My Own Shade at the Water's Edge: The GCI Chair Story

Somewhere around the third trip from the car to the sand, I stopped counting my steps and started counting my regrets. The cooler. The tote of towels. The bag of shovels and buckets. The snacks. The baby wipes. The spare clothes for Ava, because Ava is four and the ocean is a dare she cannot resist. By the time I had everything arranged in a rough circle, my left knee was talking to me and my spot in the sun was already too hot to enjoy.

That was last summer, and it was the summer I finally admitted something to myself: I am 67 years old, I live fifteen minutes from the beach in Gulf Shores, Alabama, and I had been spending my beach days either hauling gear or sitting in the sun with a towel over my head. Neither one felt like a vacation. My daughter Kristen kept telling me I needed a better chair. I kept telling her I needed a better knee. Then my son-in-law Dave showed up one Saturday with a GCI Outdoor chair he had spotted on sale, and he set it up in the driveway like he was presenting a prize.

I will be honest: I did not expect much. I have owned beach chairs that folded, beach chairs that rocked, beach chairs that claimed to recline and then dumped me backward into the sand. But this GCI Outdoor Sunshade Backpack Beach Chair is the one I have used every beach weekend since, and it is the one I am sitting in right now, typing these notes on my phone while Lily, Mason and Ava build a sandcastle that is already bigger than Mason's ambitions.

The first thing I noticed is how it carries. The chair has carry straps, so it rides on my back like a backpack, which leaves both hands free for the tote and the cooler. At 10.2 pounds, it is not featherlight, but it is light enough that I can manage it across the soft sand without stopping to rest, and that matters more to me than any other feature on the chair. When I set it down and unfolded it, the canopy went up with the chair, and for the first time in years I had my own shade at the water's edge.

For the first time in years I had my own shade at the water's edge, and I did not have to hold a towel over my head to keep it.

The canopy is the part I did not know I needed until I had it. It is adjustable and rated UPF 50, which means I can angle it to block the morning sun or let the afternoon rays through when the kids are in the water and I want a little warmth on my shoulders. The chair reclines in four positions, so I can sit up straight to keep an eye on the water or lean back and close my eyes for five minutes while Kristen watches the kids. The armrests are sturdy enough that I can push myself up without grabbing the frame, and the drink holder keeps my water bottle out of the sand where Mason would otherwise use it as a shovel target.

There is a large back pocket on the chair, and I have filled it with everything from sunscreen to a spare pair of Ava's shoes. I like that the chair has a solid back, because it means nothing pokes me when I lean back, and I like that the whole thing wipes clean, because beach chairs meet a lot of sand and sunscreen and melted popsicle in a summer with three grandchildren.

Now, the honest part. The seat height is 11 inches, which is low enough that it is not a dining room chair, and if you have a bad knee like mine, you will want to sit into it rather than drop into it. I have learned to turn around, hold the armrests, and lower myself in slowly. It is also not a chair you want to drag across the sand by one armrest; the carry straps are the right way to move it, and once I stopped being stubborn about that, my knee stopped complaining. The 250-pound weight capacity has never been a question for me, but it is worth knowing the number before you buy.

What surprised me most is how much more of the beach day I actually get to be present for. When I am not baking in the sun or hauling gear, I am the grandmother who is actually watching Lily try to teach Mason to do a handstand in the shallows. I am the one who sees Ava spot a hermit crab before anyone else does. I am sitting in my own shade, with my water bottle in the holder, watching the people I love do exactly what I brought them here to do.

What I'd Tell You If We Were Sitting at My Kitchen Table

If you came over for coffee and told me you were thinking about a beach chair with a canopy, here is what I would say. Do not buy the cheapest folding chair you can find and hope for the best. You will spend the whole day holding your towel over your head and the whole evening with sand in places you did not know you had. Buy the chair that actually fits the way you spend your beach days, and if your beach days look anything like mine, that means something you can carry on your back, something that gives you shade, and something you can get out of without a crane.

I would also tell you that the GCI Outdoor chair is not going to change your life overnight. It is a well-made, thoughtfully designed beach chair that does what it is supposed to do, and it has made my beach days measurably better. That is the whole story. I do not get paid to say that, and I am not trying to sell you anything. I am just a grandmother who spent too many summers squinting, and I want you to know there is a better way to sit at the water's edge.

The next time you are packing the car for the beach, pack a chair that carries itself. Your knees will thank you, your grandchildren will thank you, and you might finally get to enjoy the part of the beach day you have been missing. That is the part I am sitting in right now.