Sandy Bottoms

We ventured out this afternoon on our very first Connecticut Beach Excursion. After researching a bunch of different locations this morning we set off to test them out, one at a time. Today we visited Rocky Neck State Park in East Lyme, Connecticut.
Our only requirement as stated by Abby was to find "a beach that has sand in the water and sand not in the water".
Our evaluation is as follows:
Haley loved finding shells with Dad but the water was too cold.
Abby didn't have enough sand IN the water (I finally concluded that she specifically wants sandbars to block her from being carried into the open ocean, or something...) and there were too many "yucky things" AKA a few tiny pieces of seaweed here and there.
It took Mia a few minutes to be unconcerned with the sand but then she loved in and would periodically charge into the water where Clark was waiting to catch her after she tripped off the little ledge, and then she would turn and run out while screaming in a shrill voice...she liked it.
We didn't go until 4 in the afternoon so there was no crowd, the day was slightly overcast (it actually drizzled on and off but who cares? we were in bathing suits) and the beach was only a 15 minute drive. Parking did cost us $10 and I'm still confused as to why someone can charge me for going to a beach...can they really own sand and water?...though I did indeed appreciate the use of their bathrooms and ice cold showers afterwards, the girls thank them too but not really.
I'm determined to find us the perfect beach...we'll keep you posted. Rocky Neck State Park gets good marks today.