Looking for an opinion from a graphics artist

Hi Everybody,
     There's no one on the beach at this time of the year (February).
     Well, nobody except those two lunatics taking pictures of an empty
beach in the middle of the winter.

First, here is my retouched version.  I use a heavy hand with the Lab Curves.  Then it's followed by the original.
Ellie says that the original is better.  She says that I should have left it alone.

Can we have an opinion or your own retouch of the original.  We've agreed not to argue about posted opinions or retouches.

Phil