The Beach Days I Wait All Summer For: Golf Cart Coastal Edition

There was a time when Labor Day felt like the end of beach season.

Now it feels like the beginning.

Not because the beach changes.

Because I do.

Summer beach days are active.

Fall beach days are slower.

I stop bringing swimsuits.

I start bringing books.

I stop watching the clock.

I stay until the light changes.

I've realized I'm not really going to the beach anymore.

I'm going there to slow down.

The products I bring have changed because the reason I go has changed.

And somehow, that's made these my favorite beach days of the entire year.

The Drink That Stays Warm

In the summer, my beach tumbler is usually filled with ice water.

By fall, it's almost always coffee.

There's something about carrying a warm drink onto a quiet beach that immediately changes the pace of the day.

I'm not rushing to cool off anymore.

I'm slowing down enough to enjoy where I am.

My BrüMate coffee tumbler keeps it hot long enough that I never feel like I have to hurry through it.

Hot coffee makes me arrive earlier.

It also makes me leave later.

The Jacket That Always Comes

I've stopped trying to predict coastal weather.

Instead, I simply pack for it.

A cool morning can become warm by lunch.

A beautiful afternoon can turn breezy just before sunset.

That's why my Helly Hansen mid-layer Crew jacket almost always ends up folded inside my Sea Bags tote.

The funny thing?

It often comes home unworn.

I still wouldn't leave without it.

Knowing it's there means I never cut a beach day short because the weather changes.

The Book That Finally Gets Finished

I read differently once summer ends.

Maybe it's because there aren't families everywhere.

Maybe it's because I'm no longer getting in and out of the water every few minutes.

Or maybe the quieter beaches simply make it easier to settle in.

Whatever the reason...

In July, I rarely finish a chapter.

In October, I’m finishing a book every few hours on my Kindle Paperwhite.

That's become one of my favorite parts of fall.

I don't read between activities anymore.

Reading becomes the activity.

The Blanket That Never Leaves My Bag

People assume I bring my sweatshirt blanket because I'm cold.

That's only part of it.

I bring it because I already know I'm going to stay longer than I planned.

As the sun starts dropping, temperatures change quickly along the water.

Instead of packing everything up, I throw the blanket over my legs and keep reading.

It's the difference between staying another fifteen minutes...

and staying until sunset.

It almost never makes it back into the house.

It simply waits inside my beach bag for the next quiet afternoon.

The Shoes That Don't Mind Wandering

Summer is for flip-flops.

Fall is for wandering.

Instead of walking straight from my chair to the water, I end up following the shoreline.

Some of the best shells are right inside the waterline.

Taking the longer route back to the parking lot.

Sometimes even stopping somewhere else on the way home.

That's why my Columbia Newton Ridge Plus waterproof hiking boots have quietly become my fall beach shoes.

They don't mind soft sand.

They don't mind trails.

And I never have to think twice about where the afternoon might take me.

Summer Makes Me Want to Be at the Beach

Fall makes me want to stay there.

That might be the biggest surprise of all.

I used to think the best beach days happened in July.

Now I wait all summer for the end of September and beginning of October.

For quieter parking lots. And free parking.

For empty stretches of sand.

For the sound of waves without a hundred conversations happening around them.

The products I bring haven't made me love the beach.

They've simply made it easier to enjoy the version of the beach I love most.

A warm cup of coffee.

A jacket I may never wear.

A Kindle that finally reaches the last chapter.

A blanket that quietly stays in my bag.

Boots that don't mind taking the long way back.

I've realized I don't wait all summer for cooler weather.

I wait for slower afternoons.

The kind where the beach feels less like somewhere to visit...

and more like somewhere to linger.

To me, those are the beach days worth waiting all summer for. -LME

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