Growing up in Maryland, every year our family would go to the ocean for a beach vacation. Locations might have varied from New Jersey, Delaware or Maryland beaches, but always involved lots of sand, waves and cousins! Despite now living on the ocean, it’s been well over 20 years since I’ve been on a summer beach week. This year I snuck in on my family's vacation… thanks to Brian & Christina and Kristin & Chad for letting me crash with them, nieces & nephew & Mom!
For those of you who remember the three of us when we were little, not much has changed for vacations down the ocean. The little kids are all brave swimmers, the teens have friends joining them to share the fun, and the parents, aunts & grandmothers still dig their toes in the sand.
Digging for sand crabs never gets old……nor does building sandcastles.
Frisbee is a high stakes and hot business during these sunny days. Everyone got to win a round of KanJam… even Ryan and me. Chad gave out style points, while the girls read their books on their blanket.
The goal is to relax, play and swim as much as possible. Despite judicious use of sunscreen and shade, bodies are still bronze by the end of the week. The water was relatively calm and pretty cold (for everyone, not just me!) ~ low 70’s ˚F ~ but that didn’t stop us from jumping the waves for hours each day.
Evenings were beautiful with bayside sunsets; miniature golf and ice cream stops are mandatory. Now, I was the old fart that was staying up past her bedtime each night!
The week inevitably goes by too fast. It was wonderful just being there and spending time living with each loved one doing their thing.
While I was on vacation, Mark was in bad shape back in Florida. He broke out in a MRSA infection with a bad wound in his knee. This spread after lots of fiberglassing and grinding, so after our first guess at bug bites (mosquitos are everywhere). We then thought it was a resin sensitivity so he wore Goodwill clothes to cover up. No doubt waiting too long, he went to Urgent Care after his knee doubled in size. The wounds finally started healing after four rounds of antibiotic injections over the course of a week, plus oral antibiotics. A minor delay in boat projects is a small price to pay.
