Finding a moment of pure serenity is one of the best feelings that I can think of while sea or lakeside. Usually I find myself having to travel somewhere far and remote to find that feeling. I think of paying long-tail boat captains to go island hoping in the Gulf of Thailand, deep sea excursions in Indonesia. An urban setting of any size does not come to mind though but after seeing Lake Orta, I may have found that balance at the foot of the Italian Alps.

Nietzsche was inspired here, Balzac was drawn to it and Robert Browning mentions it in his poem “By the Fireside.” I don’t blame them. The Alps serve as a backdrop to the Baroque architecture in the town of Pella while the Island of St. Giulio sits at the center of the lake surrounded by a sense of mystique – almost like the center of a story where the protagonist is unable to get the local townspeople to tell him about the mysterious island.

This video, IL LAGO DORATO (On Golden Lake), by Vimeo user PLMONZA captures the serenity and mystique of this beautiful Italian gem.

View original video here.

Myrtle Beach's Brand New Boardwalk

I’ve been to Myrtle Beach, South Carolina only once – during New Year’s 2009/2010. It was fun, but cold, and we could tell that the area would be entertaining to come back and visit come summertime. (We’d probably spend a lot of time playing miniature golf – we saw about twelve awesome looking courses!)

Of course, I’d also love to go back and visit the actual beach in Myrtle Beach, which was just lovely in December, as cold as it was. And now, there’s a fantastic, 1.2 mile long boardwalk to enjoy as well! The boardwalk was opened on Saturday, May 15, 2010 (as I was getting married in Key West, Florida), and it looks fabulous. The boardwalk is at times wooden and at times concrete, and it curves along the coastline like a giant sea snake. No longer do pedestrians have to trudge through the sand or risk walking along Ocean Boulevard – they can view beautiful Myrtle Beach from the safe vantage point of a lovely boardwalk.

Boardwalks have always evoked feelings of nostalgia for me, and I find this interesting because I never grew up actually on the beach. I lived close to the beach in San Diego, but not close enough so that my parents would walk me down to a boardwalk or a pier on the weekends. I don’t know what it is. Perhaps it’s the people watching; everyone looks so happy at the beach, and it’s enough to just sit on a bench and watch happy kids and parents stroll by.  Boardwalks are what I think about when I hear someone say “Let’s go to the beach!” Sun, sand, ocean, boardwalks and sunsets – these are also the first images that pop into my head when I daydream about beach vacations.

As this article from Budget Travel points out, there’s a lot happening along the Myrtle Beach Boardwalk; the city is very lucky to have this attraction for locals and tourists who need a break from the sandy beach scene.

Just one more reason to plan a Myrtle Beach vacation in the near future!

Myrtle Beach, South Carolina

Photos: miss-britt , Curtis and Eric

Block Island escaped from Hurricane Irene unscathed

I hate to say it, but if you have not yet booked a hotel on the beach in Outer Banks or Atlantic City for Labor Day weekend, you could probably get a very good deal right now. Both these areas were hit pretty hard by Hurricane Irene, which couldn’t have come at a worse time: one week before one of the year’s busiest beach weekends. So, I decided to write this post – not to encourage “disaster tourism” per se, but to help out these areas which are facing a very grim situation monetarily. Hotel cancellations are flooding in faster than the floods brought by storm surges and high tides as  many tourists are deciding to cancel their “last hurrah” trip of the summer and stay home instead.

Yes, there is some significant damage. The beautiful Spring Lake Boardwalk on Jersey Shore was hit very hard – nearly 1.5 miles of it were destroyed. But, the beach areas that are open are fine, and restaurant and store owners are begging people to come visit. Ocean City, New Jersey emerged from Hurricane Irene pretty much unscathed – but most tourists don’t know that. And if you had planned a trip to Nags Head, North Carolina, don’t think about canceling! That entire area is completely fine. However, if you discovered that all of the hotel rooms in the areas were completely booked a couple of weeks ago, check again – some hotels are reporting that 30% of their reservations have been cancelled.

Block Island’s gorgeous beaches in Rhode Island were also completely untouched. The ferries are running, and there is no reason for concern.

