Beach Scene

One of the most popular paces to visit on hot, sunny days like today is the beach and what do most people bring to the beach besides their towels, hats, and blanket? Books of course. This is the perfect time to create your beach atmosphere!

Whether in your backyard, or at a public/private beach, setting up your beach atmosphere can be relaxing while enjoying the sand and water.

Now, let’s hit on a few areas and you can see what I mean:

Away From Home

Traveling to the beach can be a chore when you need to pack everything and hope you didn’t forget anything when you get to your destination, but that doesn’t mean it wouldn’t be completely worth it.

Sights

Sandy beaches attract humans in flocks as the days get warmer and the cool water calls to their heated skin. Children love playing in the sand building sand castles, burying things and making ponds or puddles with their beach buckets and shovels.

Adults enjoy reading and just relaxing on a blanket under a shady umbrella or visiting with friends. There are others who go to have a good time playing sand volleyball, depending on whether your beach has one.

The view of the water is another sight that captivates beach goers as they spend the day on the warm sand, the birds enjoying an afternoon flight and boats out on the water give those at the beach plenty to see.

Sounds

I’m sure you can guess that you will probably hear children playing along with adults moving about, not to mention the cawing of birds and the sound of the water as it advances then recedes from shore.

It’s the small things that you may not pay attention to as you visit the beach on a sunny day. The sip of a drink, the turn of a page, the opening and closing of a cooler, music playing nearby (or by you). What sounds do you hear at the beach that others may not?

Smells

Sun tan lotion! It’s a staple of beaches to take sun tan lotion and that is definitely a scent of summer. Not only that, but the beach has a scent all it’s own, I think that just screams summer.

Depending on where the beach is and if a park is close by, you may smell the scent of cooking food. Perhaps you brought your own or they have a concession stand where you can purchase things to eat.

The one thing you can sometimes smell, but hope not too, is the smell of rotting fish. Now, this depends on where you go on the beach and if there is fishing nearby or they happen to wash up on shore. It doesn’t happen often, but it’s something to look out for.

Food/Drink

As I mentioned above the food and drink you have, could very well be from a concession stand, from grilling (if there are grilling areas nearby) or food you’ve packed to take along with you.

Great foods for the beach are small sandwiches, like sliders, fruit, cheese, crackers, trail mix and cookies as a dessert. Unless you have a really good cooler, you could bring some freeze (ice) pops or some sort of ice cream treat.

Let’s not forget the drinks! Pretty much anything in a can or bottle that is easy to carry and pack would make a great beach drink. If you’re ambitious, I’ve see where people bring portable battery chargers for small appliances and make mixed drinks or smoothies while at the beach, but that’s really up to you and how much you want to drag with you.

Note: Don’t forget to check with the beach as some have regulations on what you can and can’t bring into the beach areas.

Backyard Beach

Please tell me you heard Phineas and Ferb singing “Backyard Beach” as you read that title, because I totally did! Anyway, if you can’t make it to the beach, there is no reason you couldn’t keep one in your backyard to create the same atmosphere.

Now, I know some of you have pools and that’s great! But when you don’t and you want to cool off, you have to get creative. Even if you have a pool, you have the choice to add sand if you wish to make the environment more authentic.

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If you don’t have a pool, you could do a few things.

Blanket Mimic

As some of the images above suggest. You could get blankets the colors of sand and water if you don’t want actual sand and water, set up a chair or just lounge on the blankets with your favorite drink and a book or get some much needed work done in a sand free work area.

Partial Beach

If you want sand or just water, I’ve got some ideas for that.

Just water: you can fill a small pool, put up a chair to lounge in (so you can dangle your feet inside the water) with a small table nearby and just relax. Add a drink, snack, and a great book and you’re all set.

Just sand: Purchase some sand and spread it out in an area in your yard. You can either set up a hammock like in the image above, set up a chair, or lay out a blanket for your lounging pleasure.

Build Your Backyard Beach

Now, if you want to go full out and create an oasis in your backyard, have at it. Here is an idea: Get a small pool, like one of those plastic kid pools and put sand around it. Layer the sand as thick as you like to serve the level of the pool. The amount of sand and size of pool is completely up to you.

Think about how you want to set up your beach atmosphere, do you want enough sand to spread a blanket, put a couple of chairs and a table. You may be getting quite a bit of sand. If you put the pool in the ground, it may be easier to set up the sand. Yes that creates some work for the pool, but you get to decide how you set it up.

Finishing Touches

Once you’ve decided how you want your beach oasis, you get to add any finishing touches you wish. Add some lights for an evening beach atmosphere, a cooler for easy access to food and drinks, a small table and pillows for a more romantic atmosphere. You could also add music for some beach dancing or a campfire for roasting marshmallows and making s’mores.

The possibilities are endless for this unique backyard setting.

Packing and Set Up

Bag/Duffle

Wouldn’t you be the coolest person if you had a pack ready to go at a moments notice. What do you use and what do you put in it, you ask?

Well, here’s a list for you (and a shameless plug to some of our products):

Now, this is dependent on what you will be doing in your creative area so this list of only suggestions.

You can add whatever it is you need personally to your bag, epipens, inhalers, girl products, whatever will give you what you need and stay prepared while you are out and about. This is your bag, put what you want in it. Nothing is off limits when it comes to you and your creative atmosphere.