Coastal Style Living Blog

Let’s face it, you can’t take a beach vacation without coming back with a gift for the family, friends, in-laws, and the dog and cat. Who says it has to come from the place you visited? Or maybe you have someone that just bought a home on the beach, for a vacation retreat or maybe to live permanently. Or perhaps you live far from the ocean now and just want some mementos to remind you of home or past adventures.

There’s lots of reasons to be in the market for beach and nautical themed gifts, and lucky you, there’s no lack of affordable treasures to choose from, to fit anyone’s taste and imagination.

(more…)

Boy, beach accessories have come a long ways from what they had back in the day. There was a time when all you had was a towel or a blanket to throw down to protect you from the burning sands and the occasional crab trying to crawl up your leg. If you wanted to be stylish, you were pretty much limited to a flashy colored blanket with maybe a silly saying on it. And don’t even think of all the painful memories of dragging lawn chairs all the way out to the beach, struggling to set them up, fighting over who gets one, just to have the legs crumple up or the plastic weaves fall through, or screaming when your arm touched the red hot aluminum strut, much to the amusement of your fellow sunbathers.

(more…)

When preparing for a long summer down the shore, everyone’s checklist includes the same seasonal basics. In addition to your sunblock, beach chair, towel, and flip-flops, don’t forget to secure your trusted cold beverage essential—a beach cooler!

But if you’re like other chic gals and guys, you don’t want to lug a thousand ton tailgate style rolling cooler all the way up the dunes and down to the water. Instead, check out some of these truly one-of-a-kind beach cooler totes and bags designed for optimal functionality and a superior chill.

(more…)

We are probably all familiar with the sight of a sea turtle peacefully paddling its way through the ocean. We’ve seen them on television or at aquariums. Or maybe you’ve been fortunate enough to experience the sight of baby turtles as they make a run for the surf from their nests in the beach sand. There are seven species of sea turtles in the world and six of them are native to U.S. waters: green, hawksbill, Kemp’s ridley, leatherback, loggerhead, and olive ridley. That kind of makes it sound like turtles are thriving here, doesn’t it? Nope. Every one of those species is listed as either Endangered or Threatened. The hawksbill and the Kemp’s ridley, smallest of the species, are considered critically endangered.

Green Turtle
Photo: Andy Bruckner, NOAA

The threats to turtles come from many sources. They can become caught in the nets used for fishing as well as the lines associated with traps and pots. Turtles entangled in this gear often suffer serious injuries to their flippers and can even drown. In addition, long line fishing gear can even hook turtles. Other types of commercial fishing, like the use of heavy dredges dragged along the ocean floor, can crush and entrap turtles. (more…)

Lighthouses have been a fixture along coastlines throughout the globe.  As settlers arrived in the New World and opened ports to trade with their European mother countries, lighthouses were erected up and down the Atlantic coast to safely guide these merchant ships through the often dangerous waters.  While many of these lighthouses still stand they have been obsolete for some time.  Instead of warning ships as they approached the coast they now draw tourists from inland.

Cape Hatteras Lighthouse

(more…)