I love the beach…
for the still and quiet of the morning ocean.
for the perspective that comes from sitting in the sand and breathing in the salty ocean air.
for the purposefully slower pace of each day.
for the perfect balance between the warmth of the sun and the coolness of the ocean breeze.
for the time to revel in the sweet moments of nothingness.
for the peace and calm of the evening ocean.
(See Part 1 for more stories from the beach…)
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On Sunday morning (our first morning at the beach), I woke up at about 4:30am, then again at 5:20am, then again at 6:08am, and then again just after 7:00am.
So at around 7:30am, though I had hoped to sleep-in a bit, I finally decided to just get. out. of. bed.
As I walked up the stairs from my bedroom on the first story to the kitchen and family room on the second story, I thought the house seemed rather still and quiet, but when I got almost to the top of the stairs, I realized my uncle was already wide awake (something about taking a 5 hour energy drink somewhere in the ballpark of 5am. . .). And as I approached the final landing (still in somewhat of an I-don’t-know-if-I-really-want-to-be-awake daze), he picked up his camera and said he had something to show me.
So he showed me a picture of a sandcrab. Alive and well. At the bottom of a pool.
The pool right outside the house to be exact.
It was at this point that I said something to the affect of, “Can you see him from the top deck? Is he still there???”
To which my uncle responded with, “Yes. . .there are two of them. . .uh, I don’t think they can get back out. . .”
So I ran out to the deck, looked down, and sure enough, there were TWO crabs chillin’ on opposite sides of our pool.
And while we could not find a pool skimmer, which would have been a much simpler option to retrieve the crabs, my brother took matters into his own hands and got them out of the pool with a rake.
The crabs were none too pleased.
I unfortunately do NOT have a picture of what happened next (major bummer…), but when my brother pulled the large crab out of the pool and set him down in the sand, he went into full-on attack mode with front pinchers raised and open. I have never seen a more petrified crab.
It was hysterical!
But apparently those two crabs forgot to send out a memo to their sandcrab community because there was another one sitting on the bottom of the pool when I left Monday morning.
Vacation has finally arrived!!
Except for Monday and Tuesday (when I’ll be driving back home to work for a couple of days and then picking-up my roommate and heading back Tuesday night), I am in Virginia at the beach with my family this week!
But rather than taking a break from blogging, or even scheduling posts in advance (which I’ll already be doing later this summer. . .more on that later), I decided it would be much more fun to blog from vacation. And since I’ll have significantly more time on my hands, I’ll be posting every day (well, probably night) through Friday.
Here’s hoping we’re still friends by the end of the week. . . !
As I headed out of town on Saturday - following my parents’ car in front of me – the first song on the radio that I remember paying attention to was “Starry Night” by Chris August, which I love for its lyrics that proclaim God is “God of all [and] He is everything”. I then proceeded to spend the next 5 hours or so listening to the introductory and first four sessions from “The Patriarchs”, one of Beth Moore’s Bible studies
One of the first concepts she discussed in the introductory session was how the Isrealites/Jews, out of holy fear and reverence, would not pronounce God’s name, YHWH (Yahweh), but would often instead refer to Him as HaShem, which in the Hebrew literally means “The Name”, and she exhorted her listeners to know and get lost in this Name with the same holy fear and reverence.
Several hours later, just before bed, as I was standing out on the back deck of the beach house with my family, looking out over the black expanse of ocean and admiring the countless stars, I felt as though I had spent the day doing just that. . .getting lost in The Name. . .what a great way to kick-off a vacation!
And then in true first-full-day-of-vacation-at-the-beach fashion, I spent the majority of Sunday:
Sitting and relaxing on the brown leather couch in the living room…
…where I could admire the amazing view out of these windows.
Sitting and relaxing on the beach…
…where I enjoyed all of the sights and smells of the ocean.
And sitting and relaxing by the pool (this is the first time we’ve had a house with a pool, and after today, I’m not sure we’ll ever be able to go back)…
…where I was able to get in a little last minute reading for Greek.
I’m sure there will be plenty of opportunities to walk, bike, and enjoy a little more of our surroundings later in the week, but for today, just sitting and relaxing was perfect!
