Have you ever been lying on the beach, basking in the sun, listening to music or maybe reading a book and suddenly thought, “I need some water,”? You go down to reach for the Deer Park plastic water bottle you got out of the fridge that morning and to your disappointment it’s covered in sand and is the temperature of warm bath water.
You set it down and continue what you were doing, except now all you can think about is a sip of ice-cold water. You see someone else a couple towels down take a cold water out of the cooler they brought, and your mouth starts to feel like the Sahara Desert. You get in the ocean, because that’ll make the thirst go away…right? WRONG! The saltiness just made it worse. I can paint this picture so perfectly and accurately because it happens to me every day, every year I go to the beach.
Every summer since ninth grade, I have gone to the beach with my three best friends: Alex, Kaleigh, and Diana. Alex’s parents always let us tag along on their family beach vacation, including when they rented a house in Bethany (twice), rented a house in the Outer Banks, and even now after they bought their own beach house in Bethany this fall. The four of us are obviously ecstatic since Bethany is only a three hour drive and all of us have our licenses. We don’t need a week that works for 10 people now. Girl’s Night has officially been moved to the beach for the summer.
Anyway, with all the weekend beach trips we plan to take June-August, I figure I need to fix my intense thirst problem that was previously described. My first thought was get a cooler. However, that requires lots of work. First I’d have to research all the different cooler types and sizes, and find enough money to buy even a decent one. Also, since I am going to college in Wisconsin, a cooler is something I will not be using frequently. So even if I get a cooler, I have to take into account buying ice bags, storing ice-bags, putting the ice in the cooler and carrying it down to the beach. My friends are very active people, so naturally we already have our hands full with Spike Ball, KanJam, Corn-hole, and even the kayak we always rent. Don’t forget about beach chairs, umbrellas, and a beach bag (containing my sunscreen, book, sunglasses and WATER). Add a heavy cooler to the mix? I don’t think I would make it.
So I gave up on trying to fix my problem and chose to shrug my shoulders and say, “Well, I won’t have to deal with it till the summer.”
But then a new water bottle swept our nation. Teens everywhere have been spotted carrying a S’well bottle. The new stainless steel, insulated bottle keeps drinks cold for 24 hours and hot for 20 hours. There are tons of different designs and they come in 3 different sizes for your convenience.
I now have 2 in my possession and am relieved to have found the solution to my thirst. I cannot wait to bring my new S’wells to the beach this summer and sip on ice-cold water while reading Harry Potter and soaking in the sun.