Do you remember when people used to go on trips and come back with a ton of slides they'd force you to watch? For those of you not as old as me...remember when people used to go on trips and come back with a ton of digital photos they'd force you to scroll through?
Well, this is sort of that. If it's not your thing, you're not nosey, or you're not me in 10 years, feel free to close the window and go do something else.
For the rest of us, here's a quick recap of the family vacation to the beach...
I'm pretty sure we've finally broken the planet. Our beach trip is always the first week of June and this is the first time we've ever been actually cold on the trip. I'm not talking about cool breezy beach nights. I'm talking about wearing a hoodie during the day and running the heater in the car. The weather was crazy.
We drove to the coast mostly in rain and the temperatures dropped as we drove. We arrived a little early and were lucky enough to have our room ready for check in. Violet and I walked right out to the beach and we were greeted with the beginnings of a Nor'easter. The gale force wind was whipping the sand down the beach and it was hard to tell if it was raining or of the wind was blowing the ocean mist. Either way, it was not a day for being outside.
More rain the next morning meant a rainy and windy run through huge puddles and hard longshore winds, but it also meant we had time to go out for breakfast. We tried a new place and I highly recommend "The King" with peanut butter, banana and bacon. So good.
I couldn't stay inside on vacation so when the rain let up in the afternoon, I ventured out and was greeted by one of our fox friends. The foxes have dens in the sand all along this stretch of beach and one of the perks of staying in this building is being able to watch them from the balconies. This guy was chilling at the edge of the dunes waiting for an opportunity to steal some food. He saw me.
...and then he came toward me.
...like, really close to me. At one point, I had to step back away from him. When wild animals approach humans, it's rarely a good thing. This guy wasn't foaming at the mouth and attacking people, he was just a little too comfortable with people who have apparently been feeding him. I get it, it's cool to see the fox and if you know he's out looking for food, it's probably tempting to toss him some or to see how close he'll get to you for a photo, but I also know how bad this is for the fox and his little fox family. There were two smaller foxes who were much more timid who stayed far away from humans and ran at the slightest sound.
I know he probably only approached me because he wanted food but, as a friend pointed out, I was raised by wolves, so maybe he just smelled a relative and felt comfortable. He did seem to seek me out every time I went out in the afternoons and evenings. We all kept our distance and discouraged him from getting close to people.
So yeah, the weather was weird. This guy was not having it either. He looked angry and cold.
Another perk of this building is the sunset views over the marsh. When the rain stopped, the kids and I tried to make it outside for the sunsets.
Cross Country training always begins while we're on vacation. Violet took a month off after track and now it was time to get back to it. She ran with me and we got a few miles together during the week.
And I made a fox for the next one. I felt it was appropriate.
Blue had a list of things we needed to do and he was a good sport about having his photo taken. Here's Blue and Violet surfing at Broadway.
Blue and I normally go to one of his favorite restaurants at Broadway and often the ladies go to a different one. While we were eating, the balloon lady offered to make him a sea turtle bracelet which he immediately gave to me. I was proud to wear it. I walked around looking for a good opportunity to give it to a child but I never found an opportunity where it wouldn't seem creepy. In the meantime, the family was jealous of my swag.
They're trying yet another approach to that one part of Broadway that never seems to take off. I couldn't care less, but this was a nice view. They had ridiculous music and a weird rainbow structure that bled foam out all over kids. I can't imagine anyone thinking that was a good idea, but there were suds-covered kids all over the place.
One of my new favorite things is checking all the photo booth machines for stray photos strips. I accidentally found two last year and this year I was more intentional about it. We found these two in one night. Jackpot!
Breakfast out has its benefits, but my favorite beach breakfast is balcony coffee and a banana.
Seriously, the first half of the week was much cooler than we are used to at the beach. By mid-week, the afternoons got in the 70s but the breeze still made that feel cool. On the warmest day, Violet and I got out in the kayak to explore. We had no plan other than paddling around the inlet.
But we had all day and after we paddled for a couple of miles, we realized it was probably possible to paddle all the way out to the end of the peninsula. We normally walk there several times during the week, but because of some bad storms last year and some heavy beach erosion, we were not able to walk there this year without a big swim. So we kept paddling. I should say that I kept paddling since my first mate didn't really want to paddle. We beached the boat and then did some exploring on foot.
The exploring was worthwhile. We found a lot of sharks teeth and enjoyed the natural beauty around us. It was so nice. But the paddle back wasn't so nice. Luckily, Violet decided she wanted to make it to shore before dark, so she started being a good helper with the other paddle. With both of us going, we made it back in half the time.
