Beach Trip Anecdotes
I spent all summer looking at beautiful pictures of people going to the beach and having a great time. “Where are you going this summer?” “Oh, we are going to the beach,” all the people seem to say. I mean, sure, who doesn’t love the beach? White beautiful soft sand, blue waters, blue skies, sunshine, beach hair, fun drinks, kids looking for shells and building sand castles. It does look like the perfect setting for an unforgettable family time.
Well, we too planned a little getaway to the beach. We found an affordable place, and with a short drive, we made our trip to the beach. All in all we had a great time, but let me tell you…."the beach" is NOT white sand and blue waters everywhere you go. Keep in mind, we live in Texas and we love that we can easily drive to the gulf beaches. But they are not blue or green – they are gray or brown. We knew this, because we have been going to the gulf off and on since we moved to Texas. But for some reason, it hit me hard this time. Breathe… I stayed positive and grateful…It’s STILL “the beach” and the kids did not seem as disappointed as I was. Good for us!
We got to our condo, unpacked, and headed to the beach! Our son jumps in the water and begins to jump the waves, just loving it all. I LOVE watching this boy enjoy LIFE! Our daughter and I stayed timid on the sand, sitting in our beach chairs to observe and take it all in. But not 10 minutes after watching my son enjoy the waters, he had to come out because he was itching everywhere. Little stings, like a lot of tiny needles everywhere. Soon he starts having hives….thank you, BEACH. And so we learn of these tiny Sea Lice – the larvae of crab, jellyfish, and the like – lovely tiny organisms that do sting and hurt. Not like a jellyfish, but not like nothing, either. My husband, and later my daughter, feel them also, but not as bad. But to make it worse, our son’s body seems to be allergic to them. GREAT. He is out of the water and just crushed. We were told to check at different times because their concentration in the water varies from hour to hour, so we did that and it was manageable – he felt less of them and was able to get out and in the rest of the day.
My daughter and I decide to go for a stroll on the beach, where we run into 3 huge jelly fish on the shore. Great….I mean, yes, you know jelly fish live in the water but still…to see 3 on shore….a bit unsettling as well. We hung on the beach for a little while longer and decided later to hit the pool.
The next time we come, my daughter braves up and says she wants to go in the water and do the boogie boards for a bit. My husband takes them in. I swear, not 5 minutes later, she comes out, having been stung by a jellyfish. Thank you beach! Seriously? I mean you know they are there, but everyone else is swimming in these waters and we didn’t hear of one other incident the entire time we were there…but sure enough, she gets stung. And she knows how this feels because she already was stung once on another trip. (I know, right?! Not fair at all. Poor thing, we really felt for her.). This one was painful, but not unbearable, so she bravely sits out on the beach chairs with an ice pack for a while. My husband started searching for tips on how to stop the pain – especially some that do not involve urine, as she was not into that. He found two reputable sources suggesting vinegar. And lucky for us vinegar was in the condo cupboard! Mind you, it did not say “in case of jellyfish attack” but it was there, on a shelf, just waiting for us.
My husband took her to the sink and, in a very MacGyver way, poured vinegar on her sting. Let me tell you…it was instantly better. I have never seen ANYTHING work magically like this. Unbelievable, she immediately said it stopped burning and the swelling and redness went down in a matter of minutes! I’m never going to the beach without vinegar again. (An aside, my husband notes that we also used an anti-itch stick at the same time…but we’re pretty sure it was the vinegar.)
So there you have it, anecdotes from our gulf beach trip. A bit about brown water and sand, but mostly about stings. Despite all of this, we did have a really good time and we’re very happy we went. Not sure I want to go back to that part of the gulf any time soon, but a beach trip is always in order!!
