Camp out on a beach

i’ve always liked the basic idea of camping. being so close to nature. but because of the big wimp that i am, the forest and i don’t mix very well. the idea of camping on the beach feels so much more natural to me. i love the beach at night, and teh sand is something i can easily fall alseep on.
i’m a teenager. and that means that i want to do this with my friends. i want to have all those classic summer memories that we see in the movies of a being bums for a day. i want to be adventurous this summer and this i can see my friends doing. the only thing i need ot do now is get a tent (maybe.) and convince my friends to come along for the ride.

This past weekend I weekend my family and I went to the beach. We loved it and the kids didn’t want to go home! So I began to think of a way that we could comfortably stay longer and “camping” came to mind. Even if we don’t actually spend the night (not easy with three kids 6 and under) it would be nice to be able to spend the entire day without having to worry about what to do with three weary kids short of packing up and going home. The thing is that I’ve never been camping myself so I have a lot of research to do. Wish me luck.

while under the stars was good

You know, for the sand and the salt. Otherwise you can’t enjoy the beautiful lullaby created by the crashing surf. The powder will take the sand right off of you, and leave you smelling fresh. Also, bring a pad or a mat, because sleeping directly on the sand isn’t comfy at all.

I adore walking along the beach at nightime, when the entire world has been cast into shades of black and white. I remember a particularly vivid experience a few weeks ago, down at Mustang Island with some friends. We’d scamper after crabs with red tin buckets as the froth from the ocean played around our toes. The sky was alive with brilliant constellations cart-wheeling across the heavens.

The next morning, we got up before daybreak and lugged our kayaks a mile to the beach, and paddled straight into the surf to see the sun rise. It was glorious! As sterns man, it was quite a feat to keep our tandem straight to avoid toppling into the ocean, as massive waves plagued the bow. Our pains were rewarded, however, with some fantastic surfing when we headed back toward shore!

My husband and i camped at a campground in Florida that was near the beach. It was kind of a swampy beach though, so we had issues with mosquitos, our tent feeling sticky and humid, and the campground didn’t let you have a campfire b/c of marsh fire risks. However, walking along the beach at sunset and then going to sleep to the sounds of crickets, frogs, and splashing surf was really nice.

It doesn’t really matter where this happens, as long as there are the sounds of the rolling waves and the feel of the soft sand beneath my feet. It would be a wonderful site to pop my head out the tent in the morning and see the sunrise coming up over the ocean.

I LOVE camping on the beach. I’m big into sea kayaking so throwing up a tent in the sand is one of my favorite ways to sleep. A lot of people get bothered by the sand because it will inevitably get into all of your stuff.
I always love the islands that can only be accessed by small boat. It usually means solitude and a lower impacted environment. My favorite island was probably the one with the wild horses :)

On a trip to the Redwoods in California, my intrepid group consisting of myself, my husband, and our friend, couldn’t find an open campground anywhere. Since it was getting late and we had been on the road all day, we were eager to find somewhere, anywhere, to stop for the night. On a strip of beach by the roadside there were tents pitched, and we decided that was about as good as we were going to get, so we pulled off the road and found a patch of sand no one had laid claim to yet.

It was awesome. There was a full moon, and the ocean crashing just a hundred or so feet away made up for the sound of traffic on the nearby road. We spent the rest of the night telling stories from H.P. Lovecraft and enjoying the sound of the lulling waves. When we finally turned in for the night, it was the best sleep I’ve had on a camping trip in years. It stands out as one of the high points of that trip, and I would do it again in a heartbeat.

It’s awesome to wake up to the sounds of the ocean. :]

A tiny fishing village with great cliffs for parapenting.