From Our Travels: Weekend @ the Beach

I finally got around to going through all of our beach photos from our little weekend getaway to Daytona Beach. I didn't have my camera on me at all times like I normally do, but I when I did, I just kept snapping away. I couldn't get enough of the never-ending horizon, the puffy clouds, and the glass-like water.

The water trickles up to the shore with over twenty feet of inch-deep water. The wave pans out until it's barely licking your toes and leaves the sand shimmering with salt. I've never been to any salt flats, but all weekend I was telling S, "This is what salt flats must be like." The sand near the tide is dense, flat, and reflective like a mirror. 

In the mornings and evenings we would walk along the shore, up and down the beach. Early in the morning we'd come across tiny clams like the one S is holding in the first photo. With every substantial wave, these clams would become uncovered on the shore line and as the water receded, the clams would dig themselves back into the wet sand. It was mesmerizing.

In the evenings we came upon a couple jellyfish, nothing too big. Growing up in New York, we'd go to Point Pleasant in August sometimes and it was always jellyfish season. The jellyfish we came upon down here was nothing compared to the mass amounts found at the Jersey shore in August. 

We spent most of our time in the water, not coming out unless we were hungry or thirsty. The sun was so intense all weekend that it was hard to stay out of the water for more than a few minutes anyway. 

We swam out to the sandbars and let the waves crash on us like I remember doing as a kid. Even the small waves would pull us from our anchored feet and send our bodies north. We'd have to swim against the current to get back to where we started, where the good waves were. 

We were looking for a place to eat dinner and it was happenstance that we found ourselves under the bridge that links the island to the mainland. There on the water was a dock and a restaurant with a deck. That evening was suddenly grey and chilly, perfect for enjoy some raw oysters and crab legs on the water. It was one of those places with a line out the door and a 45 minute wait so you knew it had to be good. We wanted a place to sit on the water and with the deck overlooking the coast and the docked boats, it was perfect. It was also covered so when it began to rain, it was a scenic kind of rain that we enjoyed with our lemony oysters.

S had never had crab legs before and we had been craving oysters all weekend when we got to the shore. I was apprehensive to get a large order of crab legs because I grew up with a dad who used to take us out on the boat up north with crab traps. We'd bring home the crab that were big enough and eat them outside on our porch in summer time. This crab did my memory justice and they were delicious. The right kind of meal to bring me back to growing up in New York. 

The trip was a great one, a nice little getaway to the beach for a weekend. It's not a town I would visit just to visit the town, but I'd go to that coast again to take advantage of the waves and relaxation.