ElderChicks

My favorite, unbelievable, different, and just perfect vacation was camping on the beach, 7 miles away from creature comforts. You must first know that I was raised on 5 star hotels, top of the line and pinky finger raised above tea cups. My father’s advice to be proper was to keep my mouth closed, have a vapid smile and keep my knees together. If any of you have followed my comments you know I do not keep my mouth close. As to that vapid smile I can attest one has never been seen on my face. And to the the knees business, that’s none of your business. Now on to beach camping.

Words can not really convey the feelings of being bathed in warm sunshine with sand sifting between your toes, or falling asleep to the sound of waves crashing on the beach just 15 ft. from your head. To partake in a fresh, just caught by you, seafood dinner while watching the red sun sink slowly into the blue ocean is beyond breathtaking. This is not a pick up the phone and make a reservation vacation. It is costly, hard work and learning a whole new way of living.

My husband drove the 4 wheel drive pickup with a camper package in the bed, rather like the turtle with his house on his back. I drove the Volkswagen bus with over sized flotation tires. We called her ‘Sweetems.’ We built a big box to sit on the roof and cart all our equipment..food, water .tent, medical case, shovels, clam rakes, ropes, extra tires/rims, jack boards, fishing gear, grates, lanterns and what all. You brought what you needed or did without. There were no convenience stores on that 7 miles of empty open beach and it took almost 2 hrs to drive on the sand even with the tires flattened to 10 pounds. You could also drive down by the waters edge, but if you didn’t know/understand how water and sand work you could get stuck and if the tide was coming in you could loose your vehicle to the ocean.

The longest we ever stayed was 15 days and by then our two boys invited their friends which then totaled 6 boys. We had become a community! Since I had no intentions of eating cold beans out of a can, I prepared and froze a cooked turkey, sauces, 50 breakfasts of French toast and an assortment of goodies. we buried the ice chests in wet sand and kept wet towels on top. Believe it or not they were still very cold on the 15th day. How can I explain the fun of seating around the campfire eating fresh mussels, we just brought in, in marina sauce and tossing the shells over our shoulders. They were wonderful times.