Mom and I drove out to the beaches east of Jacksonville yesterday morning. I just wanted to see the ocean.
And there it was.
I'm not a huge beach person, so I didn't even dip my toes into the water, much less lie around on the sand. Instead I sprayed on my SPF 75 sunscreen and spent about ten minutes under the broiling sun taking pictures before retreating to the air-conditioned car.
The we went to Hanna Park, north of the beaches near Mayport. We took a very brief walk on one of the trails -- just long enough to get bitten by a few mosquitoes (Zika!), see lots of banana spiders and watch this woodpecker flit among the palms. He liked to hang from the dead fronds, which I've never seen a woodpecker do. We turned around when we came to a large banana spider web strung across the trail, a formidable guard.
From there we drove into town because I had an errand to run -- I wanted to scan an old photo of my great uncle, and it was too large for our home scanner. So I went online and found a local photo shop, but finding it on the ground turned out to be a crazy adventure of wrong turns and deceptive road signage. We finally got there, and my photo is supposed to be ready today.
Finally, last night, my brother and I took my mom to the Julington Creek Fish Camp, a nearby restaurant, for her birthday. Mom had shrimp and grits -- so Florida. I had cod that almost certainly wasn't caught anywhere near Julington Creek, a tributary of the St. John's River -- but it was good!
Cod? You had COD? That's so interesting, Steve. Were they out of mullet?
ReplyDeleteHa!
Yeah. It's too hot to bear outside. I think we Floridians get cabin fever in the summer. It's just too damn hot to go out.
I like the beach but I don't go in July and August. just too damn hot, especially if there is not breeze coming off the ocean. love the wall with the surfboards.
ReplyDeleteShrimp and grits sounds good to me. I might I have to see if I can get some around these parts.
ReplyDeleteI love Ms. Moon's comment above. The same thing happens to us Phoenicians. I've been a bit stir crazy these last few weekends wanting to get out doors.
Glad your mom enjoyed her birthday!
ReplyDeleteOoo ... I love that photo of the woodpecker! Not keen to see a banana spider so thank you for not posting that.
ReplyDeleteWe live near the ocean and I like the look of it but I don't want to be in it. Too salty, too deep, too many critters, and too hot on the beach when the water has warmed up in the summer!
My daughter would drag me though this no matter what. She dragged me through chicago in July. Ordinarily I wouldn't do things like this in summer. Go to Florida in the winter!
ReplyDeleteHanna Park sounds very different from Hampstead Heath. No banana spiders on Hampstead Heath and no need to shelter from a sweltering summer sun.
ReplyDelete