After canceling all of our trips for the summer, Sharon and I weren’t doing much besides sitting home and deciding what we wanted to cook for dinner the next week. Sure, we took some time to visit Universal Studios CityWalk when it reopened and we even managed to drag ourselves outside for the annual passholder preview days before the park opened to the general public, but that’s been about it.
That was the end of our travel plans. To make things worse, my new work schedule provides me a three day weekend every other week. Of course, we could stay home and write about how we aren’t going anywhere but we just wanted to get out and go somewhere. Anywhere.
Eventually, Sharon looked at me one night and said, “I know you’re not thrilled about the idea but do you want to go to the beach?”
She knows me. I’m not a beach person. We live in Orlando and it’s less than an hour drive to Cocoa Beach and 90 minutes to Clearwater beach. Number of times we’ve been to the beach in the last 15 years = zero.
My reply when asked if I wanted to go to the beach? “Heck Yeah!”
We made plans to meet some close friends who live near Vero Beach and feel the same as we do about social distancing and quarantine so we didn’t feel bad or worried about spending the afternoon together.
After meeting at their house, we drove to a public beach. We made sure to find one that was rather remote so there wouldn’t be a crowd of people. This sign was the only indication the road we turned onto led to the beach.
We felt good that the parking lot was less than 1/2 full. When we walked through the trees and down to the beach, we were welcomed by a social distancing dream.
Right by the stairs, people were sitting in their beach chairs, but as we walked down the beach there was absolutely no one.
We spent about 20 minutes walking down the beach letting the waves lap against our feet. None of us wore bathing suits, so there were no plans of going into the ocean. We all just wanted to be outside, by ourselves but together.
We hung out and just talked. Catching up with friends we’ve known for decades IRL.
When we had our full of walking on the beach, we headed for dinner. Our requirement was that we had to eat outside and the tables had to be spaced appropriately.
We ended up eating at the Kimpton Vero Beach Hotel & Spa.
We had a nice dinner and got to see a beach wedding. By the time we were leaving, the sun was starting to go down and we had an absolutely fantastic evening and a fabulous Florida panorama over the ocean at dusk.
The trip was only a few hours. We had a puppy [Note from Sharon: Said “puppy,” Dobby, is 11 years old] at home who we hadn’t left for more than a little while for months, and who missed us. This was never meant to be a vacation but just a break. We got to see great friends and talk about weddings and family.
Going on a trip like this made us realize what we missed about travel or just getting out of the house. We also realized that we’re not ready to just go out and pretend everything is OK. Many times during our trip we noticed people totally ignoring social distancing guidelines and face mask recommendations. If we had wanted to get some ice cream, the line at the store was at least 25 people long, with everyone standing right next to one another. We would have just gone, NOPE! Until everyone does their part, we’re not going to put ourselves at risk.
We might be ready to make some more trips but they’ll be ones where we can make sure we can distance from everyone else. At least we feel there’s a chance we can travel somewhere again, even if they’re not the type of trips we’d normally take.
#stayhealthy #staysafe #washyourhands
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This post first appeared on Your Mileage May Vary
2 comments
If you get a chance to go back for a lengthier trip, the Kimpton Vero Beach is outstanding! We live in Fort Pierce, and it’s our go-to “staycation” resort.
I grew up in Titusville. If you ever have a chance go to Playalinda in the Canaveral National Seashore, about 10 miles east. It is completely undeveloped and you get within a few miles of the launch pads on your drive out. Oh yeah, stop at Dixie Crossroads for some rock shrimp while you are there!!!