Don't You Think The BEACH Just Makes EVERYTHING A Little Better?

As March approached, Caitlin and I began to get excited; it was getting close to Spring Break time for her.  And you know what THAT meant...BEACH TIME!  We would be throwing our swimsuits and flip-flops in our suitcases and heading out to our FAVORITE BEACH; South Beach in Miami!

When Caitlin was a junior in high school, she and I began going to South Beach during Spring Break.  Robby and I travel to Miami a lot and our family even traveled there for vacation one year, so South Beach was the natural place for us to return.  Spring Break often comes in March and the weather on the beaches closer to our home sometimes turns out to be a little too cool for that time of the year.  South Beach, however, is tropical and the temperatures are pretty constant.

What do we do while in Miami?  Why, lay out on the BEACH, of course.  The pools at the hotels there are lovely, but REALLY...why would you go to the beach and not stay out on the beach?  Each morning finds us packing our beach bag with sunscreen, Kindles and i-pods.  We find some cushioned lounge chairs,  get an umbrella for later in the day and then plop down to listen to the lap of the waves on the shore.

There is just something restorative about being on the beach.  I'm not sure if it's the feel of the warmth on one's skin after the cold of winter or the sand that gets stuck between your toes or even the rhythmic beat of the waves that can be heard splashing against those sandy shores.  It seems that the air is fresher, cleaner and a deep breath can be taken with ease.  For me this year, the beach will be bittersweet.

I have been quite stressed with all of the wedding planning, book publishing and other things currently going on in my life, so the thought of getting on a plane that would eventually take me to a lounge chair that would just simply allow my mind to go on a little holiday was the thought that had kept me going for weeks and months now.  The part of this beach trip, however, that would be bittersweet was the fact that I did not know when I would ever be able to share this special yearly trek Caitlin and I made together; next year she would be married, working and possibly starting a family of her own.  I decided to be "Scarlett" again and  "not think about those things" on this trip.

After getting up at 3:30 a.m. on Sunday (along with that "Spring Forward" time change...) and  getting on a plane at 6, we finally made it to our "Tropical Paradise"!