The Beach On A Budget

[DJ TT 2002]

As I am preparing to take my slightly spoiled children on their second beach vacation this month, I am remembering the very different Beach Trips of my late teens and early twenties....

These experiences might be anachronistic, but

Anybody remember driving all night to the beach to save on the cost of a motel?
And sleeping in the car/ on the beach if you got there too early?

Sneaking into a hotel pool to rinse off the sand so you could change into dry clothes to go out that night?

Ten crashing in the room meant to hold four?

And having so much fun that you never noticed that you were on a shoestring?

[superstarmar]

not exactly in that order but yeah... a couple

[DJ TT 2002]

Originally Posted by superstarmar

not exactly in that order but yeah... a couple

No particular order, HaHa.

Might be an East Coast thing,too
Closest Beach Town was about 3 hours away.

And sometimes we’d hitchhike. Hoky Smokes were we stupid and exceptionally lucky.
Different world

[.brian.]

What beach you heading to?

[goin camping]

Originally Posted by DJ TT 2002

No particular order, HaHa.

Might be an East Coast thing,too
Closest Beach Town was about 3 hours away.

And sometimes we’d hitchhike. Hoky Smokes were we stupid and exceptionally lucky.
Different world

Nope, us low budget west coasters would sneak into the private beach in Laguna and onto the edges of the Gov. beach up by Vandenberg. Or sneak onto all the "No Access" beaches between Santa Barbara and Gaviota.

When you can't pay for the parking, motel or much food you may as well sneak onto the best beaches you can.

P.S. a 30 year old rusted out old VW van is an excellent mobile motel room.

[DJ TT 2002]

Originally Posted by .brian.

What beach you heading to?

Palm Beach.
Things have changed

[enjoythemusic]

Yup. Just another normal day actually in my teens.

[DJ TT 2002]

Originally Posted by goin camping

Nope, us low budget west coasters would sneak into the private beach in Laguna and onto the edges of the Gov. beach up by Vandenberg. Or sneak onto all the "No Access" beaches between Santa Barbara and Gaviota.

When you can't pay for the parking, motel or much food you may as well sneak onto the best beaches you can.

P.S. a 30 year old rusted out old VW van is an excellent mobile motel room.

So true!!
And just as efficient as the 4 Seasons

[Abdullah71601]

Did someone say beach?

I still prefer the tent. The best beaches don't come with hotels anyway.

[~JJ]

Not the beach, but I’ve done everything you mentioned for snowboarding. Once, we arrived at the resort around midnight. Too poor to get a room, so we slept in the front seats of a hatchback car. Snowed 10 inches that night. Woke up frozen and purple, but didn’t slow us down... carved all day grinning ear to ear.

[AzPaul]

If you change the beach to skiing, then most definitely.

[4vCoupe]

Just got back from Destin with the fam. Beaches there were nice and much different than Texas beaches.

I remember as a kid we used to camp on the beach, no motel. I hated it because you couldn’t eat anything without crunching on sand. At night we would rinse off and change but I still felt sticky from the salt. Lastly it never failed that we would put the tent too close to the water and the tide would wake us up. Lol.

Definitely different vacations now with my spoiled kids.


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[Chewbacca]

Originally Posted by DJ TT 2002

As I am preparing to take my slightly spoiled children on their second beach vacation this month, I am remembering the very different Beach Trips of my late teens and early twenties....

These experiences might be anachronistic, but

Anybody remember driving all night to the beach to save on the cost of a motel?
And sleeping in the car/ on the beach if you got there too early?

Sneaking into a hotel pool to rinse off the sand so you could change into dry clothes to go out that night?

Ten crashing in the room meant to hold four?

And having so much fun that you never noticed that you were on a shoestring?

Yes.

And they were the best trips.

[77T]

Your budget will go further at SWFLA Gulf beaches.

I just hosted a family reunion in Mid-June on the beach. You’re right - it evoked 60 years of Summer vacation memories spent on beaches stretching from Longboat Key down to Marco and in between.




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[DJ TT 2002]

Originally Posted by Abdullah71601

Did someone say beach?

I still prefer the tent. The best beaches don't come with hotels anyway.

That looks awesome!!!!

