A few hours at the beach

Recently, after a series of heavy months, we decided to head to the beach in order to get away from the news and not-so-happy events taking place in our country. You guys know that I LOVE the beach and that it is one place that never fails to make me happy and calm my mind, so being there is always a special time for me.

We have been isolating since the beginning of March, with our only outings being going grocery shopping, walking in our neighborhood, and getting our car serviced due to a recall.

Though fairly close to the beach, we have refrained from going there all this time, for obvious reasons, and finally took the plunge about two weeks ago.

We decided to go there midweek, early-ish in the morning, hoping to avoid large crowds. The evening before, we prepared the essentials to take with us: hand sanitizer, our face masks for “just in case” - after all, we’re still in a pandemic - sunscreen, hats, and so on.

When we got there, the beach wasn’t empty, nor full, and people were keeping their distance, which made me happy.

Sitting on the beach is not our style; we love to walk for miles along the coast, and, of course, we like to beach-comb. For hours, we walked and enjoyed the beach and the water - I have never before seen in person such clear and beautifully-colored water. Its warmth was another pleasant surprise - it was just as warm as a bath, making it very inviting.

Walking by the water, I have caught a few waves, at which point, I gave up and let my dress get drenched (and full of sand).

Quite frankly, I don’t recommend wearing a maxi dress to the beach (details of my dress are here), especially made of linen as it soaks all the sand in, but then we all know I’m still going to wear one so…

In all our years living in California, we never swam in the ocean; the water is cold year-round, and though I loved it either way, it just wasn’t as inviting.

Of course, we’ve learned over the years that warm ocean water is not a good thing for ocean life nor climate, but it sure makes for a pleasant time spent in it, and I think we will be getting in the water here, once this pandemic subsides.

After 2pm, as we returned to our “starting point”, getting ready to leave, the beach was noticeably busier, with lots of people, and social distancing becoming a bit of a blur. We were also seeing a lot of people with lobster-red skin, and I’ll use this as a reminder that sunscreen can be life-saving… the higher the SPF the better, and most importantly, look for broad-spectrum protection; we’re currently using this one for the body, and this one for the face (affiliate links).

Make sure you re-apply your sunscreen every two hours, especially if spending extended time in the sun, or every 80 minutes if you’re spending time in the water. Do that especially here - Florida sun truly is extreme and unforgiving, and will burn your skin in a matter of minutes.

Sadly, as COVID-19 cases are spiking again - as I’m writing this, Florida reports a record number - we will be isolating further, which means no more beach walks for us for a while…

How’s your state looking? Are you out exploring?