Do you prefer to sit and relax on vacation, too, or do you prefer to be out sight-seeing and on the go?
I have been out of town or in the car traveling for 7 of the past 14 days (not consecutively) and spending every spare minute in between studying for an Old Testament exam. Which is now complete. Thankfully.
To kick off this rare burst of back-to-back traveling, my roommate and I headed to the beach for a few days the last weekend in June. Although we had been planning to go for quite a while, we failed to book a hotel room very far in advance. This is not altogether unusual (last minute is just how we roll…), but there were a few factors we hadn’t fully considered:
1) It’s summer.
2) It’s the beach.
3) And did I mention it’s summer?
Because it happens to be peak season at the beach (something about it being summer…), the rooms were all booked at our first choice, so we ended up staying at North Myrtle Beach. I typically avoid the Myrtle Beach area because it’s a little more crowded and built up than I prefer, but while I’m still not completely sold, the area of North Myrtle where we stayed was actually not too terrible.
Now, I would tell you a story about the trip down, but the pictures I took (mostly of tractors and houses and corn) didn’t turn out great.
Or, I would tell you about the hotel and surrounding area (which was energetic and fun, but not as over-crowded as I had feared), but the pictures I took of the outside are no where to be found.
Or, I would tell you about the hotel room (which was amazingly fabulous!), but the pictures I took of the inside were way out of focus.
But instead I will tell you this:
When we first stepped onto the elevator to head to the lobby, B said, “What if we ended up on the 16th floor?”
To which I responded, “I kind of hope we’re not. I’d rather be on a lower floor.”
So of course when we got to the desk, the guy who checked us in said, “I hope no one’s afraid of heights because you’re on the 20th floor.”
Ha!
It turned out to be one of the best parts of the trip, though. The balcony was perfect!
Another best part of the trip? I actually got IN the ocean for the first time in close to 10 years. We’re talking past the breakers, can’t see my feet, water up to my neck, stepping in holes on the ocean floor, riding the waves, IN THE OCEAN.
Pure bliss!
My roommate, B, and I spent a low-key and relaxing weekend (well, Saturday to Monday) at the beach.
At my favorite beach to be exact: Ocean Isle Beach, NC.
On the trip down, we…
Started the trip off right with dark cherry mocha Frappuccinos from Starbucks…yum!
Had front row seats (seriously, they made us get off the road) to watching a house being moved on a trailer. Not a modular home. A house. With a man sitting on the roof. A highly useful and practical conversation followed about how one would go about moving the power lines out of the way without dying from electrocution while sitting on a house.
Drove behind a truck hauling 3 young cows in a trailer. Every time the truck rounded a curve, they all shifted on top of each other. It was comical.
Observed a boat being transported on a trailer. By boat, I really mean a swanky yacht that was entirely too large for the highway. And while I know one of my uncles would just say, “A boat is a hole in the water you throw money into…” I still think it would be all shades of awesome to live on a boat for several months.
Drove through a field. At least according to the Garmin…she was a little confused by the new(ish) bypass. I muted her.
When we got there, there was no room parking at the inn. So we parked in the public lot right next door (with our parking permit for the inn clearly displayed).
Except for the 4 minutes I spent talking our way out of a parking ticket the next morning (I mean, was it really our fault that the wedding guests took all the parking spaces at the inn? I think not.), we spent all day Sunday on the beach.
It was a perfect beach day!
And we only suffered minor burns.
Here’s the thing: I have this slight obsession with sunscreen. I apply liberally and reapply often. But apparently I still manage to miss a few spots, so for the first time ever, my fingers are sunburned.
How does that even happen?
And for your amusement, here’s a sample conversation that could be overheard in our hotel room:
B: Can you write with your toes?
Me: <giving an I-know-you-did-not-just-ask-me-that look> No. Can you???
B: I don’t know. I’ve never tried.
…I go back to reading theology, and a few minutes later I hear…
B: Yep, I can write with my toes!
HA!
For all you fellow beach lovers, am I the only one with a favorite beach? I like new adventures and road-trips, but when I go to the beach, I prefer the familiar. Do you tend to go to the same beach over and over, too, or do you try new ones?
