Beach

–noun
1. an expanse of sand or pebbles along a shore.
2. the part of the shore of an ocean, sea, large river, lake, etc., washed by the tide or waves.
3. the area adjacent to a seashore: We’re vacationing at the beach.

I have been to a lot of beaches. I decided to go hunting and see if I could find pictures from all the beaches I have visited. I haven’t been able to remember each one…and I didn’t include any lakes other than Lake Michigan. For instance…I know I’ve been to a beach on Lake Huron somewhere, but I cannot remember where. I also know that I’ve been to Niagara Falls but I was very young and I don’t know if there were any beach stops on that trip. I’ve been to the shore line of lake Erie but it wasn’t really a beach. There may have been some other stops in my traveling days that I just don’t remember. There are a lot of lake beaches, and even river beaches that have sand and sunshine, but if you can see across to the other side…it doesn’t have the same effect somehow. The pictures below are of places that have stories and memories that came flooding back to me as I recalled locations one by one.

Warren Dunes

Looking through these trees you can see a few cars in the parking lot below.

Warren Dunes State Park has one of my favorite beaches. In the areal view you can faintly see the parking area in the sand and the tons of sand leading off to the right. These are sand dunes. Huge sand dunes. Tower Hill rises almost 240 feet above the lake and sits adjacent to the parking lot. The view down is one I remember well. The long climb is always one I start optimistically and realize about half-way that this is a lot higher than it looked. But at the top the view is surprisingly rewarding.

In high school this was a common hang out after a big event like the Prom. It was widely accepted that after the dance a herd of cars would drive to “the dunes” and do whatever people did at “the dunes.” Can you tell I didn’t go? Yeah…it was also widely accepted that people who didn’t want to regret what they did, shouldn’t go to “the dunes.”

South Haven
Another Lake Michigan beach I have fond memories of is South Haven. The lighthouse on the pier, the sand and never ending cool water make South Haven a wonderful place to visit. The town of South Haven is quaint and fun, allowing a visit there to be even more valuable. Tisra and her two boys visited this beach with me the summer I was pregnant with Owen. I loved that she could join me on that trip. She had with her potty training Grant and infant Dean. Little did I know then how much work she was putting in bravely traveling with two little ones without daddy along to help. Oh the revelation experience brings.

Jekyll Island, GA is a great little 11 mile stretch of getaway. I actually spent five weeks and endured my first hurricane here. It’s a quiet place and though the island is small, there is a lot to discover. The GA baptist convention hired Images (the drama team I traveled with) to come and perform for their 5 weeks of GA Super Wow summer camp. Each week was a different group of youth and some weeks there were different bands and speakers. It was a lot of fun in terms of performing and exploring…it was a rough summer in terms of getting along with Brent and Henry. VERY ROUGH! I got married the next year.

Panama City Beach
Amy will appreciate this beach. I went to Panama City Beach (referred to in some circles as “The Redneck Riviera”) many times during my travels with Images. It seemed that youth pastors in Alabama never got tired of fighting the spring break crowds and party atmosphere of Panama City in April and May. It is a beautiful beach but we were never there without a crowd.

Myrtle Beach
Again with Images, I have fond memories of Myrtle beach. Brent and Henry and I did the Sky Coaster there. It is also one of the first trips that we pulled a trailer behind our van so that our props were not eating up half of our sleeping space in the van. It was great until the back door of our well used trailer fell off on a four lane highway and spilled two of our trunks full of oddities onto the pavement. The men folk rigged a beam across the back to secure the door as a project for the week.

Pompano Beach
I didn’t spend a lot of time on Pompano beach but I remember it being very beautiful. That was one of the only camps we were able to work with Jamie and Jennifer. They were the worship leaders and old college chums of mine from Belmont. They now live in New York and have had some success in the pop market as Sofia J.

