I spent more than half of my life living less than a half hour from the beach, and I wouldn't trade that experience for anything. Summers were spent either playing on the beach, or working on the beach. Vacations were spent at the beach. The beach quickly became an important part of my life, and it also taught me some things over the past ten years that no one really thought to warn me about.

1. Living in a Ghost Town is a real issue.

Every year, from the end of May to the end of August beach towns are flooded with vacationers. This means that every store and restaurant is open for the season. But once the local schools are back in session, it is officially "off-season." The streets empty out, the shops and restaurants close, and the locals are just out of luck. I can't tell you how many times I have gone to a store only to get there and realize it's closed for the season, or tried to go to lunch at a restaurant only to see its open for dinner only on Friday through Sunday. Once school starts, the town goes into hibernations.

2. The Locals

Being a local in a beach town is like a badge of honor. When people hear that you live at the beach town, they think you are the luckiest person but in reality that's not the case. Locals stick together during the offseason, and they basically are the workplace of the town (other than summer locals, which is a whole other story) and can be spotted in almost every ship you enter.

3. The Summer Locals (Slocals)

Summer locals are similar but very different from the locals. Summer locals come to town every summer and stay for the whole summer, becoming a part of the community for the summer, but leaving again in August. Many of these locals return to town every summer, making them locals in the people's eyes (but it's always fun to call them slocals).

4. The Food

In a beach town, we have the foods that we are known for and hold near and dear to our hearts. For my town we love our dune fries and Fractured Prune, and its even better that they are actually open in the off season.

5. Traffic

You can ask any local, but one of the worst, if not the worst thing about the summer is the traffic. One day, you can take all the left hand turns you want, and the next you have to add twenty minutes onto your five minute commute.

6. Concerts during the season

In beach towns, there tends to be the local form or entertainment, whether it be a bandstand or an outdoor stage. These places bring in small acts, that help to enhance the feeling of summer even more. There's nothing more summery than sitting on a lawn, listening to good music with your friends.

7. Tourists

Tourists are the ones who help our small towns thrive, but they can also be a thorn in our side. They flood our town on Memorial Day and they run away on Labor Day. Sometimes in beach towns it can be tourists vs locals, but in our town, as long as you drive like a sane person and don't feed the seagulls next to me on the beach, we're fine.

8. Fourth of July

The Fourth of July is probably the busiest week of the season in beach towns. The town is at max capacity, which is good for making money, but not so good for the locals sanity. Unfortunately, many of the locals don't get the chance to lean back and watch the fireworks. They're much too busy serving the influx of people who come to watch the fireworks. Fourth of July is a blast if you somehow were able to get that precious day off.

9. Drive On's

The Drive On beaches are somewhat of a treasure for my beach town, I'm not too sure about the others. In order to get to this beach, you have to buy a seasonal pass meaning that it is rare to see anyone other than locals and slocals there. The Drive On has given me years of picking a direction and walking in the sand until I found one of my friends, and then returning to my family. The Drive On is an escape from the crowded beach, to our own local oasis.

10. The Boardwalk

The boardwalk is one of those tourist attractions that also attracts the locals too. When I got a little bit older, when my friends and I were bored we would make our way to the boardwalk to eat and people watch. The Boardwalk offers some great, free entertainment to us beach dwellers.

11. Shopping

I was fortunate enough to grow up with the outlets fifteen minutes away from me, but not all beach towns are that lucky. In a beach town, you can find the towns name printed on every piece of clothing you can think of, but if you need a belt you are probably all out of luck. (Malls, are also a joke to the people in my town).

12. That Small Town Feel

Living in a beach town has given me that small town feel, while letting me interact with people from all over and all walks of life. I went to a small school, and I knew everyone who lived in my neighborhood. In the summer, I have always known at least one person in every shop I would walk into. My town feels small to me, but in the summers the population doubles and makes me feel as if I'm in foreign territory, but that's just the way I grew up

Growing up in a beach town is a once in a lifetime experience, and it has changed me for the better growing up where I did. Beach towns are the hidden gems of America, and everyone should find a way to see into our way of life.