5 Reasons to Have Beach Day at a Lake

Don't get me wrong, I love the sea. (Hello, I'm obsessed with nautical stripes.) When we lived in Switzerland, I would often lament being landlocked. And now, I fully appreciate that I live near the Pacific Ocean. The smell, the soft sand, the sound of waves crashing, searching for seashells -- it's the best. I just never understood why people liked going to lakes, unless they owned a boat or something. 

I definitely started to get it when I visited Lago di Como, the Bodensee, Lago Maggiore, and Lago di Lugano. I was sold after our recent trip to Lake Tahoe.

1. No layer of salt on your skin or raw lips after a swim. OK, so I did not go swimming in Lake Tahoe -- too cold! But Isaiah took a dip, and I have gone swimming in a few of the other lakes I mentioned. Salty mouth is maybe my least favorite thing about swimming in the ocean.

2. The ducks and geese don't really bother you too much. I will take a goose trying to mess with my watermelon chilling in the water ANY day over getting pooped on by a seagull (or having one steal my lunch)!

3. You can chill your watermelon (or beer) in the water! No crazy waves to take it away. It just kind of rolls around a little where you left it (anchored with a rock, of course).

4. Sand doesn't get everywhere. I can only speak for the lake beaches I have been to, but the sand tends to have larger grains, so it's easy to brush them off of basically everything. The fine sand of the Pacific, however, can be such a pain. It sticks to your legs and gets all over the car. Ugh.

5. You can relax in the water on an inflatable lounge chair or raft. No waves to knock you over. No pool edges to crash into. You can even avoid touching that cold lake water for the most part. This is one thing we really regret not doing. Maybe next year.

For more reasons, check out this silly list!