Beach day with the dog: Expectations vs Reality

I had very high expectations for my first trip with my now 6 years old cocker spaniel Brandy. The only thought that kept me from going crazy during the 4 hour travel was that we were going to have so much fun. I kept imaging me and my dog running around the water, enjoying the sun and the nice weather but of course life has to crush our dearest hopes.
So the day we actually visited the beach, the sun was nowhere to be seen, so not only it was cloudy and dark but the water was cold as well.
Then I couldn't let may dog be without her collar because of the possibility of her running away. Here comes my idea of us running around the sand. Brandy swimming into the water was a risky situation also because of the possibility of water getting in her ear and cockers have many problems with their ear area.
After a few minutes of wondering whether should we enter the water, we decided to just try and let her swim a little bit without wetting her head.But of course something had to go wrong and my dog just went crazy and was all soaked up. I had to wait for her to dry up. She was barking everyone who dared to come near us.
Even though everything I expected went wrong I'm still glad that I got to enjoy a fun day with my mother and Brandy!
Tell me if you have ever gone to the beach with your pets? Or any fun beach stories in general, haha. Love you.