Only Massachusetts will have the L.L.Bean Beach Box.

Last year, three beaches in Maine were set up with the cool L.L.Bean Beach Box. All last summer, the handy big boxes were at Reid State Park in Georgetown, Popham Beach State Park in Phippsburg, and Crescent Beach State Park in Cape Elizabeth. But this year, they are only in Revere Beach - Red Jacket and Beach Resort - Berkshire East.

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I first came across the Beach Box at Crescent Beach in 2023. It's the neatest thing from L.L.Bean. I wish they were back this year. It's literally a box filled with summer fun, and all for the borrowing. It was filled with pretty much anything you might need for a day at the beach, including chairs, umbrellas, bags, life jackets, games, and even reading materials.

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You take what you need, and bring it back when you are all finished. I wanted to see what they had for reading materials. I am not sure if the books left were from L.L.Bean or someone wanting to share, but I passed.

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These Beach Boxes are the best! I am so sad they won't be in Maine this year. I don't know why, but I sure hope it wasn't because we didn't take good care of them. It is a very trusting thing to do. But when I went late in the season, it appeared that everyone was being good about returning what they borrowed.

I love both L.L.Bean and the Beach Boxes. I will miss them this year. L.L.Bean, if you change your mind and include Maine beaches next year, it would be great.

LOOK: See America's 50 Best Beach Towns

Every beach town has its share of pluses and minuses, which got us thinking about what makes a beach town the best one to live in. To find out, Stacker consulted data from WalletHub, released June 17, 2020, that compares U.S. beach towns. Ratings are based on six categories: affordability, weather, safety, economy, education and health, and quality of life. The cities ranged in population from 10,000 to 150,000, but they had to have at least one local beach listed on TripAdvisor. Read the full methodology here. From those rankings, we selected the top 50. Readers who live in California and Florida will be unsurprised to learn that many of towns featured here are in one of those two states.

Keep reading to see if your favorite beach town made the cut.

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