Memories of and Lessons Learned From Spending Time at Beaches

Reminiscing about the magical times spent on various beaches, and the lessons learned from those times.

Transcript

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Well, hello, ladies and gentlemen, and welcome to the Amazing Journey podcast. I am your host, Mike, and we're gonna be together for about the next half hour to talk about one of my favorite sets of memories in my lifetime, and that's days when I go to the beach or I have gone to the beach. I have been blessed to visit beaches all over the world, and I'm gonna talk today about some memories that I have from some of my favorite beaches that I visited and some of the lessons that I've learned by visiting these beaches. So without further ado, we are going to start this podcast, as we always do, with some musical selections that I believe are appropriate to get one in the proper mindset for going to the beach. So the first song that I like to put uh into the podcast over the car audio system as I'm heading towards Saltwater is the song Take It Easy. It was originally done by the Eagles in 1972. Um, it was off the Eagles album. But to be very honest, and for the Eagles purists out there, I'm I'm going to hear a gasp for our friends over in France. I'm going to hear a mon Dieu. Um, I prefer the Travis Tritt version done in 1994 off of the common thread Songs of the Eagles album, where Travis Tritt did a tribute to the Eagles. So great song to get the blood pumping as the vehicle is moving in the direction towards the water. The second would be Good Vibrations by the Beach Boys. Great hit from 1967. That was released as a single. The Beach Boys released three of those singles in a row. And then the last song that I would like to suggest you download and have a listen to is Fun Fun Fun. Now that was originally done by the Beach Boys, but my favorite version was a version done by Status Quo, an amazing, amazingly talented band in 1996. And find the version where the Beach Boys are singing backup in the song that they wrote. Absolutely fantastic. So in our college of musical knowledge, we have the table set, and now let's talk about some great memories from the beach. As a young boy, I did not live near an ocean. Around three and a half to four hours away, depending on traffic. My family growing up, we never went to the ocean as a family. So the first time I went to a beach was at a state park. And I mean, I thought it was great. I will never forget it. I had a blue bucket and a green plastic shovel. And at the time, I thought that I had built the Taj Mahal of all sandcastles. Although looking back with a middle-aged man's point of view, I think I made six of them and put them together. But at the time, uh it was monumental for me. And as I recall, they were perfectly placed sandcastles. Well, at least that's the story I'm sharing with all of you. But anyway, um, that was at a lake beach at a state park. And as a child, because again, it was the first time I had done it. It was magical, it was wonderful. I was out in the sun, I played. I recall having a little bit of a sunburn, but it was a great day. My first ocean beach, I did not experience until I was a junior in high school. And uh that was Daytona Beach in Florida, and that was literally a life-altering experience for me. I had never felt the intensity of the sun like that before. I had never experienced that sun reflecting off the sand and getting that additional heat that way. Um, I I just the the sand was so white back then, it was amazing. And and the other thing that I real remember very vividly is how shocked I was that people were allowed to drive on the beach. You could drive pretty close to where you you pitched your gear. Um, I didn't realize you could do that. I haven't been to Daytona Beach in a very long time. I don't know if that is still permitted, but at the time that was that was quite the thing. It was nice not to be have to cart all of the kit that we brought with us, and we did a lot as a uh quick sidebar. I I chuckle when I remember how much we as a family used to bring to the beach. Um today they have the wagons and the fancy fat tires. Back then it was, you know, whatever I could carry, whatever dad could carry. Um, when I had my own family, whatever my oldest child could carry, right? So uh it was quite a bit for the two to three hours that you were going to sit out there. I didn't really have any excessive beach time after that until I joined the Navy, and my first duty station was on the island of Guam. And I have told as many people that will listen, and and some people who are close to me, probably about 17 times now, one of my biggest blessings in life is literally that I got to work on paradise. It was a tropical island paradise. The time I was there, uh, we did not have a typhoon. You know, we had some days where there was rough weather, but the fact that I could get up in the morning and jog on the beach as the sun was coming up, and that I got paid to do that, uh it almost felt like stealing. Um, but they were wonderful memories, and I enjoyed them very, very much. My favorite beach on Guam uh at the time, being a young man in my 20s, was on Tuman Bay. And back then that was where all the hotels and the shops were, all of your beachside bars where we played beach volleyball. Uh, favorite little hangout was at a place called Wet Willies, because