The Sunday before last, the guy I’m dating and I hit the beach.
We went to a nearby one on the Chesapeake Bay called Sandy Point. This stretch of clay-colored sand overlooks the Bay Bridge.
I recommend it. Local, it takes a half an hour to get to, far quicker then the 3 1/2 hours to Ocean City, Maryland. The bay floor is rather flat, as are the waves, so it can be relaxing. Parking is ample. There are facilities like bathrooms and concessions plus picnic areas and even grills. Cleanliness could be improved upon, however, as I wish that the trash cans were emptied more often.
Nearly perfect weather for the beach, it was 85 and mostly sunny. Many other people had the same idea that day, so there was line to get in, groups of towels were only a few feet apart instead of several and you had to walk around families tossing beach balls around in the shallow water to go into the deeper part. It was far less crowded when you were standing chest-deep in the water.
I wore my little black bikini like I did last August. (You may read about that debut experience here.) Unlike last year, I didn’t keep my head down this time. I was far more comfortable in my skin when compared with this time last year. Even with a date! Increasingly confident, being in your 30s is a beautiful thing. Anyway, I have a plain black cotton empire-waist spaghetti-strap dress that I used as a coverup. When my suit was wet, my other coverup is this blue sarong that I’ve had forever with a huge wave printed on it. The image reminds me of The Great Wave, one of Hokusai’s 36 Views of Mt. Fuji. I felt glamorous in a big black floppy sun hat too. I sported sunglasses too, of course. My black flip flops with white polka dots (that I recently bought as shower shoes for my April trip to Paris) finished off my look. I packed my stuff along with a new beach towel (since I didn’t own one before) in my classic red-trimmed LL Bean tote.
It was nice to have the sun warm my skin. We stayed about four hours and that’s a long day at the beach for me. In that time, I even managed to get a little color, visible tan lines anyway. I did simply lay down and relax, but at other times, I read a book and a magazine, Real Simple, which is a rare treat for me nowadays. Just before the trip, we picked up a sub and each ate half for lunch there. The two of us went in the water to cool off a couple of times. It was nice, having him hold me most of the time, me floating and flirting.
It was his first time there and he kept thanking me for coming up with the idea. I can now check it off my personal summer bucket list. Summer simply wouldn’t feel complete without an afternoon spent at the pool or beach. It truly was a perfect beach day.