The beach here is somewhat different than other places. First off, you can drive your vehicle right on it. So when I go to the beach, I drive my truck straight to the beach, usually ~10 feet from the waters edge. This makes it easy to get my stuff setup. I usually take a pop-up canopy, comfy chairs, a big cooler with ice and cold "beverages". A great blue tooth speaker with some nice tunes. If the waters right I bring my surf rods, set out about 2-3 of those with live or dead bait, 100-200 yards out in the surf. If the waters really good I bring my trout pole and fish lures. Occasionally I will carry a small BBQ pit and cook, and when we were younger we had a volleyball net we would set-up. When the kids were little it was a lot of fun, they could play in the sand for hours and chase crabs. A few gallons of freshwater and a small tub helps keep the ick factor down (especially washing off your feet). When you get ready to leave douse yourself with fresh water helps a lot. I've heard from old timers that would go to PINS (Padre Island National Seashore where UTEE just camped) that rubbing baby powder on your skin helps with the sand and such.