Hello Readers!
The weekend has ended but summer has official started for me! I write this while eating s’mores and watching the (surprisingly large) lightening bugs dancing around. If anything, I just wanted to capture Saturday forever and I thought writing it here would be the best spot!
Friday night I pulled out the cooler, gave it a nice wash, and decided Saturday was a perfect beach day. With a call to my sisters and my mother, everyone agreed. So, I packed up all the beach bag and towels, and the next day we hopped in the car in the early morning to drive about two hours to our favorite beach.
The morning cloud cover scared most of the traffic away so the ride was smooth. We rolled down the windows and blasted our favorite radio station, with intervals of calling in for the radio contest that was playing–no winning calls though. As soon as we crossed over the bridge that led to the quaint little town we could smell the ocean breeze. Little white sailboats specked the water. We found our favorite deli as soon as we hit our ocean town and bought chicken wraps, cakes, and chips to add to our tomatoes, drinks, and strawberries.
We were greeted by a cool summer breeze as we opened the blankets, threw off our sandals and settled down for the best beach day I could ever recall. The water was freezing at 60 F and the current was strong but it didn’t stop anyone from swimming. One ocean can turn any adult into a child again. I watched children diving like dolphins and married couples splashing like new teenage lovers. My sisters and I dove right in, tumbling in the waves, getting washed away by the current and jumping like seals. At one point, we saw a horse-shoe crab floating overhead in the wave. A little reminder that we were not the only creatures to enjoy the sea that day.
Placing the chair on the water’s edge, I sat with my mother. We counted the cruise-liners and the sailboats that drifted on the horizon. Our conversation drifted from our lives at home to living like mermaids on the beach forever. We giggled as a blond lifeguard splashed around the waves trying to catch our attention. A young boy called out playfully to his mother and laughed as he pretended he couldn’t swim. The lifeguard ran over to save him but found no danger except a grumpy mother. He flashed a smile as he turned to glance where we sat.
As the sun lowered and the tide raised, we walked along the rock jetty and watched the water fill the tide pools while the large waves crash on the shore.
Adventurous, we walked toward the bungalows until we found an old-fashioned ice cream and burger eatery where we could eat outside with refill after refill of seltzer water.
We came back home: a little sun-burnt, a little sandy, and a little tired but glad we took our day trip to the beach.