It’s even better than I remembered.
We’ve lived on this beach a couple of times before…once when we were first married for six months, and once in 2003 for eight weeks.
Now the Air Force doesn’t mean for it to be such a great break, but we’ll take it…or I will. Kevin will actually have to do a lot of studying and flying, but for me, Air Force life doesn’t really get any better than a few weeks in Mexico Beach, Florida.
Yesterday we drove through flat kudzu-covered forest for 3-4 hours before we finally saw the Gulf of Mexico. I caught a huge lift when I saw it. I looked at the temperature on the car and saw it was still in the 90s, and I knew there was still crazy humidity, but I was hoping for some better air. The second we got out of the car and I caught that gulf breeze, I breathed a huge sigh of relief and my spirits went even higher. Ahh.…
Five weeks from now I’ll worry about driving across the heat of Texas and making a life in New Mexico. For now, for the next six weeks I’ll either be on the beach or gazing at it from my third-story deck, thank you very much.
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This small beach town we always come to is about an hour east of what Florida claims is the world’s “most beautiful beaches,” sugar sand and all that. (I’m a Californian, so I’m not going there…) They are very crowded (especially during spring break), and there’s lots of clubs and that horrible, standard, East Coast-style putt-putt-golf beach strip.
There’s none of that here, except for the sugar sand. Even if we didn’t need to be by the Air Force base I’d pass on those popular beaches to spend my time in this small, slow, sleepy, town where the beach is not crowded with hot bods or lined with hot clubs.
It’s a difficult place to get to, but still somewhat unspoiled (I am happy to see), even in high season.
So, for the next six weeks—except when we have dinner obligations—I will not miss a sunset over the Gulf.
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We’re about 40 yards east of the Central Time line. And, as always when we come here, I’m never sure which way the local businesses are going to go. All the locals know how it works, they were explaining it to me this morning at the coffee shop. The biggest town in is CST, but local folks get irritated following that if they don’t work there--Why should they have to? To the east, is the second-biggest town and it’s definitely EST. Mexico Beach is mostly CST, but not all of it, nor are all little places in between. Businesses will either post it on the door, or you’re just supposed to know.
The locals call EST “fast time” and CST “slow time.” We stick with CST since Kevin has to show up at the base every day, we can’t afford to get confused…but I’ll have to give it a thought if I’m going to be anywhere but on the beach.
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We’re partially incommunicado. We have sketchy cell coverage at best, and no internet unless we go sap it off the one big hotel in town. I got that heads-up at the local coffee shop this morning…It was a great tip. There are covered picnic tables near the hotel, so I’m outside watching the waves, feeling the breeze, and checking email. Very enjoyable.
I have nothing on the schedule but running and walking this beach, watching the sunsets, taking a few daily swims and trying to do a little reading and writing every day. Also, we’ll see a few friends.
I could not be happier.
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I stuck my feet in the water last night and went for a swim this morning. Because of where I was raised, I’m always shocked when the water isn’t freezing cold…I automatically brace for it every time. The Gulf is at a great mild temperature right now, and very clear.
I get a little skittish in this water though, they have creatures here I’m not accustomed to…stingrays, jellyfish, horseshoe crabs and, oh yeah, sharks that like warm, shallow water. Yikes.
You’re supposed to shuffle your feet to scare off the rays…they say they’ll only sting if you step directly on one. I’m shuffling all right…the sting is supposed to be bad.
I remember when I took Kevin, who is from Florida, swimming with me in California for the first time. He couldn’t believe how cold the water was, and that we were out there right near otters and seals not thinking a thing about it. He was a little freaked out by them popping up nearby to check us out.
(This is from a man who grew up water skiing in lakes that had alligators in them….)
My pro-California argument was, and is, that you don’t really hear of many seal or otter related deaths and the likelihood of losing your life to a shark goes down drastically in water under 80 degrees. And, I’m not even thinking (well, trying not to), of the occasional alligator that makes its way into the Gulf. Double yikes.
It’s all what you’re accustomed to.
I’m using the “Big Ocean” theory, (also known as denial) where gators and sharks are concerned.
What are the chances?
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