As we approached the boat ramp, we saw the pirate ship in action. A wild group of young pirates passed us singing clean versions of pirate songs. Then we noticed a small boat anchored in the middle of the channel. The pirate ship turned back and we knew something was about to go down so we paddled closer. The kids on the pirate ship started chanting and then an old pirate in costume stood up on the little boat with a sword. Just as he did, the kids on one side of the boat hosed him down with water cannons. The pirate ship turned and the kids on the other side got a turn with the water cannons. The poor lone pirate was soaked and the kids sailed off singing pirate songs again. And yes, that's my finger near the lens. Sorry, I'm old.
Speaking of old, I've been frequenting the Grand Strand of South Carolina since my childhood in the late 1970s and the 1980s. With my family or with my friend David's family, we've stayed all up and down the Dirty Myrtle area in everything from crappy one-room hotels from a B-grade movie, to really nice condominiums. David and I have walked every mile of Ocean Boulevard as well as every mile of the beach. Many of our nights were spent at the Pavillion or in the stretch my kids now refer to as "Crazy Town". This is an area I know well.
As we drove to a restaurant one afternoon, Blue asked if I knew that there was a tunnel under Ocean Boulevard. I laughed and told him there wasn't. He said that TikTok said there was and that there was even a song about it. I was very skeptical but who can argue with TikTok? Within seconds, Blue had the general location narrowed down and we were off on an adventure.
We passed what looked like a stairwell by the road and I made a U-turn and the three of us hopped out. There was no parking without a permit so G took the car and circled around. It seems she had no interest in a dirty tunnel in this part of town.
Down we went and dang if there wasn't a tunnel under Ocean Boulevard. How many times had I walked by as a kid and not even noticed it? Blue and Violet were thrilled. Truly, it was just a dirty walking tunnel in a questionable part of town, but there was at least the attempt to make it cooler with an aquatic mural on the ceiling, working lights and a few cameras. The three of us laughed our butts off. This is not an adventure you could ever plan, but curiosity gifted us a fun time. So Lana Del Rey is right. There really is a tunnel under Ocean Boulevard.
After meeting up with the kids' former elementary principal for ice cream, we raced back to the upper balcony to try to catch the sunset. We had to ditch the car again and run up the stairs to make it just in time.
Curiosity provided another cool experience, even if it was a solo adventure this time. On my first few miles running the next morning, I noticed the turtle people gathered in a group near our building. When they appeared to be digging, I decided to go check it out. It was not a new turtle nest, which I often see on my early runs on the lower part of the beach. This time it was a nest relocation happening. For reasons only the turtle people understand, some nests need to be relocated to give the little dudes the best chance for survival. The lady in charge was very kind and offered lots of information to me and another nosey civilian. She carefully dug a hole about shoulder deep and then allowed a newer member of the turtle squad to place the eggs in the hole. Then they covered it with sand, placed a protective barrier over it and around it and their work was done. Hopefully in a few months these guys will dig out and scurry to the water.
I think with the weather and the kayaking plans, I only made three sand sculptures. This was the last one and it was a big one. The teeth are about 12 inches long if that helps with scale. It's a pirate.
Friday was our last day but Violet and I wanted to make the most of our last day. We had so much fun kayaking the first time, we decided to go again while Blue and G went out to the beach. It was a beautiful morning and still not too hot.
We got a little more brave this time and paddled across the bigger water to the big rock jetty. Violet was a toddler on my shoulders the last time we walked to the end of it. This time she carried someone with her...a hermit crab she found at the edge of the water. We walked all the way out and watched schools of fish jumping out of the water. After our jetty walk, we set the hermit crab free in his own backyard and then paddled back across to our sharks teeth hunting ground.
We had another good hunt and this time we remembered to bring snacks.
Of course, we ate the snacks too soon and after all that paddling we were starving. When we were ready to head back we noticed a bit of a dark cloud moving our way. It got darker and larger as we paddled. Our arms were just like cooked noodles at this point but we kept pushing as we could see the rain coming. We rolled up, or floated up, at the boat ramp just as it started drizzling. Luckily, we got the kayak loaded before the real rain started.
We had talked about getting lobster rolls earlier in the week and never got around to it. We started thinking about lobster rolls after our snacks disappeared and soon it was all we could think about. We were very close to a place that sold them so we ordered two and eagerly awaited our meal. When they came out, they looked and smelled wonderful. I thought about taking a photo but they were gone so fast. Best meal of the trip for me. I may have eaten half of Violet's.
It poured rain while we ate and just as we left the restaurant, there was a break in the clouds. Violet loves mini golf and since we were the only ones left in town, we decided to chance it with the weather and try to get a game in before hitting the road. We were having a lucky day and just as we sunk our shots on the 18th hole, it started raining again. We made a quick stop at a bookstore to get coffee and a book for Violet before heading inland.
It's not the weather I would have picked out for the week, but it turned out to be kind of perfect.
No comments:
Post a Comment