St. Petersburg
Owen’s first trip to a real beach was in St. Petersburg. We had a nice time, but it was probably my least favorite trip in terms of sand content. Trying to get sand out of one’s own hair and shoes is one thing, cleaning it from diaper trapped crevices is quite another. Yuck. The shops and restaurants were lovely though.

Monterey
This is a photo of the Lone Cypress near Monterey. In the early 90’s Becky and I took a trip to San Francisco together. We stayed in Modesto with a friend and traveled up and down the coast and saw some beautiful coast line. Most of it was not typical sand beaches. It was rocky and coarse, but like this picture it was all very beautiful.

Gulf Shores Alabama is another great place for a retreat. Several years in a row Images was invited to come and perform, speak and otherwise minister to groups who chose the quieter coast as their getaway.

Highway 87

Sea Rim State Park and Hwy 87 hold some stories. In 1996 my friend Shannon and I took a trip with very little agenda in terms of getting there. We just wanted to go. It was a fabulous time to reflect and reconnect. We started on the Natchez Trace and drove through Mississippi, Louisiana, Texas and Arkansas. Shannon wanted to get to the Gulf and visit TX (where she now lives) and I just wanted to have a good time. Both were accomplished. After a long drive through the bottom portion of LA, we entered TX and stayed one night on this beach near Galveston. We were one of only a few campers who were able to get a fire started on the windy beach, thanks to that clever starter log we brought with us. I remember Shannon staying up late that evening playing her guitar by the fire, while I went in and slept somewhat early because of the itchy rash I had developed. I think it was hives brought on from several ant bites I got when we first got there. The next morning we questioned the guy at the information desk about our route and the “road closed” signs that were discouraging us from our destination. He said the road is closed, but passable and encouraged us not to go the long way around. If you’ll look at the picture above this paragraph you can see the road leading straight into the gulf. We drove on the beach, we drove on broken pavement and we drove on narrow stretches of what seemed like the edge of a cliff. I was shocked that the man at the park had encouraged two young girls to take this route. Maybe I should have asked him if he would let his daughter do it. Obviously, we made it just fine, but I was a little tense by the time we reached the “road closed” signs on the other side. The link above has more stories and pictures of the highly eroded highway. Keep in mind our trip was in 1996 and the road was in somewhat better shape than what is described from 2003.

Dauphin Island

Dauphin Island is a thin strip of beach and community on the Gulf, south of Mobile, AL. While booked at a church near Mobile, we were invited by one of the church families to spend our afternoons at their cottage on the island. It was beautiful! Coastline at their back deck looked toward the mainland and across the street from their front door was public beach if I remember correctly. It was a treat to have the quiet and the beauty all at the same time.

Daytona Beach
My first trip to Florida was on my spring break in 1990. I and 21 other seniors had earned our way to the southern peninsula and were excited to continue the tradition of so many seniors before us by spending our first full day there at Daytona Beach. It was hot. It was crowded. But we had a great time.

Cocoa beach was another day from my senior trip. This picture isn’t very complimentary of the beach itself but reminded me of our senior class trying to get grouped together for the all important group picture in the sand…you know…where you draw out “class of 90” with your fingers in the sand and then all squeeze together and try not to touch anyone gross while you’re squinting at the camera, hoping you don’t have your eyes closed (which I did) for the final shot that goes in the yearbook? Good times…good times.

Destin
One last beach. One of the most beautiful in my memory is Destin. A group of friends from my college days, my sister and roommate and a few buddies all hopped into a vehicle and hit the road one weekend. We stayed in some hole in the wall hotel with more sand than carpet on the floor but we had great beach access and I got so BURNED. It was still a great trip and I bought a sweatshirt there that is still one of my absolute favorite things to wear. Kris and I revisited Destin to celebrate our 5th anniversary. Our last trip before Owen came along.

I am always quick to tell people that I am not a beach person, yet as I thought back through my beach experiences I can honestly say that because of the beauty of those shorelines and the opportunities and activities in those areas I have had some wonderful times at the beach. It is the seemingly never ending presence of sand that keeps me from rushing back to the waves, but I never regret going.