed to watch the pelicans fly by.

The house is equipped with a heat pump and central air conditioning as well as four ceiling fans indoors and one in the screened porch. The windows are dressed in plantation shutters and all open with screens for marvelous gulf breezes. All of the rooms, the screened porch, and the decks overlook the Gulf of Mexico with horizon to horizon views. 

Outdoors you will find a charcoal grill with a container for holding new charcoal, newspapers, and grill cleaning utensils. There is an enclosed outdoor shower next to a fish-cleaning (or shell-cleaning) table with sink. There are folding beach chairs, beach umbrellas and baskets of beach toys.

The property is nicely landscaped with sabal palms, European fan palms, flowering shrubs, huge rosemary plants, grasses, and ground covers including hibiscus, vitex, pittosporum, bottlebrush, junipers, yuccas, liriope, bougainvillea, yaupon, and many more.  Be careful at night, as the in-ground watering system will get you wet!  

With this unspoiled setting of beautiful views, a great beach, nature in action and wonderful starry skies at night, we’re sure your stay at Mermaid’s Tale will be relaxed and fun filled.

For further information, please email urscia3@gmail.com or call Urscia Mahring or Noel Jablonski at 703-426-1936 or 703-819-5243 (cell).