When you are as pale as I am, it takes some serious planning to spend the day at the beach. I think I have just about perfected my beach bag and wagon packing skills, so I figured I’d share how I prepare for a fun, delicious, day at the beach with minimal sunburning.

A wagon

• Beach umbrella or tent, we got ours at Costco

• Beach chairs, also from Costco

• Cooler

  • Water

  • Beer/grown up juice

  • Soda

  • Pub Sub or Chicken Salad Chick, we get Chicken Salad Chick if we go to the beach on a Saturday, and Publix subs on Sundays because CSC is closed.

  • Chips

  • Fruit

• Extra sturdy stakes or augers for your tent

Sturdy beach bag

• Beach towels

• Approximately 2 gallons of SPF 50+ sunscreen, ALWAYS lotion base, only use the spray for touch ups.

• Hats and sunglasses, we LOVE our goodr sunglasses and they come is tons of fun colors

• Trash bag, napkins, wet wipes, I use a quart size ziplock bag and put folded paper towels, wet wipes, and a grocery bag inside to keep all of my “cleaning” supplies together

Dry clothes bag

• Car towels, for the drive home

• Dry clothes, in case we want to stop anywhere on the way home, like Dixie Crossroads

We use these big augers to keep our sport-brella tent secure. We have lost a couple of quick shades and umbrellas to the intense wind of the East coast, so now we use extra protection (that’s what she said).

Our favorite snacks for the beach are Rainier cherries or grapes, chips and homemade salsa or cowboy caviar, and alcohol.

And since we went to the beach on a Sunday this particular trip, we got Pub subs, and snuck some beer onto the beach, like rebels.

When the temperature hovers around 100 degrees , and the humidity is creeping in on 100%, you need to get yourself to the edge of the earth, put your toes in the sand, and splash in the ocean. It’s a summer requirement.

On our way home from the beach, we like to get ice cream or some other kind of frosty treat. This time we stopped at Andy’s Frozen Custard, our first visit, and we were delighted. Christopher had a key lime pie concrete and I had a Rico suave jackhammer. Delish.

Do you have any must pack items you take to the beach? Leave your beach trip favorites in the comments.