The One Where We Go to the Beach (Part 1)

I finally started cleaning my house Tuesday night, making me think this should have actually been a 5-day weekend, so I could have time to Do Nothing, but also time to get my house cleaned. As it stands right now, it's about 65% clean, and I'm going to have to finish when I get home this evening, otherwise the other 35% will bug me.

We went to the beach!! D (being from California) had been all, "East Coast beaches suck. West Coast beaches RULE, Y'ALL!" despite having. . .never been to one. Feeling the need to stick up for beaches from Maine to Florida, we were off Saturday morning(-ish) to the coast, which is only about a 2.5 hour drive from where we are.

We got there, the sun was shining, the people were sunbathing, and the waves were. . .

. . . kicking my ass.

Seriously. Day 1 of Beach Trip 2010 had me in the ocean for approximately 30 minutes. The waves were brutal. I spent the better part of the rest of the beach day on the giant sheet we'd brought to lay on (genius), reading magazines and eating the massive amount of food we'd packed in coolers.

But the beach itself? Glorious.

I also had a new bathing suit for the occasion. Now. . .keep in mind, I haven't worn a two-piece bathing suit (save "tankinis") since I was about 10. I'm all about full cover-up. But I saw this bathing suit at Target, this legitimate bikini, and I was like. . .OK, Sarah. It's time to face your Body Issues head-on and try on this mo-fo. And I did. And it looked. . .OK! I didn't run screaming from the dressing room when I bought it, and no one at the beach ran screaming while I was wearing it. I consider that a successful day.

Also, I saw a guy there who looked exactly like The Situation. I told D this, and the conversation went kind of like this:

Me: That guy! Over there! He looks like The Situation!

D: . . . . . .

Me: You know! The Situation! From "Jersey Shore"?

D: Oh. . .OK.

Me: Damn you and your watching of things on the Discovery Channel rather than the tackyness and drama of MTV "reality" shows.

D: . . . . .I'm going to go get back in the water.

So I texted my sister, Katie, who completely understood. She responded with, "haha. Take no chances! It could be him! Get his autograph!"

But then I took a nap instead. So I may or may not have missed my chance to be in the presence of greatness abs.

So Saturday was the 3rd, but they were having fireworks that night. We had seafood (real! fresh! seafood!) for dinner, and then watched a pretty awesome fireworks show. Then we beach-walked and also walked on the pier. There was also blue ice cream involved.

Then we saw flashing lights a mile or so down the beach, and this helicopter seemed to be canvassing the water, right where we'd been. Turns out, a swimmer had disappeared earlier, right where we'd been swimming earlier. Maybe the most epic thing I've ever seen was the helicopter hovering right above the water and dropping. . .something or other into the ocean. Turns out, it was something to see how the tides were moving to see where they might have carried the guy.

I was a little disappointed that no one jumped out of the helicopter, Chuck Norris-style, and dragged the guy to safety by the back of his swim trunks. (Yes, Chuck Norris jumps out of helicopters. Shut up.)

We didn't leave until almost midnight, so, needless to say, we got back pretty late.

That did not, however, stop us from going back the next day.