what could go wrong on a beachside bar with copious amounts of alcohol, a whole bunch of testosterone-laden men in the military, and a beach named Wet Willies. I'll leave that to everybody's imagination because this is a positive G-rated show. Um moving on after that, I had the opportunity to go to Pensacola Beach in Florida. And I had gotten down there after a hurricane, and the locals had told me, oh, you know, the beach is destroyed, it's not what it used to be. So I'm I'm expecting, well, I don't know what I was expecting, but I went to the beach and it still looked absolutely positively beautiful to me. Again, very, very brilliant white sand, an absolutely huge beach. I could not believe the copious amount of people. They they just went on for miles. It was very difficult to find a spot during peak sunshine times during the day for a variety of reasons. I prefer beaches at sunrise till about 10 in the morning, and then I like to go back after like five o'clock in the afternoon. As a general rule, I I am not a huge crowd kind of person, and I tend to enjoy the beach more when I don't feel like I'm a sardine. But Pensacola Beach is a beach that stands out in my mind as just being absolutely, positively beautiful. A few years after that, I was privileged to be able to experience a different kind of beach. I was stationed in Great Britain, and uh there's a very famous beach over there called Brighton. And Brighton Beach, um, there was no sand. It was all like rocks and cobblestones. So that was a bit of a culture shock to me, but I found that I enjoyed the beauty of that beach just as much as I did off of a sandy beach. And the nice part about Brighton Beach was that I was not overwhelmed from the heat below me. Uh, it was actually, it was a very, very comfortable temperature. And so my first time on a Rocky Beach was a great memory. When I came back stateside, um, I would go to the Norfolk, Virginia slash Virginia Beach area often for work, and I got to experience Virginia Beach, which again was beautiful. Um, this was before it got as built up as it is today, and I don't mean to imply that that that isn't beautiful, but I remember it when it was a little bit less congested. And when I was there, um, I was heading to a a temporary duty station, and we were trying to get on base and get situated because a hurricane was rolling in. And I had never seen waves from the shore like that. It was um extraordinary and yet terrifying all at the same time. But when things settled down and the the winds died down and and the waters receded, Virginia Beach was just as beautiful, and there are some uh beautiful little gardens, memorial gardens all along the beach now that make the experience even richer. I saved my favorite uh beach experiences for the last of this section of the podcast, and that uh uh those would be the beaches in Rhode Island. Um I love Easton's Beach in Newport. I love Sechwis Beach, Second Beach, Third Beach in Middletown. Uh absolutely breathtaking scenery. Uh I have great memories of being stationed there. I was just humbled and amazed and incredibly grateful for the fact that multiple days a week I could get up, put my dogs in my truck, and walk them on the beach in the morning, and walk them on the beach again in the evening. And it was so comforting to see that everybody who like everybody who walked their dog on the beach were so conscientious of when they did their business, they they they picked it up immediately, and they never left a mess for anybody else to find. And I that was one of the things that I remember very vividly about those beaches in Rhode Island, that there was never any, you know, any dog waste that you encountered when you were trying to get down to the water. So take a sidebar for a second to to put out a public service announcement. If you're gonna take your pets to the beach, please pick up after them, dispose their waste properly. Don't leave a mess for other people to walk through and and ruin their day. One of the best memories that I have of those beaches in Rhode Island was the unparalleled feeling I would get when I would visit those beach areas with somebody that I love with all my heart and soul. It I guess the best adjective I could use is complete. I just felt that life was complete, and all of the struggles that just about all of us go through the triumph, the tragedies, the loss, the heartbreak. When you're at a beach with the person that you love the most, life is complete. And and the beach is almost like an a natural salve for all of those heartaches. So hopefully I've I've painted some pretty good pictures so that you can understand what's in my heart and in my head when I go back to all of the great times that I've had on those beaches. Um there just aren't not enough superlatives to encapsulate, you know, just how much it swells my heart when I close my eyes and I think of those great days. Well, we're at the spot in the show where we take a quick break and we give some product endorsements. And these are products that have served me well, that have done well by me over the years. Um, and so I I like to share good stuff with all of you that listen to me. The first shout out I'd like to give is the ASICs footwear. When I first got into athletics in high school and started running outdoor and indoor track, I needed a pair of cross trainers and competition shoes. And my first pair of shoes were the ASICs