I haven't had a beach day since September. This was EXACTLY what I needed. Everyone has that place that gives them that feeling that everything is okay. That is what the beach is for me.
I grew up on Ogunquit Beach in Maine and it is beautiful there. An average summer day growing up would usually start off with my brother, sister and I knocked out asleep in our bunkbeds at our summer cottage. Our dad would wake us up with Congdon's Doughnuts and we would all sit at the table and sleepily fight over who got which one. My mom would be yelling at us the whole time to hurry up and get ready and sunscreen and put our bathing suits on, as if the beach wouldn't still be there in the next hour. After all of that ridiculousness we would all pile in the car. My dad would drop us off so we could carry all the heavy stuff down to our little corner spot on the beach where the ocean meets the river. The same families were there every day and while we didn't all know each other personally, we knew of each other. We sat with my dad's friend from high school and his family. Our little go-to spot was diagonal from the people who often argued about baguettes and behind us was the big circle of a family who all lived there. Behind them was the lifeguard stand that we liked to sit on when they went off duty. Once everything was set up we would wait for dad to park the car and meet us down there so we could all go boogie boarding. That lasted as long as the tide would allow and then we would head back to the towel to eat lunch. After that it was a toss up whether we dug a trench to try and stop the tide, played a game or just hung out and snacked all afternoon. We would stay until around 6PM, when we would pack everything up so my dad could toss us in the pool to get all the sand off. That feeling of the salt in my hair and the smell of chlorine on my skin while we built forts with our cottage neighbors, is one that I will never ever forget. My dad would make us some amazing dinner that people would have paid good money for at any restaurant. It was after we were all stuffed and in our pajamas that the best Ice Cream place in town, The Scoop Deck, was exactly what we all wanted. We would all pack up in the car again so that I could get Dinosaur Crunch ice cream, my sister could get Cotton Candy ice cream and my brother could get Boston Blackout ice cream. My mom would always say she didn't want it and wasn't getting any, to then always always always order something. We would all go back to the cottage to watch the Red Sox game that was on. Eventually my dad would make us go to bed and we would leave our bedroom door open so that we could still watch the refection of whatever he was watching on the sliding door. Then we would wake up and do it all over again.
Somewhere along the line I grew up and that water became way too cold to go in. It is baffling that I was ever able to go in. So, it has been a very long time since I spent my entire day in the water without a care in the world. That is exactly what I got to do yesterday. The South Carolina water was like bath water and I would've stayed in there all day. We went with my good friend, Karrie, and the two 3-year-olds that she babysits for. It was that carefree feeling of salt in my hair and dripping off my skin. We all went back to Karrie's house for dinner and it wasn't the same, but it was the same feeling I had of going back to the cottage all sun kissed, salty and comfy waiting for food. I missed it. I needed it.
I know this is a long post about my beach day, but the point I would like to make is that with all of the craziness of quarantine, finding my happy feeling was what really made me feel like ME. Find that feeling that takes you back and makes you the most happy.
Always find the good 💙 🌊
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