Freshly Blended Margaritas at the Beach? Yes Please.
“We spend a lot of time with our friends at the beach. Living within an hour’s drive of majestic Lake Tahoe means summer-long access to some of the most serene fresh-water beach landscapes in the country. We bought a small power inverter to run our radio and a few fans … then we remembered the blender.”
Summertime means lake days, and it has since high school. The blue waters of Lake Tahoe—although quite chilly year-round—have a magnetic way about them, as they seem to call at you on sunny days when you’re off work. I also have to admit I may have even called in “sick” to work a time or two when the Lake’s call was especially strong.
My boyfriend and I have been the heads of more than our fair share of lake adventures during our time together. We have a Facebook group of friends dedicated to lake outings. Of the 72 miles that make up the perimeter of the natural lake, we’ve explored, well, all 72. The variety of beaches is remarkable.
Having been to the Lake’s beaches as many times as we have, we’ve learned a thing or two about what makes the days at the beach all they can be. On one particular beach outing, we shared a small section of sand in an isolated cove with a family of six. The family hauled down quite the buffet and spread it out across two folding tables. What caught our attention was their series of George Forman Grills cooking up steak and shrimp sandwiches, which were delicious. In addition to the grills, the family also had a few cooling fans and a stereo plugged in. After talking with the dad of the group, we learned that he’d been bringing his power inverter and battery setup to the beach since his kids were babies. He plugs in the air pumps for their inner tubes and other float toys too. He showed us how simple the setup was to use and told us how he charged it back at the house. He carried it down in a tote bag, hooked it up and had immediate power to plug into.
After that day we were determined to get one for ourselves. We put it off for a while for some odd reason, but then were persuaded to make the investment (which was minimal) the day before we were heading out to a secluded beach for an overnight trip. On this trip we powered two fans during the day, but then also had a big light that we powered up at night. We also blew up the airbed in our tent with an electronic pump. Now we were on to something. Our setup was simple: a 500-watt power inverter and a small battery. We bought a regular car battery, but later found out it likely wouldn’t last long if we drained it all the way down and then recharged it over and over again. For that kind of abuse, a guy recommended a deep-cycle battery. However, our first battery still does the trick, even though we can tell it doesn’t hold as long of a charge any longer.
Staying cool with the fans and having light at night is nice, but you know the real kicker? Freshly blended drinks on a hot day. When we flip on the blender we become the life of the beach.
Inverters R Us take: Ask us how to run a blender off of a power inverter, it’s easy and you’re friends will be glad you did!
