Lori and I both love the beach. However, the beach we are in love with looks a little different. This is very probably very much a product of where we grew up. Lori is a Southern California girl. For her the beach is sun, and surf, and sun. The beach is a place to go to lay out in the rays of the wark sun, to play in the waves, and perhaps to walk around a festive boardwalk.
I, however, grew up largely in the Pacific Northwest. For me the beach meant the Oregon Coast. It was scenic, and contemplative, and largely rugged. For a few summer months it could be sunny and useful for ocean sports that might be familiar to those from California or a similar climate, but even in July and August the weather could be pretty much a coin flip. While I always enjoyed the Oregon Coast it looks and feels very different from a California beach.
I, however, grew up largely in the Pacific Northwest. For me the beach meant the Oregon Coast. It was scenic, and contemplative, and largely rugged. For a few summer months it could be sunny and useful for ocean sports that might be familiar to those from California or a similar climate, but even in July and August the weather could be pretty much a coin flip. While I always enjoyed the Oregon Coast it looks and feels very different from a California beach.
And I'm just guessing, but I'm pretty sure I would feel at home near the Ocean in Maine or Ireland or somewhere else grey and misty, and green beneath the salty air. Lori, however, would probably resonate more with the Florida Keys or Tahiti or some Greek Isle. I'm certain there are places where our notion of what the Ocean and beach should be do overlap--places like Kauai where there are daily rains and the mists hang in the rugged mountains overlooking a warm sandy beach with people playing in the surf. 
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