What I Take to the Beach

I LOVE going to the beach!  I’m so sad that summer is just about over, but I think we may have one or two more beach days this year.  In my head, I judge how good my summer was by how much time we spent at the beach.  This summer was pretty good because I had a lot of days at the beach- with my family, with my girlfriends, and even by myself. Our summers are so short that we go to the beach every chance we get.  I used to go a lot with my family when I was a kid and then with my friends as a young adult, but for some reason stopped going in my late twenties and early thirties.  After I had my son, I got invitations to the beach  a log.  My cousin is an expert beach goer- she brings so much stuff and knows how to pack it right.  She truly is my inspiration, so this post is dedicated to and inspired by Cousin K!

When I go to the beach, it’s either a small group or a big crew of us.  I’ve learned how to pack for both kinds of groups.  I bring the same things, just not as much or big.

Beach cart: Cousin K put me on to this, and in just a couple of years, I feel like I can’t go to the beach without it!  My cart can fit two bags of stuff, a beach umbrella, three chairs, and a small cooler.  I always bring it, even if I don’t need it.  Even if it’s just my son and me going to the beach, sometimes we have to park a ways away and I don’t want to carry all of our stuff by myself!

Towels, bathing suits, sun block, sun glasses, reading materials: no explanation necessary. These are a MUST.

 

Chairs: I bring a blanket, but I sit in my chair most of the time.  It’s better for people watching, reading, eating and drinking.  I like the low ones, so I can half-lay in the water while I sit.

Beach toys: My little one loves the beach.  What he loves most about it is the sand.  We have a lot of sand toys, and I’m always buying more because we usually return home with less sand toys than we went with. We also bring our two boogie boards, a frisbee, and a beach badminton-type game.

Cooler and snacks: When it’s 2-4 of us, I bring a small cooler that looks like a bag.  When it’s a bigger group, I bring our bigger cooler.  It’s filled with ice, water, juice boxes, “adult” punch, fruit, yogurt, and sometimes sandwiches, fried chicken and potato salad.  I also bring chips, We usually stay at the beach from 8am until about 4pm, so it’s nice to have food to graze on.  We can buy food at the beach, but it’s expensive and not healthy.  I also make sure to bring napkins, wet wipes, plastic utensils, and a plastic bag for trash.

Blanket: I found this blanket at Bed Bath and Beyond that zips up into a bag. I keep it in my trunk all summer, in case we stop by the park and have a picnic.

 

Portable speaker: One of us hooks our phone up to it and we have music that we can hear, but isn’t loud enough to disturb other people on the beach.

Camera/phone & selfie stick: I love capturing memories from the beach.  We’ve taken some of our best family photos there.  We actually used one photo my cousin took of us as our Christmas card one year.  And yes, I am over 30 and I love my selfie stick. It’s so fun and takes great pictures! 

I bought mine from amazon.com for under $10 and I love it!

 
I often replenish my beach stash at the end of the summer when all of it goes on sale!  I like to check the drugstores, grocery stores and discount stores.
What do you bring to the beach?