My friend suggested a beach day, stationed at the Conover Pavilion. She mentioned that there was a large, grassy parking lot that was for daily guests, and that I could purchase parking time for my spot through the Premium Parking app. Well, when I arrived, the area was full of cars, but a crossing guard told me that I could park on any of the neighboring residential streets, as an alternative. So, the closed lot wound up being helpful in that I was able to park for free and with almost the same level of convenience.
Once my friend and I resolved our parking situations, we walked up to the main building to pay the $12 beach entrance fee, for which they only accepted credit cards. After we obtained our daily bracelets, we approached the main pavilion area, which included reasonably clean bathrooms, locker rooms, changing areas, several tables, and a well-stocked snack bar and grill. In fact, we decided to get lunch from the stand, and my Grilled Chicken California whole wheat wrap (with grilled chicken, avocado, lettuce, and tomato) was pretty great! The chicken was a tad dry, but the vegetables were super fresh. I was shocked at the selection of healthy and flavorful options they had; your standard hot dogs and hamburgers were not the only items on offer. They also served a variety of chips, novelty ice cream bars, non-alcoholic drinks, and more. We were even able to easily get a table at which to enjoy our food.
The beach was fluffy, clean, and not overly crowded. Plus, they had showers both on the beach itself and up on the deck of the Pavilion, making it easy to clean off before leaving the venue.
Overall, it was a beautiful and relaxing day at the shore. In fact, while I had not been sure if I had been to Conover in the past, I immediately recognized it from my childhood, which was a nice memory with which to be surprised! read more