I have always had mixed feelings about swimming in cold water and my idea of paradise is floating in the warm waters of the Caribbean. But I grew up on the Connecticut shore of Long Island Sound and spent most summer days on the beach and in the chilly water. (My mother's rule was that we had to come out and get warmed up if our lips turned blue.)

After attending college far from my beloved beach and then living in Paris for five years, I moved to Seattle with my former husband. It was August and hot when we arrived. We headed for the Sound to cool off and I was surprised that no one was s...