For Pam’s Birthday we decided to head to Melbourne Florida to take a chance that a beach might not be too crowded. We both packed out face masks and a light picnic. There was a 40% chance of rain but that is the case pretty much every day in the summer. On the drive out we passed a tractor trailer semi that was engulfed inn flames. The cab of the truck had pulled away from the cargo trailer and it was billowing black smoke and flames. Pam claimed she saw the word magic on the side of the trailer so we thought it might be from the Magic basketball team. I mused that it might be full of basketballs that were now fuel for the fire. There were no police n the scene when we drove by but as we made out way south on 95, fire trucks an ambulance and police rushed to the scene driving north.
We both agreed that if the beaches were too crowded we would turn around and head home. The first roadside parking lots for beaches were more crowded that we had ever seen them. The lots were full and cars were parking on the grass. Between beaches cars were parked on the side of the road and people hiked to the beach trails. We refused to stop and kept driving south agreeing that Sebastian inlet would be as far south as we would dare to drive. The further south you go the closer you get to the Miami plague.
Sebastian Inlet State Park was closed because it was at capacity. We saw the Inlet beach when we drove over a bridge and people were social distanced on the beach. Clearly park staff kept it that way. Pam noticed one small parking spot which wasn’t super crowded and we decided to stop. We agreed to walk out on the boardwalk and if the beach was crowded we would leave. We wore our masks just in case we passes people on the walk out to the beach.
The beach was really deserted. A few people were fishing. We found a spot about 50 yards between groups of fishers and set up out umbrella and towels. The water was a gorgeous aqua greenish blue, almost Mediterranean. Masks came off and we headed out into the surf. There was a steep drop of right off shore but the water felt glorious. Pam stayed out much longer than me. I did a quick sketch and then we both napped on out towels, Pam in the sun and me in the shade of the umbrella. The whole time no one approached within 50 yards of us. No one caught a fish all afternoon. A sea turtle wallowed out in the waves, perhaps thinking of coming ashore but instead it swam back out. Sea turtles are thriving because of the Covid-19 pandemic, because there are fewer humans to disturb them. When it was time to pack up and leave, our face masks went back on for the trek back to the car. It was a glorious relaxing day. I have been focusing on the worst of the pandemic for months and it felt good to drift off to sleep listening to the waves and feeling the sea mist on my skin.