That Day When You Finally Have Had Enough..

I'm almost glad that the waves have dropped down to 1 foot. I need to get back home and take care of the yard and many other neglected chores. It's been a great time, watching Jeff's granddaughter (my grand niece) and his dogs. You should have seen me walking a giant English Mastiff and then a fat old dachshund. It was more dangerous walking those dogs than about anything else I have done. Jeff lives on a long straight stretch of road with no sidewalks and even the cops seem to be trying out how fast they can go. The neighbor told me yesterday that he had to dive for cover when mowing the yard when a girl went by texting and almost clipped him.
Every day for two weeks, our decisions have been 'fishing or beach?'. I have surfed until I had nothing left, read books for longer than I can remember, and have been some of the last folks leaving the beach at the end of the day. NSB is a really nice place to be. Every day we drive through woods that remind me of the outskirts of Orlando back in the 1970's and then cross the bridge to the beach town we know so well. It does get too crowded. It does get traffic jams...but compared to what you get the minute you cross the St. Johns heading to Orlando, it is very easy to take. I always wanted to live at the beach and now I'm realizing that, you know what? It is close enough...

Hitting New Smyrna Beach in May

This has been a great trip, and I am getting to that point where I don't wake up anxious to get to the beach before the wind blows the waves out. Too many times it has gotten better later in the day with the tide and then there are days like today, where it is a chop-fest and the jellyfish start washing up on the beach. There is plenty of time to enjoy the parks, the walks, picking up trash on the beach and checking out cool places to eat. JB's Fish camp is a place that we love to hit, mainly because it is outside on the water, and very close to Bethune Beach. I've been surprised by how few people surf there on weekdays. In Cocoa Beach, it is a really poor surf day when no one is out at a popular spot.

We've also had a lot of fun with our Grand niece, Zoey...a good excuse to hit every ice cream place in town!

Next up? Kayak fishing in Mosquito Lagoon!

Camping During The Best Weekend Yet

The Perkins brothers went for what we thought would be the last gasp of a chance to camp together before the time of year that sends northerners back screaming to their homes. Instead, we got the best weather we could ever hope for. Early on I realized that there is no photograph that can convey what it felt like. We were in Princess Place Preserve, a large park with few amenities, and fewer campsites. Each site has it's own special charm and while in your site, it is almost possible to believe that you are totally alone in the wilderness. At twilight, I could sometimes make out the smoke or a glint of a light from our nearest neighbor.

We got Dock#2 which is a large spit of land surrounded by a weaving waterway. Most of the time I was just amazed that I was cold and realized that no matter how I prepare...there is always something I didn't take. This time it was a jacket or sweatshirt. Just earlier on Friday, I was surfing without a wetsuit, and then I was huddling next to a campfire. My new camping fan never even got used...but that is not a complaint. We all slept like babies each night. The closest I can compare it to was being on top of a mountain in North Carolina.

The only thing bad about Princess Park is that you have few latrine options. There is one shower about 2 miles away that has sorta warm water that smells like sulphur and has "non-potable" warnings...I used it anyway...

Any Trip That Begins And Ends With Waves..Has To Be Good

This photo is from earlier today and pretty much tells you how my most recent trip ended. I don't think I could have had a better time...unless I wasn't sick during the time! I'm usually pretty good at taking Zinc at the beginning of a cold or flu and beating the bad stuff, but this time it took me down and I've spent the last 5 days trying to power through it. I'm better, but not better enough to be out in the surf today, so I was a photog...there's worse ways to spend your days, I'll have to admit. The surf looked big and rough today at Sunglow pier. Enough so, that I was surprised to see a paddleboarder our there...he was struggling in a stiff wind and current.
I'm just now unpacking and looking through the photos, but foremost, the weather was remarkable! It was almost magic, it was that good. If you had to feel less than your best, you couldn't ask for a better place to recover than under the stars in Princess Place Preseve with a full moon overhead. I was looking at my brothers in the campground and thought, "dude, it even looks greenscreened!"
Unfortunately, I still have not caught a fish on the flyrod in spite of all my casting...I did catch a crab on my spinning rod, which may have put me in the top 1% of the fisher folk in the park this weekend...more about the trip soon....