Thanks for sharing Abdullah

[DJ TT 2002]

Originally Posted by ~JJ

Not the beach, but I’ve done everything you mentioned for snowboarding. Once, we arrived at the resort around midnight. Too poor to get a room, so we slept in the front seats of a hatchback car. Snowed 10 inches that night. Woke up frozen and purple, but didn’t slow us down... carved all day grinning ear to ear.

Agreed!
Except for the frostbite, same trip

[DJ TT 2002]

Originally Posted by 4vCoupe

Just got back from Destin with the fam. Beaches there were nice and much different than Texas beaches.

I remember as a kid we used to camp on the beach, no motel. I hated it because you couldn’t eat anything without crunching on sand. At night we would rinse off and change but I still felt sticky from the salt. Lastly it never failed that we would put the tent too close to the water and the tide would wake us up. Lol.

Definitely different vacations now with my spoiled kids.


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Originally Posted by Chewbacca

Yes.

And they were the best trips.

Great memories all around

[brandrea]

I remember high school in the 80’s, driving from Ontario to Ft Lauderdale for spring break. Four guys camping in a van. Good times

[DJ TT 2002]

Originally Posted by 77T

Your budget will go further at SWFLA Gulf beaches.

I just hosted a family reunion in Mid-June on the beach. You’re right - it evoked 60 years of Summer vacation memories spent on beaches stretching from Longboat Key down to Marco and in between.




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Great picture,Paul
Looks like the perfect spot for family fun

We’ve had a place on the East Coast for 30+ years now and it’s really home away from home for my kids.

We still hit Marco from time to time, though. Love it

All the best

T

[DJ TT 2002]

Originally Posted by brandrea

I remember high school in the 80’s, driving from Ontario to Ft Lauderdale for spring break. Four guys camping in a van. Good times

Spot on for the memories I hoped to evoke

[Abdullah71601]

Originally Posted by DJ TT 2002

That looks awesome!!!!

Thanks for sharing Abdullah

Unspoiled beaches are getting hard to find. The construction process building hotels tends to ruin the beach. What is left is more a man-made beach themed park than a real beach.

This one near Sifah Oman, before the hotels were built down the road.

[Frank80]

Originally Posted by DJ TT 2002

Great picture,Paul
Looks like the perfect spot for family fun

We’ve had a place on the East Coast for 30+ years now and it’s really home away from home for my kids.

We still hit Marco from time to time, though. Love it

All the best

T

I grew up here in Pass a Grille beach so I was never more than a couple blocks from the gulf. Luckily my wife shares a love of the water so we live directly across the street from the beach. My mom grew up in West Palm and we visited often; great area. I prefer the sugar sand on the west coast though.

On a side note, the band Slightly Stoopid is playing here next weekend. Coincidence? lol

[brandrea]

Originally Posted by Abdullah71601

Unspoiled beaches are getting hard to find. The construction process building hotels tends to ruin the beach. What is left is more a man-made beach themed park than a real beach.

This one near Sifah Oman, before the hotels were built down the road.

Agreed A

Our little slice of unspoiled paradise on Lake Huron near Amberely Ontario.

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[Abdullah71601]

Originally Posted by brandrea

Agreed A

Our little slice of unspoiled paradise on Lake Huron near Amberely Ontario.

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[superdog]

I was nearly killed in Rhode Island while in school.

Could not afford a room. One buddy slept in the car.

Me and another on the beach. We were covered by morning. The beach cleaning machine driver had no idea we where there. It was an incredibly close call.

Slept in the car many times after that. Some of the best times of my life.

[tudorbaja27]

When I was 14-16, we used to go to the Black Sea in Romania on school trips. It was cheap,Crappy lodging, crappy food, but we always escaped at night and partied til 5 am! Ahh, those great times!

[DJ TT 2002]

Originally Posted by superdog

I was nearly killed in Rhode Island while in school.

Could not afford a room. One buddy slept in the car.

Me and another on the beach. We were covered by morning. The beach cleaning machine driver had no idea we where there. It was an incredibly close call.

Slept in the car many times after that. Some of the best times of my life.

I’m with you, Seth.
You don’t miss what you’ve never experienced.
We were young and carefree.
And the beach was enough to make the trip a success!
Minus being buried alive, of course

Originally Posted by tudorbaja27

When I was 14-16, we used to go to the Black Sea in Romania on school trips. It was cheap,Crappy lodging, crappy food, but we always escaped at night and partied til 5 am! Ahh, those great times!

Ah,to be awake past 2200 Hours
Those were the days