There’s a very good reason why I didn’t make a #weekendcoffeeshare post this past weekend. It’s because this past weekend (well technically Monday) was my best friend’s birthday. She had a party Saturday night then I went to the beach with her and another friend Sunday.
These beach plans were made days before the party when Erin told us she wanted to do a girl’s night on Sunday. It turned from being a girl’s night to going to the beach because a friend asked Erin if she wanted to go to the lake or the beach. Erin really loves the beach (as do I) so it became clear when that question was asked what we were going to do.
But before talking about the beach trip and showing off all the nice pictures I took, let’s briefly talk about the party on Saturday. It was a lot of fun. Erin decided to give the party a black and gold theme so I wore a black shirt along with some golden earrings, shoes and a wristlet my aunt gave to me for Christmas. We all sat around, talked and drank. I made sure not to get too buzzed because of making plans to go to the beach with Erin and another friend on Sunday. I knew it wouldn’t be fun going to the beach with a hangover so I just drank fruity drinks with a 5 percent alcoholic volume and took baby sips of Fireball and a Moonshine a friend and I bought as Erin’s birthday present. When the party finally quieted down, I attempted sleep because I was pretty tired, and knew we were getting up early for our trip to the beach.
But sleep was hard to come due to my excitement for our day at the beach. I was really excited about this trip. I love the beach a lot, and I normally go to the beach with family, not friends. I’ve never actually done something like this before, gone on a full day trip with friends. And we were going to the beach of all places, one of my favorite places to go to when the weather is nice. So sleep was hard to come by for me that night, even knowing I’d be getting up at a time that doesn’t agree with me at all.
But Sunday was perfect. Despite the time I went to bed, I didn’t feel worn out because I was too excited about this trip to care. Erin and I left for the beach, following Karie in her sister’s car who she was taking to her parent’s house along the way to our destination. While driving, Erin turned up her music, and we belted the lyrics to the songs that came on and talked until we arrived at Karie’s parents home. We used that time to take a potty break before Karie drove us the rest of the way to Isle of Palms.
Once there, we grabbed our stuff out of the car and walked to the beach. We found a spot to place our belongings and began the process of unpacking our things. I then applied some sunscreen (not that it really helped, which I’ll talk about later) before lying down on the beach.
In that moment as I laid down and closed my eyes, a sense of peace washed over me. I could hear all the sounds of the ocean surrounding me, from the sounds of the waves crashing along the shore to the birds flying above, calling each other in birdsong. I felt the wind brushing up and down my body and smelled the salty air of sand and sea as I laid there and let the sun wash over me. I felt a sense of tranquility hard to describe in words, but that I knew would encompass this moment I was on the beach in my heart. I knew this moment would eventually pass, but I just allowed myself time to enjoy it.
After a little bit of lying down, we went in the water to cool down and let the waves wash over us. We went a little far out, but I didn’t go quite as far because my bottoms wanting to fall off me. It was as if they wanted to expose my butt to the rest of the world, which sounds pretty comical when you think about it. But I stayed in the water anyway, and adjusted my bikini bottom straps in the hope that my bottoms would stay on me. Though there were a couple close calls in that moment so I eventually got out of the water and went back to our spot on the beach. Karie and Erin both got out of the water shortly after to dry off before we went walking on the beach to search for some seashells.
It was nice to walk along the beach together, looking along the ground for shells. We stuck together, watching our footprints in the sand, and observing the carcasses of the dead jellyfish and crabs we saw along the way. I saw some nice shells on our path, but didn’t take too many because I didn’t really have a safe place to put them for the trip back. My favorite shell actually broke into three pieces, so I had to throw it away when I got home, which was a bummer.
My picture of the seashells I got at the beach Sunday. Decided to put them on my bookshelf in my room because I knew they’d look nice there.
We eventually headed back to our spot on the beach when we got tired of walking. We also were starting to get hungry so we used this moment to grab some food before continuing to enjoy our time on the beach. I ate a double cheeseburger with fries and Coke, which tasted delicious, though the fries would’ve tasted better if they had Ketchup. Once we were done with our food, we headed back to enjoy what little time we had left. Once again, we laid down on the beach to get more sun, then went in the water one last time. The water didn’t feel quite as cold as when we went in earlier, which was nice.
Moments later, we got out of the water and went back to our stuff. I quickly dried myself off before packing everything together and headed back to Karie’s car. We put our stuff in her trunk and covered the seats we’d be sitting on in her car with towels. But we didn’t leave right away because we decided to explore some of the shops near the beach, and then grab some ice cream before heading home. It was apparent we all were enjoying our time at the beach, and didn’t want to leave because we took our time in the shops, looking at all the stuff they had and commenting on items we thought were cute or were possibly interested in buying. All three of us ended up buying something at the very last store we went into. I bought myself this really pretty green/emerald colored necklace that caught my attention with its beauty. It was also very inexpensive, something I could easily afford with the money I had on me.
Once we were done buying our purchases, we went searching for somewhere to get ourselves some ice cream. We ended up driving to Sonic because the places we originally wanted to go to were either too expensive or out of business and bought milkshakes. Then, we headed home in silence because we were all tired by this point.
It was quite an enjoyable trip. One of the best trips I’ve had in my life, a moment in time with friends I know I’ll hold in my memories for the rest of my life. Probably one of the best trips I’ve taken to the beach and that I know I’ll never forget.
The only downside from this trip I’ve experienced is that I badly gotten sunburned. Everywhere except for my arms, shoulders, and the parts of my body covered by my bikini have been stung by the sun’s rays. It’s to the point where I’ve been putting on sunburn relief in the hopes of getting the burns to slowly fade away. Hopefully, I can get these burns to go away so my body doesn’t ache every time I move. But right now, we’ll just have to wait and see.
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