Would two inches really make a difference? No, I wasn’t taking a sex quiz. I was buying a new beach chair. After my first trip to the Jersey Shore this June, I had to admit I could no longer get up from my sand chair without a struggle. Another sign of getting older.
My neighbor Ian, who’s younger than me, switched to “an old man” chair a few years ago after his heart surgery. My good friend Jennifer, who’s 78, said she stopped using a low chair after her son had to pull her up. Now it was my time.
I’m a beach person who spends many weeks at our family bungalow at the Jersey Shore. I must have the right chair and it must meet certain requirements. I loved everything about my current chair, except it was low. For years I’d been using a backpack beach chair either by Tommy Bahama or Rio, two leading brands.
The chair has four positions. The padded straps are really comfortable as I throw the chair onto my back. It has a cup holder and a large pouch where I store my towel, book, sun screen, and water bottle. I tote my little clip-on umbrella with my free hand. The fabric dries quickly after a swim.
Each chair lasted a couple of years until it got rusty or a strap broke. I decided my new chair for the summer of 2026 had to be higher. (A low sand chair is 6-10 inches and 11-14 inches is midrange to high.) I thought the one I was replacing was 11 inches off the sand. I could get the exact same chair in a model that was 13 inches. It was called the Rio Big Boy chair. Or should I go even higher?
I was afraid my feet would be dangling if I bought a chair that was 17 inches, and even the 15 inches seemed too high. (I’m 5’5”.) I definitely wanted my feet in the sand. So I ordered the 13 inch Big Boy Chair and held my breath, waiting for it to be delivered. It seemed kind of sexist that they didn’t have a Big Girl Chair.
I’d spent over an hour checking different brands and different models. I learned that a backpack chair did not necessarily include a pouch, which was important to me. All chairs came with at least a shoulder strap but a single strap is not the same as two back pack straps. I also checked weight. The chair I currently owned weighed eight pounds and was easy to carry. The new one weighed the same.
That night I was at a dinner party with a group of older women, all over 60. As I described my shopping spree, everyone seemed to relate. Someone reassured me that two inches would make a big difference. She said it had to do with gravity.
While I waited for the evil empire to deliver my chair I had one more day on the beach in my old chair. I went with my niece, who was visiting me, so if I got stuck, she could help me up. The beach was pretty empty, so if I needed an assist, no one would witness my humiliation. I managed to rise on my own, but it required a lot of effort from my arms. This was not fun. I was ready for the Big Girl Chair.
I’m on a barrier island and don’t have a car so I order a lot of stuff online. The beach supply stores within walking distance are overpriced.
Two days later, my chair arrived and I eagerly took it out of the box. I opened it up and sat down. Other than being a different color, it looked the same as my old one. But it definitely felt easier to get up. Then I put the two chairs next to each other and measured the height. They were exactly the same. How could this be?
So I went into my computer and asked Alexa to review my purchasing history. Turns out I had bought the 13 inch Big Boy in July 2023 for $60.63. (This year I paid $84.99.) So why did this one feel much better? Probably because the new seat was taut and the other was saggy. I decided to keep my purchase because the strap on my old chair had just snapped and returning would’ve been a pain. And I liked these colors much better: aqua and green. My old chair was blue and red and the last thing I wanted in 2026 was beach gear that looked patriotic. I’m a Greenwich Village liberal in Republican Ocean County where grown men wear red white and blue bathing trunks. Our beach club badges for this 250th anniversary year feature an American flag logo.
Back to my shopping search, I could have sworn my old chair was 11 inches, but maybe that was the one before. I wondered if my memory was starting to go, but I realized this was a ridiculous test. Forgetting the height of a beach chair bought three years ago did not mean my mind was slipping.
I’m thrilled that I’m still able to walk to the beach, saunter down the sand, open my chair, enjoy the afternoon, watch the waves and the surfers, and frolic in the ocean.
When this new purchase dies, I may break down and buy the higher “old lady” chair, but for this summer I’m relaxing in the midrange, pretending I’m still middle aged, as I dig my feet into the sand.
