Its Spring Break and they are all around town. My wife went to dinner with a friend at the new Ambrosia restaurant in the nice new million dollar condos at the Santa Maria and she spotted impecunious students woofing raw fish, on the parental expense account no doubt. They aren't all big spenders, but they're in town and doing their youthful thing- everywhere. Smathers Beach is the main hang out for the decompressing college students in this weird Spring custom.
Smathers Beach is a long thin strip of sand (and seaweed) along the south shore of the island, backed by a four lane street which accommodates the wandering eyes of passing drivers, who tend to wander as they eyeball the youngsters:
I'm not one to question (excessively) the mating rituals of anyone, least of all people less than half my age but this Spring Break thing I have never understood , and had I gone to college I doubt I'd have wasted my time, or my testosterone at a beach with hundreds or perhaps thousands of similarly inclined youngsters. I'd have been riding my motorcycle. Come to think that was exactly what I did do when I was in my 20's on vacation. Students here come from afar:
And they sit on the beach or toss a ball:
Some apparently seek solitude, and find it too:
The vendors along Smathers sell the usual stuff, at least I suppose its usual because I'm not a frequent habitue of Smathers beach or any other frolicking spot along the strands of this great nation. The only beaches I like are the small secluded ones far from hot dogs and ice creams.
These vendors have all my respect, they cope with crowds, heat and no relief for hours in order to make a living while the beaches are bustling. they do it all day, day after day, and I'm pretty sure they don't go home to waterfront multi-million dollar condos. All for the pleasure of a life in "paradise." Amazing resilience in my opinion. This sign doesn't lie:
The moped traffic is pretty astonishing too, clumps of them, horns tooting and feet flying out as they parade their spectacular skill and savoir faire in the manner of jousting knights. I'm quite fond of Honda's 50cc Metropolitan, but I never really considered it a babe magnet. Silly me.
Then there are the electric vehicles and their apparently indecisive occupants. I have no idea what they were looking at or waiting for squashed into their absurd little electric car. Godot never approached me, I know that:
Bicycles by the dozen, including the ever popular vacation tandem:
Those rectangular signs on the back of mopeds and bicycles given them away as rentals:
This was no rental and made my heart go pitter-patter far more so than all the juveniles strutting around in their underwear:
For those not lucky enough to strut their stuff on a Vespa GTS, there are other classy activities to enjoy, sailing or para sailing for a start:
Those cement posts mark the location of an old boat ramp at the corner of South Roosevelt and Bertha Street, which hurricanes severally demolished bit by bit. The city decided it was not a good spot to be launching boats so they blocked it off. If one wants to sound like an old timer one calls this corner "the Ramp." I should note that the beach is something less than one might expect elsewhere in Florida where sand is what the land is actually made of. Down here sand is imported ( really!), the seaweed is free, courtesy of tidal flow:
And that seaweed which tends to rot gently in the heat needs to be cleaned up which requires the only farm tractor I've seen in the county weaving its way past the beach goers:
Just another feature of vacations in the Keys, beach clean up while you wait...Some people rent apartments and enjoy the view from afar:
But for some all the excitement is just too much and the beach can be an ideal spot for a little time out. That they sleep through it all is a testament to youth and a clear conscience no doubt:
I tip toed away back to my middle aged life. Nobody asked but if they had I should have told them it just keeps getting better the more middle aged you get. But if i remember right at that age no one can tell you anything. I'd also have told them to take their money, get a motorcycle and go and see some of the world. But that was me, young and middle aged.
2 comments:
I live in a college town, which is the same as living in a popular spring break town, but more civilized. It keeps everyone feeling younger.
Ah yes, I miss living in a college town. I am desperately hoping the Junior College thrives and gives me an opportunity to take classes in my old age as though I were still on the outskirts of UC Santa Cruz... However I feel young every day enough that were I to envy the spring breakers I'd regress far enough they'd have to take away my vote, and that wouldn't be fair.
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