Bagels and Beach Scenes

Friday morning I awoke with the warmth. While the days were entirely lovely - not too hot, not too cool - the nights got a wee bit cooler than I had anticipated and the one sheet I brought coupled with jeans and a sweatshirt left to slight shiverings in the night hours, which caused me to close up the tent's inner and outer 'doors' to prevent additional breezes. This, in turn, led to quite a warm wake up once the sun got in the air and began to make its presence known on my nylon fortress. So. In any case. I awoke and was soon off to forage a little breakfast on Route 1. On the way down I had noticed Surf Bagel's large sign and thought that it seemed like a promising place to seek out my first meal of the day. I wasn't wrong. I enjoyed the everything bagel, toasted with scallion cream cheese. It was not revolutionary. It was not the best bagel of my life. But it was beyond serviceable. Or should I say surfbagelable? Ugh.

After breakfast and a little reading in the tent, which I had reopened for better cross ventilation, I began the .75 mile walk to the beach. On the way I noted this cactus flower in full bloom and this wasp-ish thing enjoying its pollen center.

By about the same time the next day this flower had shriveled to nothing. I'm glad I took the time to photograph it while it was in its prime. A sentiment I have about myself from time to time when looking at photos from my college days.

The beach. It was nicely uncrowded and a fair breeze kept me not too terribly hot even with the sun beating down. I must admit that I didn't see others swimming and the waves looked rough, so I did no more than get thigh-high in the waters a few times. In fact, even on the next day when the waves were less ominous I didn't go all the way in. I'm a decent swimmer with a pragmatic view towards the likelihood of shark death, but being alone I had to worry that no one would really be looking out for me in the unlikely event that I began to drown or get carried away in a rip tide (go with the tide, swim parallel to the beach til you get out...right?). This sense of caution prevented me from fully enjoying the swimming element of the beach, but the crisp coldness of the water balanced with long stretches in the sun and breeze...well that wasn't so bad. 

Far, far down you can make out the main bath house where the majority of day visitors pitch their various beach encampments. I was glad to be away from so many throngs of folks.

Unfortunately I can report zero dolphin sightings. Hopefully if I get to return in August they'll be in better moods to entertain me with their existence.