Beaches

(pictured, Cannon Beach in Oregon)

I would love to say I am a beach person, that I can't let a year go by without a beach vacation. Unfortunately, life has not worked out that way! I am not asking for any sympathy...I've had some nice vacations over the years and we were blessed that Jon's grandmother lived on a "key" in Florida so we enjoyed many beach vacations at her home. We just have not done the Annual Beach Vacation that many families do.
However, yesterday I was reading on a website the Top Ten Family Beach destinations in the USA and discovered I have been to five of them!
Number 10 on the list was Cannon Beach....in Oregon. This just happens to be the beach were my niece got engaged. AND, when Bethany and I flew west to attend her wedding, we made the 80 mile drive from Portland to Seaside, Oregon, to spend one day/night at the beach before the wedding. So put a check in the box for me for #10.
Also on the list was Daytona Beach. HELLO, my parents and my grandparents before them all winter near Daytona Beach. Been there a number of times! Stopped there on the way home from Ft. Lauderdale when in college and my sister and I had our picture taken ...remains one of my fave photos of us to this day. Young and tanned, we both had on cut off jean shorts and navy sweatshirts.
The National Seashore Coast Guard Beach on Cape Cod is one of the top ten beaches they highlighted. Jon and I had the opportunity to go to Cape Cod to celebrate our 25th wedding anniversary. Check that one on the list.
Cape May, NJ is considered a very family-friendly beach. When my sister Beth lived in New Jersey and the kids were young, we vacationed at Ocean City, NJ, and made the trip down to Cape May to check it out as well. Check!
Coronado Beach in San Diego is in the top ten. Since we were just there in June, my memories are very fresh as to why it would be so highly regarded. Beaches on the west coast are so different from those on the east coast!
Those on the list that I have not gone to: Poipu Beach in Hawaii; Newport Beach in Calif; Orient Beach State Park in the state of Washington; Hilton Head; and Sanibel Island. I'm a little bitter about the Sanibel Island one, as I had a trip all planned to Sanibel about twelve years ago as a side trip from Grandma Wagners and Jon nixed my plans.
I really do not think I will ever get to the beach in Hawaii, and I don't have a huge interest in going to a beach in the state of Washington. Newport Beach is a stretch. But I do hope to add Sanibel and Hilton Head to my travel journal someday!