gel. I had not had a more comfortable shoe before or since. And I find that at this point in my life, when it's time to go shopping for a new pair of recreational shoes, uh, Asics is my go-to brand. I prefer them over everyone else. They look great, they feel great, they give adequate support, they're a very, very well-made shoe, and comparatively speaking, they are very reasonably priced. So if you're in a market for some footwear, give Asics a try if you haven't done so. The next thing I'd like to give a little plug for is the perfect beach food, and that is Lay's potato chips. Now, the purists love the original flavor. Some of us like the wavy Lay's. Some of us are a huge fan of the barbecue flavor. Here's the good news: it doesn't matter which Lay's product you take with you to the beach, it is going to taste even more magically delicious because I firmly believe there's a secret ingredient in those Lay's chips that is activated by additional salt in the air next to the ocean. So take your Lay's chips. If you buy one bag, go back and buy two because one's not going to be enough. And crunch them hard and savor them while you're sitting there in the sand. And the third shout out I would like to give is to Dell's Lemonade on those Rhode Island beaches. Got the little green and white trucks, freshly squeezed lemonade, very reasonably priced. Perhaps the most delicious lemonade I've ever tasted in this kisser of mine. Cannot say enough good things about Dell's lemonade. The perfect treat on a hot day at the beach. If you haven't ever had the pleasure of sampling a Dell's lemonade product, it's one of the things you must put on that important list you have in your head. Write it down so you don't forget. Dell's Lemonade for all of the those of you who frequent the beaches in Rhode Island. So we've talked about the great memories that I've had on the beaches. And now we're in the part of the show where I talk about the lessons learned that have helped propel me along my journey in life, my amazing journey, the namesake of this podcast. We are always going to start with something pertaining to safety and well-being. And I'm a huge stickler for water safety. As I mentioned in a previous episode, if you're going out on a kayak or you're going out on a surfboard, or you're going out on a boogie board, or you're going out anything past your waist, you need to have a personal flotation device of some type on. I cannot, I cannot emphasize the need for personal flotation device and water safety enough. There is no absolutely no reason for an unnecessary tragedy. They are reasonably priced, they are not cost prohibitive, and even if they were expensive, what is the price of one's life or a family member or a loved one's life? So please make sure you have those personal flotation devices on. Please make sure you have some situational awareness when you're near the water. Well, what do you mean, Michael? You know, if you get to the beach and there are no lifeguards sitting in the chairs where there's normally lifeguards, and there are signs up that say the weather is bad, don't go in the water, then please don't go in the water. We are in the 21st century in the digital information age now. If you live four hours away from the beach, you can log on to whatever beach that you're going to, and there are cameras and there are websites, and it will tell you, hey, the beach is closed today. They put those safety notes out there for a reason. Please do not ignore them. Please keep an eye on what you see in the water and what you see on the beach. For example, if you see seals, and no, not necessarily the very fit men that are in the United States Navy. Um, I mean the little mammals with the whiskers and the flipper and the, you know, the little chubby bellies. If you see them swimming in the water and you see them laying on the beach, please do not go in the water because seals are a favorite delicacy of a variety of sharks. And you might get bit or might get hurt in a case of mistaken identity. Um, the experts tell us that sharks really don't like the taste of human beings. I'm not sure why that is, or you know, which great white shark they've interviewed to get such data, but I'm not willing to take the chance. And a lot of times it's the motion of our legs or our arms flailing that you know attracts the attention of a shark. So, situational awareness, a little tip from Michael based on my experiences in life. If there are seals in or near the water, my dairiere is not going in it, and I highly recommend you do the same. Thus endeth this part of the sermon. Let's move on to some other personal protection. If you're going to be laying out in the sun or sitting out in the sun or going to be out there for any extended period of time, we have the data and the information, and permission is granted to exercise some common sense. You know, put the hat on with the sunglasses, bring yourself some sunscreen, apply the sunscreen. If you're going to bring the portable shade, especially those umbrellas, please make sure they're anchored securely. This is really important in case a wind picks up and gets under that umbrella, it'll carry it like a sail. And, you know, somebody could lose an eye or get knocked unconscious or killed if that big umbrella and the heavy post hits them in the head. Let's also talk about the importance of maintaining these beautiful beaches for future