I took a very long weekend last week, with a trip to Siesta Keys, Florida. It was my first time to the beach, any beach in a few years.
Even though the trip was a short getaway it reminded me why we all need to check in with our happy places.
I love the beach. I love the water, the sand, the sun, the sound of the ocean. I even love the smell of the ocean.
But there are really two things about the beach I love the most.
Walking along the shore, watching the waves roll in and out, looking for sea shells takes me back to my childhood. It was a time my multi-generational family crowded into the same house in Wildwood, NJ every summer for a week and just had fun.
My parents, grandmother, great aunts, cousins, aunts and uncles would pile into our station wagons filled to the roof with clothes, beach umbrellas and toys and head to the shore.
We spent all day everyday at the beach. None of this was fancy, just pure fun.
Elephant sculpted out of sand at the beachLynne Hayes-Freeland
Because we rented a house, we ate all of our meals at home. I think I was an adult before I realized we didn't go out to restaurants. After dinner we would walk the boardwalk, get an ice cream cone and head back to our rented home and play board games like Monopoly until we could barely keep our eyes open.
When my kids were growing up we repeated the cycle. Still a multi-generational vacation, but we became more adventurous.
We started in Wildwood, but then expanded our horizons. We would go to Stone Harbor, NJ to Rehoboth Beach in Delaware, Hilton Head and Myrtle in SC.
The family got smaller over the years, but the tradition remained.
Now I have grandchildren of my own and I hope the beach becomes their happy place too.
We haven't been able to do the family trip for a variety of reasons….the pandemic…grandchildren being born, etc. but I have missed the smiles, the laughs, silly jokes, all of it.
Last week was my first trip to the Siesta Keys and everyone was right. It's beautiful there.
Breathtaking sunsets, and the softest sand I have ever felt underneath my feet. Did I mention the crystal clear water? It is gorgeous for sure and I loved it.
And as much as I have described the "beach" as my happy place, I realize now why.
It's not just the beauty the beach has to offer. It is the combination of physical beauty combined with love of family that creates for me a "happy place."
Calming beach viewLynne Hayes-Freeland
