10 Days of Heat - Beach Life

Upper left corner: La Jolla Cove, CA upper right corner: Tofino, Vancouver Island
Left below: San Francisco Pier 39 (not techincally a beach), right below: Cape of Good Hope, South Africa

Welcome back to 10 Days of Heat! 

Today's prompt is "Beach Life"

As I have made it clear in several posts, I am not a summer person, and even though my astrological sign is pisces, I don't like to stay in the water. Not the pool, not the pond, river, lake or ocean. 

Shannon, a blogger friend of mine feels the same. Check out her post, she accurately describes why.

That being said, I do love the beach. 

What is she saying? 

Doesn't she consider San Diego to be her second home? Pacific Beach, Mission Beach, Coronado Beach, Does she love or hate the beach now? It doesn't make any sense? 

Bear with me.

I dislike the beach in terms of 

• Crowds: come on, once you have finally managed to park your car somewhere two miles away, how relaxing is it to spend your day beach towel to beach towel with obnoxious, drunk, smoking,  fighting people, whining kids and wet dogs shaking smelly water at you?
• Trash: dog poop, used diapers, syringes and condoms, beer bottles and caps, cigarette butts, you name it.
• Wind: your hair gets tousled and sticks to your skin that has been applied sunblock to, also it unsolicitely transports cigarette smoke and ashes to you.
• Seaweed: the slimy one that wraps itself around your leg while you're trying to do the swimming part of beach life. Also the dead kind that messes up the sand.
• Speaking of sand: yes, it looks very pretty, and it feels nice, too, walking through it barefoot. If only the sand stayed at the beach, where it belongs, but no. It ends up everywhere! In your food, your clothes, shoes, car, shower, even in your bed. Go away, sand!!!
• Sun: bright sunlight makes you wear your sunglasses (which are greasy from the sun lotion and have some sand stuck to them), and still you can't seem to focus on that "beach read."

Now under the following circumstances I love the beach:

• Taking a stroll on the sand-free board walk, enjoying the sunset.
• Eating at seaview restaurants. On their sand-free terrace, or better yet, next to the window at an air conditioned indoor table. Jake's in Del Mar, CA is my favorite!
  
  

  

  Photo Source

  
  I'm sure if somebody sponsored a trip for me to find the top ten beachfront food places I'd find many of that kind!
• Living in a well maintained stand-alone beach house, maintained by other people like gardeners, cleaning people and maids. (One may dream, right?). Is there a better thing than to fall asleep to the sounds of the crashing waves? So relaxing.
• Generally during off-season. Deserted beaches are so peaceful. 
• Looking at countless beach pictures online. Wonderful! PS: Who says beach sand always has to be white? This is Lanzarote, one of Spain's Canary Islands which has volcanic sand beaches:

Photo Source

How about you? What do you (dis)like about the beach? Where's your favorite beach? 

Let me know down below. Also make sure to read my fellow blogger's beach posts.