generations. Um, as much as all of us like to go, and and those of us who are fans of the beach enjoy it and being able to look out and have a magical experience, we need to pick up after ourselves. If you pack it in, pack it out. Uh don't leave garbage to blow all over the place and get in the water, potentially hurt the animals, pollute the beautiful water that's there. Uh please don't bring any glass containers to the beach. If they get broken, people can get hurt very, very badly. And when you're when you're at the beach, you know, take that extra step to think. Don't do anything that's going to harm the wildlife or ruin the good time of any other human beings that are there. The next lesson that I've learned is that for at a young age is that building sand castles is very therapeutic. It doesn't matter how old you are. It doesn't matter if you, you know, want to stop and get an inexpensive bucket and spade. It doesn't matter if you know you want to you want to bring in an old an old box from the house. Be creative, be inventive. It's it's therapy without a copay, and you're going to be glad that you did it. Another important lesson that I've learned is that the beach is a natural refresher and a reset for all of the senses. You can touch it, you can taste it, you can see it, you can hear it, you can smell it. It really recalibrates everything. And so while you're there, make the most of it. Take a few minutes, close your eyes, breathe, just enjoy it. Let it let it come into your soul. Another lesson is that the beach. Really puts life in perspective. You think over the years of how many wonderful, wonderful memories people have at the beach when you go and you walk your dogs the first time, and the current and the tide come in and get around their feet and they freak out and they put their nose in it and they lick the salt water for the first time and then they go crazy. It just so many wonderful memories. The first time you take your small child and they put their little feet in and you see their little footprint and they're exciting, you know, excited about how it feels and the little wave crashing on their foot. When they get a little bit older, how excited they are if you put them in an inner tube with a tow rope and you're towing them around, and you know, at that age, they they might as well be on the back of a jet ski, you know, with their squeals of joy and delight and laughter. I think that it really puts life in perspective. I know it does for me. When I'm standing on trillions of grains of sand, and each of us at that particular time has our own specific role in the universe. Those trillions of grains of sand are there to support my weight, whether I'm sitting, standing, or laying. And that's their job, that's their function, and it is my function to stand there and take in all of this immense beauty and respect the awesome power that was given, you know, was created for us. It can just take your breath away. And it has taken my breath away, and it continues to take my breath away, no matter how old I get. The next lesson that I'd like you to think about is that car sand in the vehicle is really a great thing. A lot of us are very particular how we keep our vehicles. We don't want any dirt, sand, grime. Absolutely understandable. The better you take care of something, the longer you have it. But to me, when I look back, car sand in the vehicle reminds me of the amazing day we had and how much fun we had during that amazing day. And finally, the greatest lesson that I've learned about beaches is that it taught me gratitude for the ability to be able to go and experience beaches all over the world, different types of beaches, meeting different types of people. It's something that most of us has have in common. Everybody just is trying to go to relax, walk their journey, spend time with their families, find those magical moments with people that they love. So I hope that today's trip down memory lane brought back as many great memories for you as it has for me. I hope it's made you think about great times along your amazing journey in life. If you think about it, we all have amazing journeys in life. We're all we're all walking our own journey. And it's up to us to have the best journey that we can to focus on the good and remember what the not so good times have taught us. I cannot believe our half hour is almost up together. You know, time flies when you're having fun. I have a ball doing these podcasts, and I hope you have as much fun listening to me do these podcasts. Please send me a note at AmazingJourneypodcast at PM.me. That is the AmazingJourney Podcast at PM.me. Our podcast is now on multiple platforms. So whether you're watching us on Spotify or Apple or any of the other ones out there, uh, there are options to follow it so that every time I upload a new episode, you get notified immediately. And if you like the podcast in general and certain episodes in particular, I would ask you to do me a solid and share it with the people that are most important to you. And I sincerely hope that they enjoy it and enjoy listening to it as I enjoy recording it. Once again, I hope that sharing stories from my amazing journey helps you to remember great times on each of your individual amazing journeys. Until we meet again, I ask that you be safe, you be well, look after yourselves, be kind to one another. This is your friend Mike, and I'm signing off.