It’s been 23 years since we’ve seen the Atlantic on a vacation and 30 years since we’ve lived close enough to visit regularly when we lived in New Hampshire. Does it still exist? Well, I haven’t heard in the news that it has dried up so I am assuming that it does still exist. But, today, it’s time to see for ourselves, to see the great ocean and enjoy its beauty. I’m just sure that when we ‘retire’ and ‘settle down’ there will be an ocean nearby. Although also getting close to the mountains that I love to hike might limit our choices.
We had our leisurely Sunday breakfast along with cleaning the house, doing a load of laundry, downloading pictures - um - that doesn’t sound so leisurely to me. Finally, we decided it was time to head on over to the Canaveral National Seashore. Since there are two parts to this and a channel for boats between them, we had to choose which section to see and we chose the southern section where the Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge was also. We can get a two-fer here.
Interesting, the Wildlife Preserve and Cape Canaveral National Seashore are preserved here because NASA needed a safe secure spot to launch their rockets, missiles and satellites. A place with no one around that could be harmed if something went wrong. In fact the beach is closed off when there is a launch. But, when opened, Cape Canaveral is a beautiful beach and Merritt is a wonderful preserve.
Our first mistake was taking a wrong turn and droving for a few miles looking for the visitor center. But, on the way we saw a ‘Bird Jam’. A ‘jam’ in a National Park is where there are loads of cars parked off to the side of the road and everyone is out with binocs and cameras. You’d better stop and see what all the fuss is about or you’ll miss it. So, we stopped and noticed hundreds of birds on the side of the small canal along the road. (When they put roads through a marsh they dig canals on the side and put all the dirt into the middle to make the road. Thus, most roads are lined with an 8’ wide drainage canal.) we could almost reach out and touch these birds.
Whoo-eee. What a show these birds were putting on and not paying a bit of attention to us. Look at this small egret - looks like he’s having a bad hair day. Nope, he’s preening and showing all he’s got to catch some female in the bunch. When another preening male came near, he squawked him off. A cacophony of screeches, squawks, and chirps. Several fights among the birds. Must be over some female.
And, then I noticed our second mistake: I had forgotten to bring either camera. We have two and both were in the RV. Gary had put them away after the last time we had used them and, for me, while packing up for today’s activities, they were ‘out of sight, out of mind.’ Ah but we still had our iPhone and it takes pretty good pictures but, even though it is the iPhone 6S, it still isn’t as good as a camera. It doesn’t have a very good zoom which is what I wanted here. We obviously need a list by the door so we don’t leave important things in the RV: keys, billfolds (and yes, we’ve even gotten a ways down the road and realized neither of us had a driver’s license or money or - well, anything), food, cameras, binocs, etc. And, now, we have a list by the door. Imagine being so old that you need a list by the door of things to take when you travel. My, we are aging right before my eyes.
But, luckily we took the wrong turn or we might have missed this bird jam. Then, since we were on the wrong road, we took a turn through what is named the Black Point Wildlife Drive and saw these magnificent Roseate Spoonbills flapping their wings and giving us a great show.
OK, let’s get on track. Off to the beach. And, what a beautiful beach it is - miles long, white sand, lots of tiny shells along the water line and people sunning themselves. Look at all the interesting birds on this beach. Hey, look, over there - isn’t that the Red-necked Midwestern Matron? And, there, I can see a White-legged Canadian Tourist. Ooh, isn’t that the Leering Teenage Chick Spyer? Ah, aren’t there interesting birds on the beach? These must all be tourists - I’ve never seen so much pale skin. I doubt that there are many Floridians here today. The temperature might be in the high 70’s but the blowing wind puts a bit of a nip in the air. I think Floridians have enough sunny days that they aren’t out on this marginal day. Only us pale Northerners.
Of course, we could see the vehicle Assembly Building on the Kennedy Space Center. It always stands out.
But our walk was fantastic. Everyone was having such a good time. There were people fishing, kicking a soccer ball, wading, surfing, sunning, chatting, building sand castles, shelling. Fun. What’s not to like about a sunny day on the beach?
Interesting information on the marsh: some birds like the water and having the marsh full while other birds are waders and like the mud flats. It’s tricky for the Wildlife Service to manage the water so that all are happy in all seasons and they are continually moving water around through these culverts.
We met 3 couples in our walks today. One saw Gary’s Glacier NP t-shirt and told us they were going there this fall. We chatted with them for a while about places we had all been and places we planned to go. Another couple we met told us that the world was going to hell in a hand basket. Doom and Gloom. You an imagine which couple we preferred to talk with.
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