Tag Archives: beaches

Enjoying a Little Beach Time

While in Florida during Super Bowl week, I spent more time on the beach than I had in a number of years. And the beaches of St. Petersburg are beautiful with soft sand to dig your feet into. What’s the most popular thing to do at the beach? Most people seem to be out there during the day taking in the suns rays. As the daylight begins to soften people tend to return to their abode having enjoyed the sandy shoreline. Just before the sun reaches the horizon, the beach once again becomes a popular place in hopes of witnessing a scenic sunset over the ocean. That was my most popular activity – watching the sunset.

Looking for Shells

Close behind was time shelling – or searching for beautiful, empty shells. There were a number of pristine shells, however, it’s occupants were still using them so I tossed them back into the ocean. This area of Florida seems to have an abundance of fun shells and a nice diversity of them to collect for showing those that haven’t been there. Some mornings I would get up before sunrise to scour the beach for something unique before others combing the same areas found them. Occasionally this was successful and other days it was just fun to be out enjoying the morning light and listening to the ocean. One of the nice things about St. Petersburg is if you don’t find the shells you’re looking for, going to another area along the coast may provide them. Or possibly ones you weren’t even looking for. It would seem with the popularity of this activity, finding intact shells no longer in use would be a challenge but it really wasn’t. There were large quantities washed up on the sand on a daily basis. You just have to spend the time searching.

Bird watching

Walking up and down the beach also brought a few other pieces I enjoy. Watching the birds as they dart in and out of the incoming waves and listening to the waves crash on the sandy beach. There are a mix of birds here, especially during this time of year as birds from the north spend their winters here. The most common to see tend to be the shore birds constantly pecking their long beaks into the sand grasping tiny morsels for nourishment. Great Blue Herons, Great Egrets, and Snowy Egrets were often sighted, especially near people fishing as they were looking for a meal to be thrown their way or possibly snagging some of the bait. Flying over the water were Pelicans, Cormorants, and an occasional Eagle adding to the variety of birds to identify while listening to the sounds of waves near my feet. The constant, almost rhythmic sounds of waves washing up on the sandy beach is relaxing most of the time. Big storms can change these sounds from relaxing to concerning. Fortunately, most of the time the water is more gentle as each wave rises from the water and runs into the sand ending in a foamy finish before retreating back into the ocean. I could get use to starting and ending my day on the beach for more than a week.

Listening to the waves crash against the shore

Vacation Style

Going to the Ocean on Vacation

What’s your vacation style? No, not vacation in style. How do you like to spend your time away on vacation. Just a quick internet search brought some entertaining results which centered around luggage styles and travel fashion. I’ve gone through three different styles as I’ve gotten older and my choice of vacations is an indication of that. They are: Beach Bum, Whatever Happens, and Adventurer.

The first vacations I had decisions in was crossed between ‘beach bum’ and ‘whatever happens’. Spring Break in Daytona Beach is what I consider my first independent vacation where I primarily just wanted to lounge on the beach with the biggest decision to be made for the day was what to eat. A second vacation on a cruise ship brought more of the same as I never wanted to leave the ship even while at port. Apparently there is enough adventure when you’re a college student between classes, homework, working, and activities that vacation was all about R & R. Of course, spring break usually came after difficult exams and large projects requiring a mental vacation.

Beach Bum

That first vacation along with several after did include a bit of ‘whatever happens’ as Daytona Beach was the sight of Mtv’s Spring Break broadcasts and I took part in those from time to time along with a quick trip for my first time to Disney World. Planning is not a priority for these types of vacations but you still decide to take advantage of an opportunity or two when they happen to go on an adventure. Maybe a snorkeling trip or a ride in a submarine for something to talk about later.

Currently I reside in the adventure vacation style which can take quite a bit of planning. As daily life now involves a lot of routine, vacations need to be more fulfilling to me. The need to just catch some sun has passed and actually feels like wasted time away from work. It usually takes 3 – 4 days away to begin to mentally get a break from the grind of everyday events so just using my vacation time a day at a time does not accomplish its purpose of refreshing me. My goal often times is to return from a trip needing to catch up on sleep but with many great memories packed into a short time.

Adventurer

There are definitely downsides to the ‘adventurer’ vacation style. Usually these trips can be more expensive because everything costs money and they require more time planning and making reservations. Along with the planning can often come additional stress because of trying to figure out if you’ve taken care of everything in preparation and needing to be at a certain place by a certain time once on vacation.

These vacation styles kind of came to me recently because of our next trip coming this spring break which happens to be a Caribbean Cruise. Cruising has lost its appeal to me because I want to spend the time in port doing things instead of be on a ship most of the time with all that food. So why am I going on a cruise you ask? It’s has become part of a family trip to celebrate my mother and father in-laws 50th anniversary and they would like that trip to be on a cruise ship. Our initial plans where to visit Padre Island and Hot Springs Arkansas for spring break which falls into the ‘Adventurer’ category. That will happen another time as a 50th wedding anniversary is an incredible milestone to me. I can only try to imagine it.

Going on a Cruise Ship

Back to my vacation style realization. When booking this next trip the portion I really was having a difficult time with is spending all that time on the ship. That has become kind of boring to me and I’m not all that attached to food so there is not as big of an appeal there either. That enlightenment helped me understand that I’m no longer a ‘beach bum’ and have moved further from the ‘whatever happens’ style as well. For this trip being in the ‘whatever happens’ category would be most beneficial but I’m not able to let myself and my family be that type of traveler because I know I’m missing an opportunity to create life long memories with my wife and children and the chances to do that are diminishing as the children get older.

It’s interesting to me to recognize changes in how I spend my vacation time from when I first started taking vacations to now. I’m sure that will continue to change as things in life continue to evolve. I know several people who like to be in the ‘beach bum’ or ‘whatever happens’ categories and that is a great place to be, just not for me at this point in my life. Is there a benefit to classifying vacation styles? Probably not. Just something I did without realizing it and decided to put out there. Enjoy you’re vacation any way you can!

Creating Family Memories