With the sound of the waves crashing on the shore to the days the fog rolls in, the calm keeps your mind grounded. Being hugged by the warm breeze as the sun kisses your face is truly the best feeling.
One gets all of that while living in a small beach town. I grew up in Neptune Beach, Florida and truly I feel like I've had the best childhood anyone can ask for. I grew up with my dad working all year round, and my mom having the summers off mostly. My brothers and I had the run of the beach 90% of the year.
We would fish during school breaks with my grandparents, and my parents anywhere we could find. We learned how to fish from a young age because it is an amazing way to relax. I got my first fishing pole at age 5, and graduated to an adult fishing pole at age 13.
My dad and uncle were surfers growing up at the same beach, and my uncle owned a surfing label called "Dilla." "Dilla" is a way of life where you don't care about the outside world, because it's all about you and the ocean. I remember being a walking billboard to my uncles brand when he reopened the label. I had t-shirts and stickers galore.
While we were at the beach, no one dressed up or even had tennis shoes on. We would make fun of the "Townies" (people from in town) or tourists who wore tennis shoes, or nice clothes. We would especially make fun of those who would wear makeup or have their hair done to come to the beach.
My mom would never pack snacks or drinks because we would go home when we were hungry or thirsty because we lived 10 minutes away. It was a treat from my mom to pack snacks or drinks because we knew we were going to stay there for a long time. A lot of my childhood memories have the beach tied in somehow because we were there a lot.
We would go rain or shine because the best times to go are the times when the tourists feel uncomfortable with mother nature. All three levels of school were three or four blocks away from the beach.
In high school, my marine science class would go study the beach directly. We would look at different sea animals and learned how to cast a fishing net--even though I knew already (Thanks dad!).
I long for the days where I can sit on the shore or a pier and fish, because it was my therapy and it taught me patience. I was dating a boy in high school up until we broke up a month before I made my move down here permanent, we would walk the beach town center. It was the place at the beach where we had the best pizza, and the best hot chocolate.
It was where all the middle aged adults and seniors would go walk around, but we always had a lot of fun. The Beaches Town Center would put on live music during the summers on Friday and Saturday, and host different authors at the local bookshop near Lillie's Coffee Shop.
Walking along the shore is the best way to keep your mind at ease. I would know because the night before I moved down to Central Florida, I walked that beach debating whether that was the best choice for me. I remember sitting near the tide pools crying my eyes out knowing in the back of my mind that I would be staying in Central Florida.
The beach will forever be my happy place even though I live near the "Happiest Place on Earth," but to me Neptune Beach is my "Happiest Place on Earth." My tiny beach town maybe only 5 miles long, but it still holds an even bigger place in my heart.
