We carefully lugged our towels and toys out to the graying boardwalk, our heavy cooler thudding along behind, as if anticipating the long walk down. Rose bushes bloomed to our left, bathrooms to our right. Same old salty, sea air, just as last year.

Turning the corner, we received our first shock . Usually, we couldn’t see the beach from there, just a long boardwalk and more bushes, Now? We were already on the beach, with the tide receding into the waves. Four audible gasps crept into my ears. I recognized one as my own.

The Morse River current was visibly strong, rushing out to meet the wavy surface. Parents slowly towed their kids across the river to the large sandbar, heading out to sea.

First, as always, I jumped into the small wake of water, screeching as the cold splash dripped on my legs. I raced out, knee-deep, before my courage ran out first.

Seeing as it was the first day after Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows had come out, Benjamin sat in his chair and soaked up the first, fresh papers, as the rest of us walked into the river. As soon as I was soaked through, I raced back to read. Benjamin was on a walk by himself, so I hurriedly settled in. His first words when he came back were, “You’re so predictable!”

When Mom and Dad came back, we ate a short lunch of cold-cut sandwiches, fruits, veggies and chips… and maybe a few cookies too!

Benjamin and I snatched up our skim boards and began toward the small lagoon at the mouth of the river. That’s when we realized the second big change. The river was in a different place! The old river was shallow, pumping water faithfully into the large, new Morse River. Perfect for skim boards and clamming.

Thousands of clamshells lay empty under the thin layer of water. We mucked our way through to the large rock, opposite the lagoon, another perfect place, except this time, for starfish to hide away. As we searched a long, slimy piece of seaweed floated to the surface behind me. Mom yelled in fake horror,

“Ah! A snake!” I spun around, screaming like a wild banshee, and raced out of the water. Mom and Dad laughed, while I glared at them with an evil eye. Even so, I couldn’t help but giggle with them.

The sunset glowed with translucent glory, as we packed up our load, considerably lighter after lunch. We all piled into the car, swatting at the mosquitoes and shaking off excess sand. Catching a last breath of salt air, we drove away.

There’s nothing quite like a day at the beach.