A boardwalk, great food and a relative absence of attitude make Bal Harbour Beach, Fla., a great spur-of-the-moment getaway. (© Doug Castanedo, courtesy Bal Harbour)
With so much water on our temperate continent, we don't really need an ocean for a great beach. Whether standing on the shores of the Platte River or dipping our toes into Lake Michigan, there's no excuse not to cool down during the dog days of summer. I'll never forget when I discovered a Nebraska oasis directly off I-80, converting a ho-hum journey from "here to there" into a "last one in the lake" adventure. Urban beaches provide city dwellers with an excuse to pack a picnic, pack up the kids and cancel Friday afternoon at the office. We may not take all of August off like some cultures do, but we can certainly steal away to sand and surf for a spell. Here's a list of urban beaches where we can cool our jets, lay out our towels and experience the Riviera, North American style. Now where'd I put that summer reading list?
Bal Harbour Beach, Fla.
Love everything about South Beach except the "scene?" Check out Bal Harbour Beach, a more private environment (there are two public access points) that provides great sand and dunes without any of the partying masses. There's a boardwalk, some great Mediterranean-style restaurants like Carpaccio (Italian) and La Goulue (French) and a jetty if you feel like catching your own fish. Largely a residential community, you won't find lifeguards here, but you'll also be free of most of the posers who remain down south strutting their stuff for the masses. You get the drift.
South Boston's sandy escape valve, Carson Beach, sports bocce courts, a new bathhouse and other features that have made it one of the area's more popular beaches. (© Suzanne Kreiter/The Boston Globe via Getty Images)
Carson Beach, South Boston
It's not just that Carson Beach provides an oasis for more than a million people who live a short distance away; the beach's popularity has led the North Dorchester Bay CSO Tunnel Project to include restoration and protection of nearby South Boston and North Dorchester Beaches as part of a $280 million project. Carson Beach already sports a new bathhouse, a signature improvement from the state's "Back to the Beaches" incentive. Should you still feel hesitant to dip more than your toes in the water, you can always amuse yourself at the chess tables, on the bocce ball courts, or in the recently renovated fishing pier and picnic areas. It's only getting sunnier in Beantown as Old Harbor beaches receive new love.
Fremont Beach, Dodge County, Neb.
As I mentioned in the introduction, discovering the town and county park beaches of Nebraska transformed my perspective about crossing this prairie state. Fremont Beach is just 20 minutes from Omaha on the shores of the Platte River. Located within the Platte's system of wetlands, the beach provides a great environment for canoeing, kayaking, and it's also a popular kite surfing location. Excellent campgrounds abound in the area, as do other popular (but not crowded) rest stops including Cottonwood Cove and Bricks Bay.
