Friday Five: Beach Trip

Mother Laura posted questions about beach trips at RevGalBlogPals. Since I live pretty close to beaches being in Corpus Christi, TX, the above picture seemed appropriate.

So in honor of summer, please share your own beachy memories, plans, and dreams with a "Beach Trip" Friday Five.

1. Ocean rocks, lake limps? Vice versa? Or "it's all beautiful in its own way"?
I mostly grew up with beaches in the Pacific Northwest, which are usually rocky and rugged. But for 30 years (off and on) we've lived on the Gulf Coast of Texas, where the beaches are long and sandy. I love looking for shells and rocks in the Northwest, but there aren't many down here.

So I'd say I love beaches in any form (except polluted and dirty).

2. Year round beach living: Heaven...or the Other Place?
I would love to live on the beach all year round, especially on an Oregon beach.

3. Any beach plans for this summer?
Not really.

4. Best beach memory ever?
I have wonderful memories of husband CB and I taking our babies and toddlers to Mustang Island State Park every weekend on hot summer days. I would often sit under an umbrella, nursing a baby and watching everyone play. We liked that state park, because vehicles were not allowed to be driven on the sand, which happens at public beaches in TX.

I also loved the times we could walk on Newport, OR beaches when we lived in Oregon while CB was going to grad school (long, long ago). Sometimes on vacations we would go visit there, and the times at Gold Beach and Lincoln City with the children are memorable. It would often by cold, but there was such fun looking for shells and rocks--and the kids would play in the sand, climb the rocks, and build forts with the driftwood.

5. Fantasy beach trip?
A few years ago, after CB helped AE move up to Seattle, he and I went on a driving trip back to TX and stayed several days in a house on Gold Beach. I would so like to do that again, and the house was big enough to have all our children join us. That would be a fantasy come true!