TRAVEL
How Do You Like Your Beach?
Freshwater and saltwater beaches compared
After a great four days away, I’m back from traveling with my family to Michigan City, IN.
It was an enjoyable trip spent with extended family and cousins. We had plenty of beach time, ice cream in the afternoon, and kids perfecting their swim skills in a 4 ft. pool.
Getting away was what we needed after such a long time of not traveling far. We made memories, and the experience is something I will take away forever.
Visiting this freshwater beach got me thinking about all my childhood memories of visiting the beaches in South Carolina.
I didn’t grow up hanging out on the beaches along the Great Lakes. That was my husband. My family always traveled south. I can still recall rolling down the car windows to smell the salty air.
How similar and different both of these beaches are. I’ll start with my most recent traveling experience on the beach by Lake Michigan.
Freshwater beaches do have their benefits and charm
You take one look from on top of the dune and when you see Chicago in the far distance you also get awed by the crystal blue waters.
The water is simply breathtaking. It’s a gorgeous pallet of blue ranging from deep dark blue to emerald-blue and turquoise.
There is no denying its glistening beauty under the sun.
The other undeniable benefit to these waters is there is no looming threat of wandering sharks or extra curious jellyfish.
Especially having young kids that like to venture into the lake to splash around, not having this added stress to think about was an absolute benefit.
We could wade out to our stomachs, and there was no fear that something below would find enough interest to harm us.
My husband went swimming out over his shoulders, and I didn’t have to dread the image of Jaws taking him under. That film scarred me for all future beach trips after I saw it when I was 12.
True, it’s a 1 in 3.7 million chance you will be bitten by a shark. But still, it’s nice to know the threat isn’t there at all.
My childhood self was in awe of all the beautiful stones along the shoreline. Many of them looked like the picture below.
As a child, having a rock collection of my own, I couldn’t stop digging through the sand to find these treasures.
The dark blue rounded smooth stones made me feel like I struck gold.
I couldn’t stop picking them up, and we have a full grocery bag to show for it. So much beauty in these polished and colorful rocks.
It wasn’t difficult to get the kids interested in finding these buried treasures too. The feel of some of them in my hand, ever so smooth, brought a smile to my face and comforting reassurance.
Freshwater beaches do have some disadvantages — namely the distance to the water
The sheer distance walking through the sand dunes made a noticeable difference as compared to the saltwater beaches I had grown up visiting.
It was a trek walking to the beach each day.
Sure, we were getting our exercise, but walking through hot sand while trying to hold a small child and a full beach bag proved pretty exhausting by day 3.
Add on top of that helping push a wagon through that said hot sand up a sand dune was indeed a workout.
My husband would pull while I would push the wagon from behind. We were a little winded going up and down that dune multiple times a day.
The water temperatures were another factor. Sixty degrees is NOT my cup of tea. It was all I could do to get in when my kids wanted me to swim with them. If you want to torture me, make me stay in cold water. It’s just not refreshing. Give me 80-degree water any day. I’m just not one for the cold at all.
Saltwater beaches will always have my heart
Childhood memories may play a big part in my love for the saltwater beaches of Carolina, but either way, they will always hold a special place in my heart.
The warmer water temps are an absolute plus. I recall countless days running into the ocean with my sand bucket to grab the warm water to add to my sand castle creation.
We typically went in the summer, and the waters always felt warm to my small framed body.
We were steps from the ocean with our condo or hotel room right on the shore.
You could sit on the balcony and always see the waves crashing and smell the salt in the air. To this day, that saltiness always gets me and brings me back to a very happy time in my life.
As much as I had a passion for rock collecting, my mother opened my eyes to shell collecting.
We would wake up early before the sun was barely up over the horizon and grab our plastic grocery bags to collect our shells.
I will forever remember the kaleidoscope of shells I brought back home.
With these fond memories, my only unpleasant memory was of the time I was stung by a jellyfish in my early 20s.
On a beach on Hilton Head Island, I was out in the water only up to my thighs. I was enjoying the warm temperatures when all of a sudden I felt a strong stinging sensation on my upper right thigh.
I looked at my boyfriend and said, “Something stung me.” Immediately I went running for the shore.
Little did I know that a credit card to scrape the spores and handfuls of wet sand on top of the sting was the cure for the pain.
Despite that one run-in with a jellyfish, the saltwater beaches are consistently a destination I look forward to.
In truth, it’s tough to come up with many disadvantages. Perhaps I’m a little biased?
Whether you enjoy freshwater or saltwater beaches, I’m grateful to have experienced both.
Each holds treasures — smooth dark pebbles or scallop shells of varying colors.
Walking along the water and feeling the sand on my toes will never get old. Hearing the waves will always bring calm to my mind and body.
Both are an experience to have.
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