Parts of the country were absolutely devastated by this storm, and this is beyond terrible. But, if you’re fortunate enough to have not been affected by the storm and would like one last weekend at the beach, simply call the hotel and ask — chances are the area is fine and you can enjoy one last weekend of summer beach bliss.

Spring Lake Boardwalk received heavy damage, but the beach areas are ok!

Photos: joyosity, johnrudolphmueller

Wasaga Beach in Canada

Since 2008, Ontario’s formerly dog-friendly Wasaga Beach has been closed during the summers in order to protect some endangered birds. However, as of this summer, Beach #3 is now open to dogs, so bring your pooch to play in the water while the warm weather lasts! (Those of you living in Ontario know that the warm weather is definitely on its way out soon.) Wasaga Beach is on Georgian Bay and is part of Lake Huron. The beach is over 14 kilometers (8.6 miles), and it’s apparently the longest freshwater beach in the world. Wasagha is only about a thirty minute drive from Toronto, so it’s an easy day trip.

If you’re a dog-lover in Canada, you might be interested in this list of dog-friendly beaches and parks in Canada. Here’s a short list:

Sunset Beach – Vancouver

Rainbow Park – Whistler

Chelton Beach Provinvial Park – Prince Edward Island

Pinery Provincial Park – Ontario

Photo: Anutkak43

Imagine if this was the view you woke up to every morning…

Beach camping is the best. What could possibly better than sleeping right on the sand and having the ocean be the first thing you see every morning? Summer’s are a bit humid, of course, but as fall approaches, the weather cools off you can fall asleep listening to the waves in cooler air. Too rustic for you? Many campsites offer cabins, too. And most are pet-friendly, so bring the pooch for some fresh ocean air.

If all that wasn’t enough to convince you to try beach camping, just think about the cost – it’s very low! At all the sites listed below, you can camp for less than $40/night! Those rates are for the site, not for the person.

1. Grayton Beach State Park – Santa Rosa Beach

Book really early if you can – this is one of the most popular beach campsites in all of Florida. Gorgeous emerald waters, soft white sands and forests which go on and on. You can stay in cabins for about $110/night or in a tent/TV for about $30/night.

2. Fort De Soto County Park – Tierra Verde

You won’t have to rough it here. Washers and dryers are available as are showers, real restrooms and even play areas for the kids. The campsites at Fort de Soto have only recently been reopened after a period of rehabilitation. All the sites here are less than $40, even the waterfront ones. Can’t beat that!

Bahia Honda State Park

3. Bahia Honda State Park – Big Pine Key

I got married in Key West a little over a year ago, and we visited Bahia Honda on our last day – I wish we had gone sooner! What an absolutely gorgeous beach. The water is crystal clear and the sands are so soft. You can rough it in a tent or reserve one of the full-facility campsites or cabins. Sites are $36/night and cabins are $120-$160/night depending on the time of year. Key West is a 40 minute drive away if you get the touristy itch during your stay.

Photos: Mark A. Vargas, Lisa Sanderson

Not your ordinary sand castles.

If you were told that you could get paid $6,000 a WEEK to play in the sand, stay in fancy hotels, eat amazing meals and get lots of publicity, would you do it? Ok, ok, so maybe play in the sand isn’t the correct word – but it feels funny saying “work” when I’m talking about sand. In any case, it appears that some people actually do make $6,000 a week to build sand castles. And that’s just not fair.

Or maybe it is. Ok, it definitely is. These aren’t just people playing with buckets – they’re educated mechanical engineers and teachers who happen to be really good at building stuff in sand. And apparently, people are paying them to do so.

I’m not knocking this at all – I actually think it’s fantastic that some artists can make a great living doing what they love. I’m just surprised by the numbers, that’s all. But then again, anyone who has visited a sand castle building competition has an idea that the sculptures truly are works of art.

So, as summer winds down, perhaps you should think about taking some sand castle building classes. Then, come next summer, you can charge upwards of $75/hour to give other people classes – it’s a fun, pretty low-stress way to make a living. Kind of like the kayak rental guy I met in Seagrove Beach who charged $30/hour per kayak to rent them out. He had 10 kayaks to rent, and I watched him rent out all of them every hour for a good three hours. That was nearly $1,000 in one day, for three hours worth of sitting on the beach and chatting with beach goers. Amazing.

