An Afternoon Drive
I have driven off road with my father-in-law’s jeep; I have ridden off road in Africa. The last kind of off roading I wanted to complete was on a Florida beach- reminiscent of my childhood. So, during our Easter weekend, the kids and I spent the holiday in St. Augustine- where one may drive on the beach.
It was a chilly, cloudy day- not typical for early April Florida weather, but we went to the beach anyway! We drove to the first ramp- in Florida they have special ramps where you may enter the beach with your vehicle. It protects the sand dunes and allows the government to charge for the privilege of driving on the beach. The first ramp we approached had a big sign 4X4s only! Oh no! I was concerned this item on my list might be squashed! My SUV is not a 4x4. I was told by the dealer it was hard to find a used one with 4 wheel drive in Florida since it’s not needed. Ha! It is needed if you want to drive on a beach. We asked the nice man directing traffic and he gave us directions to get us to a ramp where all regular drive vehicles were allowed to drive on the beach. What a relief!
We arrived at the ramp and paid the $10 entrance fee. Our goal was just to go for a nice drive. We weren’t going to park and hang out- again it was a cloudy, chilly day and the ocean looked angry. We pulled out and I turned onto the beach. Even though there was not a road, the city had designated area for driving, and one for walking. The drive was one way only.
I was trying to savor the drive, a nice “Sunday afternoon drive” speed. Michael kept urging me to go faster. This wasn’t like the Jet Ski experience where he was yearning for a thrilling ride, he was worried we’d get stuck (from his own personal experience). He kept saying: “keep accelerating”, “don’t slow down”, “keep the momentum”, “accelerate, accelerate!”. We drove three miles of the shoreline and then choose to exit as the sand was starting to seem less firmly packed (aka able to easily get stuck in if you’re not driving a 4x4).
The experience was great! Being free to drive in an open area was wonderful. Seeing the ocean with an unobstructed view was breathtaking. Had it been a beautiful day, it would have been nice to park and pull our beach gear out of the car right where we would spend our time- but only if Michael would let me stop. This experience was just part of our fun Easter weekend together. But to be honest- just being together with my kids makes anything fun! #19✔
