Thursday, June 16th, 2011
Explore the Outdoors received 10 GREAT tips from a mom who has averaged 3 trips to the beach each week for the past 8 years. We had to share!
1. Pushing a jogging stroller across the sand is hard. Pushing a regular stroller across the sand that is loaded with beach supplies is nearly impossible. Pulling/dragging strollers backwards works the best. Of even better, figure out a way to leave the stroller in the car!
2. Baby powder works great to sprinkle on kids of all ages who are coated with damp sand. The baby powder absorbs the extra moisture and the sand easily brushes off. The baby powder won’t work if you are dripping wet…but damp it will work perfectly.
3. To keep your water cold and ditch the heavy cooler, freeze your drinks. You can also freeze the CapriSun type juice pouches. Freezing square juice boxes sometimes works — and sometimes it blows out the shape of the box making it hard to drink. You can also freeze grapes. Your drinks will slowly melt in and be cool and ready to sip on when you need a break. If you catch them at the right stage of melting, the juice pouches are like slushies.
4. Ziploc Bags with the zipper work best for keeping sand out of phones and cameras. 
5. Forget flip-flops. Instead wear fuzzy socks. It’s actually REALLY hard to walk across dry sand in flops (no traction) and if the hot sand creeps in the sides it can make little toes get hot, fast! Instead, break out those fuzzy winter socks. Fuzzy socks stay on feet and keep out the hot sand as you cross the beach. Bonus tip: if you go to the beach a lot, designate one pair of socks per family member as beach socks, let them dry in the sun after each use and keep them with the sand toys. Fuzzy socks collect A LOT of sand which is not washing machine and dryer friendly. At the end of the season, clean your socks in a bucket of water outside before you even think about throwing them in the machine.
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Tags: beaches, kids, Lake Erie, mom, Ohio, tips | Posted in Beaches | 2 Comments »
Tuesday, June 14th, 2011
With Ohio’s entire 312-mile shore, it can be hard to decide which beach to visit! With the helpful tips from one of our friends in the Office of Coastal Management, we’ve come up with a great list! These beaches were picked based mostly on foot friendly sand and shallow nearshore areas.
1. East Harbor State Park (Ottawa County)
- The Upside: The beach is right near the parking lot and most of the marked off swimming area is less than three feet deep.
- The Downside: Algai blooms could be an issue in mid to late summer, but between our lake Erie Public Access Guide and the Ohio Department of Health’s new water quality monitoring webpages, keeping yourself informed of any water quality issues should be easy.
2. Nickelplate Beach in Huron (Erie County)
- The Upside: The beach has super soft sand and lots of sandbars in the nearshore. By mid-summer these are usually pushed close to shore and there are large areas that you can frolic and play. A bonus is the marked swimming area goes out far enough that adults can find good deep water to swim in. There are a few food vendors that set-up in the parking lots and an appropriately named restaurant called “Sand Bar” is within walking distance.
- The Downside: Pushing strollers across the sand is hard. But there are often guys playing volleyball near the courts by the parking lot. For a friendly smile, they usually offer struggling moms a hand. While there is no running water at the beach, there are port-o-potties. The city of Huron is planning on beach renovation at the park and they may have running water this summer if all goes well.
- In the Middle: Waves — When the waves are here, they are fun to play in. But caution must be used as the sand bars combined with waves have caused dangerous currents.
3. Kellys Island State Park (Erie County Island)
- The Upside: Your on an island. Great views. Clearer water as there is not a major tributary to put sediment into the water and foot friendly sand.
- The Downside: Getting to the island. But, kids travel free or cheap on most ferries.
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Tags: beaches, friendly, kid, Lake Erie, Ohio, soft sand, strollers | Posted in Beaches | No Comments »
