First, a recounting of the events that took place during my absence from the Gulf Coast yesterday: Nancy bought sandals for Tim (his huge feet outgrew his old ones), Tim went to the beach with the Grants, Nancy rode her bike around this circular “park”—and Nancy, Tim, and the Mikes went to dinner at a Chinese buffet. As you can see, life is just as exciting when I’m not around.
The most memorable part of my day occurred at the beginning. While waiting impatiently at the reception desk at the celebrated Terrace Inn in Coral Gables, Florida, I noticed that a woman had moved towards the breakfast table and removed five of the six remaining bagels for her own use. By the time I got in line behind her, the final bagel was still there, but she snatched it up, saying to the woman next to her, “Para mí familia.” Maybe, maybe not, but this gave Bob Grumman plenty to complain about as we drove back across the state.
I arrived home to discovere that Nancy, Tim, and Mr Mike were heading out for a walk to and on the beach. I quickly changed my clothes, and we headed out into the cool windy day. We took a back road to the beach, and it was covered studded with shells, making the road resemble the rough tabby once used to build simple homes in the ocean southeast. Later, we crossed over the Intracoastal Waterway on the Manasota Island drawbridge, providing us a beautiful view of brown pelicans in flight. We then walked on a boardwalk that curves around a small inlet on the island. There we saw mangrove roots covered with oysters and drooping towards, but not quite touching, the water.
Only two families decided to set up umbrellas and chairs on the beach and pretend today was a nice day for sunbathing. (They paid for their vacation, so they were going to enjoy it whether that was possible or not.) The waves off the gulf were tall and wild today, and wind-whipped sand stung our legs on our walk. Mr Mike and Nancy searched for sharks’ teeth, and Tim and I carved and photographed sandglyphs in the moist but solid sand.
After dinner, we went to Venice, where we saw the Venice Municipal Airport—now famous for (unintentionally) having trained a number of terrorists how to crash jet liners into the Twin Towers. But our goal was the Venice jetty, a strip of asphalt laid upon a base of rough-hewn rock and leading out into what was today a wild sea. We came for the sunset but arrived during those few minutes just after sunset when the sun still illuminates the world from beyond the horizon. Nancy, Tim, and I walked out onto the jetty, ignoring the spray until it actually hit us. We ran towards the end of the jetty then away, trying to time our arrival at the very end so that we hit a dry spell between huge splashes.
The cold wind, the sea spray, and the adventure made this the best part of the day. Laughing, we walked back to shore.
Signs of the day (with a few yards of one another):
Exotic Handmade Pottery
BASKETVIL
XTC
Adult
Superstore
Quote of the day (Nancy): Your hognose bellybutton is a hernia?
