When it's time for gathering provisions, enjoying a sumptuous seafood dinner out, shopping for nifty beach wear, or browsing art galleries or bookstores, you'll find bountiful opportunities just two miles south of your vacation home. If watersports are your passion, rentals and guides are available for parasailing, canoeing, kayaking, snorkeling, scuba diving, and more such adventures on Topsail Island.

Living/dining area (first level): Relax and dine while enjoying great views of the Topsail ocean through double sliding glass doors plus four wonderful long windows that reach nearly to the floor. Sea blue drapes frame your sea panorama. Settle down on the matching seashell print sofa or loveseat in dusky mauve, sand, and subdued teal; park your beverage on one of the pickled end tables or coffee table; and simply unwind. A TV/VCR and good stock of videos are provided, or you can take advantage of the bountiful stock of books, puzzles, and games stowed in the closet down the hall.

The dining room table and its eight wide-bottomed spindle-back chairs are in the same pickled finish as the living area furnishings, and lavender, chartreuse, cyan, and aqua color block placemats complement the blue drapes. More seating is available at the bar with three backed chairs outfitted in geometric print cushions that coordinate with the sofa. Berber

Kitchen: The cook and all his or her helpers will have plenty of room to navigate in this spacious kitchen with its acres of gray countertops; recessed lighting overhead and copious pickled and white cabinets brighten this room. There's a built-in microwave, dishwasher, coffeemaker, blender, wide slice toaster, electric can opener, and a stock of kitchenware and utensils for your every need.

Just beyond the kitchen is a deep periwinkle bath with an extra-wide entrance door. The seashell shower curtain over the tub/shower combo coordinates with delightful wall art featuring a mauve and turquoise fish on handmade paper.

Bedroom 1 (first level): You'll love the warmth of this spacious room, with its rose and beige quilt upon the queen bed and coordinating light rose lamps on the double dresser and night table. There's an extra chair, an alarm clock with AM/FM radio, closet, and a window that faces the rear of property.

Bedroom 2 (top level): The cozy queen bed is covered with a salmon and blue print spread. A salmon lamp on the matching night table and an artful wooden sailboat above the bed provide perfect accents. There's also an extra chair and a wide window beside the bed.

Bedroom 3 (top level): This oceanfront sleeping paradise features a queen-sized bed outfitted in a yellow, green, and oyster striped quilt over an oyster bedskirt. A charming set of hammock and deck chair prints, artfully framed with seashell mats and weathered white moulding, hang above the bed. Similar frames hold a pair of seashells on the wall by the dresser, and a quadruple palm tree print balances the opposite side. There's a double chest, a night table with lamp and clock radio, roomy bifold-door closet, and white five-blade ceiling fan. Coordinating green tab curtains accent the sliding glass doors that lead to your private deck.

Bedroom 4: (master, top level): Pamper yourself as you settle into this oceanfront bedroom with its private deck and private bath. A blue striped spread covers the queen bed, above which a trio of different-sized prints of hydrangeas, shells, and gardenias coordinate perfectly. There's a triple dresser with double mirror, a night table with blue lamp and alarm clock, an extra chair, and a ceiling fan. Just down the private hall, you'll find a large closet on your right, and just beyond this are the vanity and mirror on the right with a window on the opposite wall. Through the door at the end of the hall are the toilet and tub/shower combo.

Bedroom 5 (first level): Both the younger crowd and the surfing set will love this room, decorated with handpainted surfboards in every color of the rainbow and two surf plaques with color accents of red, green, yellow. Two sets of light pine bunk beds are covered with blue spreads, and there's a matching chest plus a closet for stowing gear.

Adjoining both this bedroom and the hall is a spacious vinyl-floored bath in dark peach with a blue fish shower curtain over the tub/shower combo. Colorful fish and crabs provide wall accents. There's a roomy vanity with mirror and extra rods for all those beach towels.

Also on the first level, just as you come up the stairs, there's a nifty sitting and entertainment nook, with a roomy sofa in a green, mauve, sand, stripe and block pattern and a TV/DVD/VCR.

Other amenities: Bennett is a traditional beach house on stilts, so there is plenty of covered parking on the ground level. An outside shower is provided for rinsing off sand, and a clothesline on the first level deck provides a handy spot for beach towels; the picnic table here is perfect for alfresco dining. A washer and dryer are also provided.

Your check-in location is our Surf City office. Linens are not provided. Pets are not permitted in this property. Smoking is not permitted in the property. Maximum occupancy is 15 at any time. Your check-in time is 3:30 pm unless you have confirmed and paid the early bird check-in option. Please be sure we have received complete payment within 30 days of your arrival to avoid cancellation.