A Week at the Beach: 100 Life-Changing Things You Can Do by the Seashore

I loved this book! It has lots of great ideas to keep you at the beach.

This book isn't going to change your life.. but it really is a nice, light, fun book. It's a nice book for families or anyone heading for the beach. I bought it as a fun summer read and added it to my special bookshelf for decoration.

The Hubals' book could easily be subtitled "How to Get the Most Pleasure, Joy, Growth, and Unadulterated Fun Out of Your Beach Vacation." It is really three books in one: 1) a guide to making any beach vacation the vacation of a lifetime, 2) an entry-level self-help book that focuses on fun, and 3) a collection of funny, fascinating, sometimes useful, and sometimes wonderfully bizarre beach trivia. Buy it and read it (it takes perhaps an hour) twice a year: once when planning your beach vacation, and again when you first arrive at the beach and kick off your shoes. At worst, this book will make for a better vacation; at best, it will change your life.

First, I am fiftyish and intend to retire in northern Minnesota where summer is short and winter is deep and long. Still the message here is applicable to that environment. Beaches have the reputation for soulful activities outlined in this book, but the lessons can be applied anywhere you feel comfortable with the nature around you. I found the trivia informative and the thought behind the activities to be provoking. I highly recommend it.

In "A Week at the Beach", the Hubals have captured the essence of the sun and sea. Some of the suggested activities took me back to childhood experiences -- things I did in youthful innocence and had long since forgotten. Bits of wisdom, obscure facts, silly puns and occasional challenges are nestled between the mix of fun and inspirational activities. (Do you know the history of the bikini or why the Peruvians call the warm Pacific current El Nino?) Inspiring and well-written, this book will be a permanent part of our beach trips as I look forward to re-creating some of those childhood memories!!