Here’s to skilled artists and entrepreneurs. They’re an inspiration to follow our hearts and do what we love in life – and the money will likely follow.

Photo: Jug Jones

A baby Loggerhead turtle starts to crawl out of the sand on Kiawah Island

A friend of mine visited Kiawah Island, South Carolina a couple of weeks ago, and she was extremely lucky to be able to witness some baby Loggerhead turtles hatching on the beach! These turtles usually hatch at night, so being able to witness the event during the day must have been amazing. There were dozens of them hatching at the same time, and the Turtle Patrol was there to make sure visitors didn’t handle the babies improperly and to ensure the babies made their way to the ocean safely. Turtle hatching season takes place on Florida beaches from early May to very late October, so if you haven’t had a chance to witness this miraculous event, there’s still time!

Sea Turtle Volunteers help out some baby turtles on Kiawah Island

Kiawah Island’s Turtle Watch website is called the Turtle Nest, and it reports that as of July 31, there were 246 nests on the beach! That’s incredible. This list shows all of the different nests and their hatch dates – it looks like less than 20 nests have hatched so far. Turtles begin laying their eggs at the end of May, and hatching begins in July and ends at the end of October. At this time, special conditions exist on the beach — there can be no bright lights at night and there will be plenty of volunteers walking around the beach keeping an eye on the nests.

Here are some rules to live by if you plan to be on Florida beaches:

• If you see turtles hatching on the beach and/or trying to get to the water, don’t touch them! Find a volunteer.
• Don’t scoop them out of their nests and put them directly in the water — they need to imprint the beach on their brains so that they know how to get back to the beach the following year
• It’s fine to shoo away birds or crabs to keep the baby turtles safe on their way to the water, but again – don’t touch them. Let a volutneer handle them with gloves.

Baby Loggerhead turtles start their journey to the ocean on Kiawah Island

Kiawah Island isn’t the only place you can go to see sea turtles lay their eggs and watch hatching scramble for the shoreline, but Florida beaches pretty much are – over 80% of US Loggerhead turtles make their nests on Florida beaches. You can try beaches in Fort Meyers, Key Biscayne Naples and Miami, for example. I think that this experience is just as cool as swimming with turtles in the ocean!

For more information about this remarkable time of year, please visit the following websites:

The Turtle Nest

Turtle Time

Sea Turtle Preservation Society

A baby Loggerhead turtle reaches the water, Kiawah Island

Photos: Thank you to Kristen Digman for the photos!!

Coastal Cleanup Day

Hopefully, your summer has been full of trips to some beautiful beaches. The weather is some parts of the country will be warm enough to swimin the ocean for at least another month, so there’s still time left to squeeze in one more trip! As summer winds down, though, it’s time to start thinking about how you can give back to a beach or coastline near you. Let’s clean up our beaches and oceans!

California Coastal Cleanup Day is taking place on Saturday, September 17. In 2010, over 82,000 volunteers removed 1.2 million pounds of trash and recyclables from California’s lakes, beaches and waterways – that’s an amazing effort! Let’s see if we can beat that record this year. California Coastal Cleanup Day is part of the larger International Coastal Cleanup Day that takes place ever year on the third Saturday in September. According to Ocean Conservancy, in 2010, 7.4 million pounds of trash were removed from our world’s waterways by volunteers. Incredible!

This goes to show you that yes, you can make a difference! Grab a group of friends and sign up for a cleanup in your area, or join one that’s already been organized.

Don’t worry if you don’t live near a big body of water, you can still help! You can pick up trash around small lakes and streams, or work inland — so much of our trash in inland areas makes its way into lakes and streams via gutters — clean up the trash at the source before it has a chance to reach our oceans. Or, get involved in an educational campaign. There are so many things you can do to help.

Some of the statistics from these cleanup efforts are really mind blowing, and hopefully they’ll inspire you to get involved. For example, last year, volunteers all over the worlds picked up over one million plastic bottles — in one day. Let’s get out there and clean up our waters!

New York Coastal Cleanup

California Coastal Cleanup

Florida Coastal Cleanup

Washington Coastal Cleanup

Mississippi Coastal Cleanup

Yucky Beach Trash

Photos: Mikebaird, mesaba