Vacation at the Beach

It was July 2008, and Ron and I were on our way to an ocean beach in South Carolina. It was an ordinary day in the hot summer. Many travelers, just like us, were doing the ordinary visit to the beach for the weekend, their cars loaded with beach toys and apparel, and lots of tanning oils. But this wasn't an ordinary day for me. Here I was, sixty years old, on my way to something I'd never seen before; an ocean.

Myrtle Beach, SC, was the setting for the first look at this great body of aqua that I had dreamed of seeing and hearing for my whole life. Our son-in-law, Christopher, had made all the arrangements, and we were meeting him and Jill and the kids to share the memory of a first for this old gal. And it was a great memory.

We arrived at the hotel before the kids, so Ron and I pulled chairs out onto the balcony of our room and spent some time quietly taking it all in; the sun-bathers, the umbrellas stuck into the sand, children playing and running and swimming, people's voices, and that great expanse of blue that went on and on and had no break in the horizon. That's what I had always wanted to see. And above all, this was the constant roar of the ocean going out and coming in against the shore. Ten minutes passed, and I'd had enough. I was ready to go home now.

The kids came soon and we had a wonderful week-end with them. They swam, and I watched, we ate out for meals, Jill and Christopher took a sunrise stroll on the beach the next morning, and we fit all seven of us in that one room. It was so much fun. And meanwhile, the ocean roared. And the seagulls cried and screeched, and the ocean roared.

So, now I've done it. I've seen the ocean; I even waded in the water, though I could hardly stand up with the sand shifting on every step. I had my picture taken there for the memory, and I sampled the famous ice cream shops along the streets. If I never go back, that will be fine. The only reason I would go would be to spend time with my family. I need to move on now, and I need to campaign for another first in my life while I'm still young enough to enjoy it. Like maybe a cruise, or maybe to see the Rocky Mountains or the Grand Canyon. Google Earth is great, but I really want to see these places in person. Whining and complaining got me to the ocean, after all.

I like quiet places, and I'm sure the Grand Canyon is quiet, and the Rocky Mountains even with the wildlife and the skiers shushing, is peaceful and serene and, yes, quiet. I like quiet.