Beaches

I love the beach! It doesn't really seem to matter....Montego Bay or Aruba, BVI's Peter Island or Pawley's Island, Puerto Vallarta or Litchfield, Emerald Isle or Garden City, where I am currently spending a few days. I love the water. I love the sand. I am rejuvenated by the smells and the sounds and the majesty of the oceans.

Some of my best and fondest memories are set in water locations. We honeymooned at the fantastic Round Hill in Jamaica and slept in a cottage once occupied by Paul Newman and Joanne Woodward. My children must have inherited the "beach gene." They adore Jamaica and Paradise Island in the Bahamas. Of course, the focuses of their attentions are the plane ride down and the giant slides once there, whereas my focus is usually the fabulous seafood and the nectar of the gods (or island drinks, if you prefer). I love the staggering fish tanks that are the breathtaking aquariums of Atlantis and the amazing green of the lush mountains of Jamaica as they slope to, seemingly paying homage to, the turquoise Caribbean water.

Whether standing in the Jamaican surf at Round Hill in water so clear I easily see my feet or cheering the 4th of July boat parade through Murrell's Inlet, I am in my element at the beach. I loved picnic"ing" on a private beach with my husband at Peter Island. I love Sunday Brunch at Sea Captain's House in Myrtle Beach. I love the photo ops and flying kites. (I have learned flying kites isn't as easy as it once was.) I love a great read in a short striped chair and long week-ends with my sister at her house on the North Carolina coast. I unexpectedly loved "fishing off the company pier" at Springmaid. (For readers who may not know of my first career and/or the Springmaid Pier, this last statement may beg further clarification....) I love the shabbily chic Pawley's Island and the classic and historic elegance 'South of Broad' in Charleston. I love swimsuits, although in the last few years I have become increasingly enamored with cover-ups....imagine that! I love straw hats and sunglasses, flip flops and thong sandals, beach bags, beach towels and the heady smell of suntan lotions. I love the beach!

I dream of a fisherman's cottage at the ocean....I can see its sunny rooms with fabulous views and hardwood floors and tile, its den with bookshelves overflowing. Just two bedrooms, small by all accounts, my perfect beach hideaway.

On a recent morning at my mother and dad's (now my dad's, I suppose) condo at the South Carolina coast, I sleepily opened a kitchen cabinet looking for a coffee cup. I was greeted by a white mug personalized in green with the simple "Pat." My mother....my mother's mug in a place she loved, really her one and only getaway place for the last twenty-five years. A new reason to love the beach....I feel my mother's presence here.