Secret Beach

I want to share with you a most romantic travel experience - the story of our secret beach. My husband and I travel on a skinny budget and camp for days. I really love to camp - there is nothing like dinner on a campfire and waking up to the birds singing, but picture this: we find an irresistible tiny motel clinging to ocean cliffs, overhanging a sandy beach. As a treat, we splurge and book a night.

all photos are copyrighted by Me - Teapixie! :)

Settling into our cozy motel with a view of the ocean, we watch the waves crashing on the shore. There are whales, seals, dolphins, pelicans and seagulls enjoying our new-found beach. Drinking a pot of steaming tea, we stare into the horizon until the sky darkens and the stars become our evening fairy lights. It is so lovely to fall asleep knowing those creatures are just beyond our shore.

The next morning, we awake early to the sounds of the seagulls fighting over the morning's catch. With our feet up, we nibble fresh croissants and slurp steaming cups of tea, all the while watching the never-ending inhale and exhale of the waves. And then, we explore. Skipping down the many stairs that take us to the beach we can see headlands jutting out into the sea surf.

Beyond the stairs lays driftwood strewn about, and stacked and propped up to make windbreaks in the powdery white sand. There are already little groups of people gathering behind the windbreaks, setting up their picnics, and children kicking off their shoes. As we continue moving toward the tide, our toes meet packed wet sand where young artists have begun drawing happy faces and sunshine stars with sticks; ocean-side treasures await hands that will brush them off and stuff them into pockets. Feeling bravery awash me, I walk straight into the booming waves. I suck my breath in and race straight back to the shore; the icy water is far too cold. But to my surprise, as I race for the shore I see the tiny town crawling up the hillside behind our motel. Petite houses, which appear to have clung to that hillside for years and years, line skinny one-way roads that are shouldered with blackberry bushes and wild roses. There is so much to explore here.

I love grabbing my family and running to a secret place, away from the regular hubbub of the day. I think there's a reason why kids like to build forts out of pillows and blankets and chairs and it's because they need to get away. Sometimes I just feel like setting up the tent in the living room (yes, I really do it) just so that we can feel like we are in a cozy hide-a-way space. In this age of communication technology, sometimes hiding can be as simple as turning off the telephone. Think about how you hide and give us some insight. Maybe you'll help someone else come up with an idea for retreating from the world.

As the tide recedes we must decide which way to walk on the beach. To the north the headlands bring the beach to an end. To the south, the sand runs on forever. I want to go north and explore that craggy hillside. Atop the headland is another motel, perched perilously on ground that appears to be moving, moving slowly over time, that is. As we get closer to the headland I can see that the hillside is steeper than I thought - there is no way we can scamper up to catch a glimpse of the ocean's expanse from above. I turn toward the shore and see a cave - a cave!

Caves are very strange for me - I'm usually scared to death by them, but always feel this need to go in. Once inside I'm so frightened I have to turn around. I'm thinking of the caves in Lava Beds National Monument, where we attempted to explore one very cool cave and, after we were far enough in to have to use our head lamps, I panicked. Unable to breath, I exited as fast as I could, aiming for the warm air of the outside world. So, going inside this cave could be a challenge - until I realize it isn't a cave but a tunnel.

We travel through that tunnel to a secret beach on the other side. The beach consists of pebbles, shells, beach glass, and large lava outflows. It is a lovely place to fly a kite - there is no one around. We feel like we've found the centre of the earth - that private space where no one can get you. The centre of the earth: there would be no rules, no public/private spaces, no cars, no cell phones, no computers, no tvs. Heavenly. That's how this beach feels.

We are so enamoured with this little beach that we need more time. There has to be another day here. The tide will come in and bring a whole new set of treasures to be found. This is our beach, no one else can have those treasures. Now, as you read this, you can see how crazy we are. We didn't create that tunnel. It existed before we visited and has been traveled by others and will be traveled by others and the beach is owned by the ocean, not us. But do you know that feeling? It's like having one of those fantastic dreams where you walk down a tunnel to find a door, the door leads into a chamber and the chamber is filled with gems - gems that are owned only by you, the discoverer. That dream for me is owned by me - it doesn't matter if other people have the dream, only I have my version of that dream. This beach represents that room of gems and I really don't want to share. The funny part? We are staying on an expansive beach and we have no desire to walk it's miles. We just want this little beach.

We decide we must stay one more night.

The next morning before leaving for our 12 hour day of driving, we race to the beach and through the tunnel, to find someone else on the Secret Beach. They turn to see us coming and it's written all over their face, "Get OUT - this is my beach!" We stay long enough to gather a few treasures and leave the beach to its first visitors. We understand the feeling, completely.

I can't tell you where this beach is. I've had people with bags of money who pushed me against the wall, wanting to know it's location. I can't give it up, I'm sorry. There really is something to be said for saving special places from being overrun. I am really sorry to have tempted you with this story, but it's one that needed to be told. I go back to that beach every 5 years or so, but I go there more often in my mind. I suggest you find your own secret beach and make it your escape. Sometimes we all need to "get off the grid," even if we're sitting at our computers when we do it.

all photos are copyrighted by Me - Teapixie. :)

Tell us all which would be your favourite kite to fly on the beach?

Please tell us all what hou have found on the beach so that we can all dream. :)

No matter how beautiful a beach, I always think of buried treasure, gold, silver, gems!!! I have lost so much jewelry on the beach that I know a person with a metal detector would get rich.

I am a lucky owner of a metal detector. The sand scoop at the end of the list is a must-have for anyone - with or without a metal detector.

Metal detecting on the beach is environmentally friendly - not only do you clean up the beach, the holes you dig are replaced with sand by the ever-changing tides. It's a win-win experience.

Here is a fabulous place on the West Coast of Canada where many secret beaches can be found. Beaches are public and you can walk for miles here when the tides are low. This is such a lovely place to visit!

Do you dream of a secret beach or a secret place, all your own? Or, do you have a secret place that you visit, that you can describe, that you'd like to share with us? You don't have to give names or locations, just tell us about it. I love secret hide-aways.