Longboat Key

A few years ago Mike's parents went in with his aunt and uncle on purchasing a condo in Longboat Key, a little island about an hour outside of Sarasota. I think everyone in the family except Mike and I had been down to the condo and we're always hearing stories of how much we'll love it, so we finally added it to our schedule this month.

I grew up in Maryland, so the beach has always been a special place for me. My mom and dad used to take my brother and me in the fall around my dad's birthday, and we'd enjoy fall festivals, boating, crabbing, rides at the boardwalk, and fresh cut fries and salt water taffy. One of my favorite things to do was pick out ornaments at the Christmas store, which is something I still do to this day at every chance I get. In high school, annual trips to the beach were taken with my best friends and their families, and there'd be put-put, ice cream, and scope photographs (as well as fawning over the guys who took them) on the beach. Some of my favorite memories were created at the beach. My family loved going to the beach long before I was born, and my grandfather took picture after picture of me bundled up on the boardwalk or playing in the sand dunes. It feels special to have a place that has been a part of your life for a very long time.

Mike's mom, aunt, and I arrived at the condo this afternoon. We pretty much headed straight for the beach. There's been a lot going on in our world right now, and although we've been trying to enjoy all of this summer's events, we've often been a little preoccupied. I'm particularly feeling the pressure now that July is coming to an end and we've got big deadlines and moves ahead of us. But walking down to that beach, the beach that had nothing other than a dozen or so empty beach chairs, a hungry pelican fishing for his supper, and a stray person or two, I felt completely relaxed. I felt a bit giddy and elated to be staring out at the ocean. I felt appreciative to be witnessing something so completely beautiful and perfect, and I just felt at home. Mike's aunt asked me if I was a beach person, and I took a minute to respond; I don't run off to the beach frequently (though it would have been hard to do that during my last four years in Hoosier country), but once I'm there I feel at peace. And then I thought, how could anyone not be a beach person?

We had dinner tonight on the beach and sipped mojitos at the bar inside while we waited for our table to become available. We snacked on pineapple coconut bread and just enjoyed the view and the breeze. We all ordered fish (because how could we not?), and it didn't even really occur to us that we had waited a while for our food. It was all delicious, but the kitchen had been busy, and our ticket was unusually slow. So the manager came out and treated us to dessert. We were all too full so we had our treats packed up to go.

Back at the condo I had a few bites of the chocolate cake I ordered (pure heaven) and then washed up for bed. I still smell faintly of sunscreen despite my shower, and my hair seems a bit blonder already. I'm stretched out on the king sized bed because Mike doesn't arrive until Tuesday. I feel somewhere between my teenage self and the actual 27 year-old girl that I am. I realize that I'm not here with my parents or my friends and their parents, no. I'm here with my new family. I'm here with the people I will spend the next stage of my life building memories with. It's a good feeling.