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Beach Things to Do

• Walk a pier
• Sunbathe, sleep
• Swim
• Take a surf lesson
• Rent a surrey bike, bicycle or roller blades
• Ride an amusement in Santa Monica or Santa Cruz
• Nature watch seals, birds, etc.
• Fly a kite
• Build a sandcastle
• Eat
• Read
• Listen to tunes
• Attend a beach concert
• Shop
• Walk, jog
• Find a beach yoga class (Redond Beach offers free yoga on the pier!)
• Take a boat ride
• Paddleboard, rentals available
• Play beach volleyball
• Take pooch to dog beaches

A friend from Sacramento told me it was hot this week — like 100 degrees! It made me stop in my tracks and think back to my really hot day. I live near the beach but all day long people were griping about the heat. Walking out of the store a guy talking to himself said, “Man, it’s hot out here.” The clerk inside Albertson’s didn’t want to take her break outdoors because it was too hot (it reached 83 degrees that day.)

As the day wore on I began to feel the heat more and more with each encounter. Realizing it was definitely beach weather, I headed for the ocean where you can usually find respite. Not a free parking spot was afforded me in Seal Beach where I planned to walk the recently renovated Seal Beach Pier to cool my jets.

So I worked my way to another free beach parking lot a few miles away in Sunset Beach. I hit pay-dirt there and found free parking just feet from the sand. It was slightly warm but an afternoon breeze was moving in.

How spoiled are we beach-dwellers? It’s all relative. Have a beachin’ summer!