Where's your beach?

As a kid, I didn't like, or appreciate, the beach. The ocean scared me -- and was too cold. The sand got in everything -- and was too hot. And there always seemed to be too many people -- yet I had no one to play with.

What a difference a few years, and working in an office, make. Now I pine for the beach -- a warm, sandy beach with ocean waves lapping the shore. Indeed, few things soothe and de-stress me more than a long walk along the beach in the early morning or late in the day. Heaven.

Over the years, I have had the good fortune to visit many wonderful beaches across the United States and abroad -- from Massachusetts to Long Island; North Carolina to Florida; California to Hawaii. Each of them has their charms.

I love Sanibel Island, Florida, for the shelling...

Bermuda for its pink sand, warm water (in summer), and swimming with the fishes...

and St. Martin for the amazing beachfront sunsets...

But only on Kiawah Island, in South Carolina, can you go walking and biking along the beach for miles...

and yet feel like you are the only ones there...

Indeed, with 10 miles of beach to explore, Kiawah is a beach-lover's paradise, where you never know what (or who) you will stumble across.

Perhaps a toy boat...

 Or a bright yellow dump truck...

A sunbathing whelk...

Or a stranded jellyfish...

The beach at Kiawah is even beautiful when clouded over by an approaching storm...

So where's your beach?

Let me know via the Comments.