I Love the Beach, Hate the Mess

This morning I coaxed myself out of bed a little on the early side, about 7:30. It may not seem early to most of you, but since I'm not driving the kiddos to school, I enjoy it very much when I can convince Little Princess (our 17th month old) to lay back down after inhaling a Grabber (a pouch of pureed food).  I'm a night owl, not a morning songbird, actually I'm not a songbird of any kind, morning or otherwise. Anyway, we packed up and headed to the beach. We decided to try a new beach, as a cashier had told me about it just the other day. The recommended beach was Ponce Inlet, a bit further from our house than the more frequented beaches.

We planned last evening, so some prep work was done. I had a plan. With nearly an hour drive, I packed snacks to eat along the way. We would stop for lunch after we'd soaked up our share of sun and water.

 When I got up, our oldest daughter was ready, with a small cooler of drinks packed also. So far, so good. Everyone was ready, everything was packed, and most importantly, everything was clean; salt free and sand free. We hit the road about as planned, just a bit after eight o'clock. The intention was to get our fun in before it was excruciatingly hot. 

And God said, “Let the waters under the heavens be gathered together into one place, and let the dry land appear.” And it was so.  God called the dry land Earth, and the waters that were gathered together he called Seas. And God saw that it was good.  Genesis 1:9-10

Well, after getting the tip from the cashier, I Googled it (of course). I found Lighthouse Point Park. Reviews were awesome. My new GPS agreed that the place existed, so we followed her lead. We drove past a beach ramp in Ponce Inlet, which my husband inquired about. I, however, really wanted to check out this awesome park, so we continued on, only to make a little loop and then enter the park. The park was nice enough, but we didn't necessarily see the beautiful beach which the reviews spoke of, in fact, there was lots of rock. Well, before unloading the baby, we decided to head back to that beach ramp (I know, I know, yes, at this point I am looking a bit sheepish). All were good sports about it (except Princes, she couldn't understand with all that fun out the van window, why we would not release her into it), but within about 5 minutes, our feet were in the sand, ahhhhhh. I love the beach. The sand between my toes, the wind in my hair, the sun on my face, the waves, all of it, I love the beach. To me, personally, nothing shouts God's majesty like standing at the edge of the ocean, observing such an awesome illustration of God's handiwork. Amazing. Relaxing. Awe inspiring. 

He who forms the mountains, who creates the wind, and who reveals his thoughts to mankind, who turns dawn to darkness, and treads on the heights of the earth-- the LORD God Almighty is his name.   Amos 4:13

We had a great time. Some boogie boarding, some riding the waves, some splashing, some digging and building in the sand, a little catch with a football on the beach, and a bit of walking and bird chasing. The weather was perfect, we nailed it. The thing to do, is definitely get an early start. This particular beach was not busy at all on this Wednesday morning. We also learned that if we were to keep driving farther south on the beach, we would end up at that park, there is a boardwalk that takes you from the beach to where we had earlier driven and parked within the lighthouse Point Park. Now we know. 

We bought a beach pass that is available to Florida residents, and is valid throughout the season. Parking right on the beach definitely improves the experience. Hauling all the equipment we took, including one of those pop-up type canopy tents, would not be much fun, if even possible. I wish I were one of those people that could take less to the beach, well, or really anyplace I go. I'm an over-packer, and admit it. And at clean-up time, I really wish I traveled lighter. But my wonderful husband did the majority of packing and cleaning up, and in no time we and all our gear were loaded into the family minivan...salt, sand, and all! We of course did our best to leave the beach at the beach, but it's just all so stinkin' sticky. We drove to Volusia mall to eat the promised lunch. The ride home was a bit cranky; tired, sticky people equals cranky people at times. 

We arrived home with sandy, salty chairs, toys, boogie boards, towels, blankets, cooler and people. Extra laundry, sand in the van, sand in the house, and sand in my hair. I hate the mess!

First thing that needed to be done was clean the people, so into the pool we all jumped. The rest would get done, but most of it after I got a little nap.

It was a good time! I can barely wait until my next trip to a beach, because as much as I hate the mess, I love the beach more!

The next time you are at the beach, don't take it for granted, truly observe, the work of our creator. Be blessed!