As a kid, our family went to a small beach in Delaware every summer. It was perfect because both of my grandparents had a house down there and so we would spend the night with my Mom’s parents and then spend the day with my Dad’s parents. Bethany Beach became a family tradition that I cherished! I loved the rides down in the car with everyone getting excited, buying some Fisher’s Popcorn and going to watch a movie as a family, and of course parking my feet in the sand and enjoying the beach. As everyone got older it has become harder to coordinate beach trips with everyone as a big family. But this year I was determined to go!
My brothers quickly hopped on board to join me at the beach and Sterling, after realizing he didn’t have work, joined in too! My sister and my parents couldn’t come because of work, so it was just me and the boys going to the beach.
As our trip inched closer the weather apps kept calling for rain, thunderstorms and “partially sunny” weather. I looked at my worried brothers and let them know that no matter what, I was going to put my feet in the sand and relax. Plus I figured that a good rain day meant going to the outlets with no sales tax in the state of Delaware. We all were proved wrong when we got there and the weather was perfect. Not a cloud in the sky, mid 80s temperatures and plenty of waves in the ocean to jump. We woke up each morning and got our cooler packed with plenty of water, diet coke, sandwiches and snacks, grabbed the chairs and the umbrellas and headed to the beach for the day. After the lifeguards got off at 5pm Sterling and my brothers set up a game called “Muckers” which is essentially horseshoes but with rubber rings (for camp people: they were deck tennis rings!). I got to sit back in my chair and watch the ocean which is my favorite beach activity. We ended each day heading back to my Grandfather’s house to take showers, eat dinner, chat with Sylvester (my grandfather), and binge watch House of Cards on Netflix.
Friday came to quickly as we packed up to head back. We ate a lot of ice cream at Bonkey’s, got “freedom tanks”, and laughed a lot. I can’t believe I hadn’t made going to the beach a priority in the past few years but you can bet I will from now on.
