I got the worst sunburn of my life in Pensacola, Florida as a teenager. We're talking blistering scabs all over my arms and and back. No amount of aloe would save me.
I couldn't sleep.
I couldn't wear a shirt.
I could barely even BE.
Naturally, I completely swore off going to the beach.
One visit to these incredible beaches further south in Florida, and I changed overnight. Oh my god! Summer, sand, palm trees, sign me up!
Regina has since been like "I don't even know you anymore."
Casey Key Beach / Nokomis Public Beach
115 S Casey Key Road
Nokomis, Florida
February 24th, 2017
As I walked by I saw a guy set up with an easel doing a painting facing in this direction. I turned to see what he was painting and saw this beautiful view. I knew there was a better composition here, but I didn't want to crap the guy's artwork, so I snapped this real quick and moved on.
A beach boi is born!
Regina took me to the most beautiful beach I'd even seen. She didn't know it would make me a different person.
Casey Key was the closest nice beach to where Regina's mother lived at the time. About an hour or so drive in the cramped little Mazda Miata. I could barely fit inside it. I enjoyed being in a convertible, yes, but I could never own one of these cars. I'd die from cramps.
The beach was gorgeous. I'd never seen water so clear in all my life. This is what people picture when they talk about paradise. I immediately understood: This is why it's a thing.
This is what the beach was made up of. Gives you some perspective in to how sandy beaches are made.
This beach was made almost entirely of visibly large seashells. I'd never been to a beach that gave way from sand to just being made entirely of shells. It blew my mind a little bit. It's like I finally understood how beaches were born.
Another thing that blew my mind - there was a snack shack, called Shark Tooth Beach Concessions, that sold beer - beer you could carry out on to the beach! WHAT?
Not gonna happen at the beaches around NYC. Probably because millions of reprobates would leave beer cans everywhere.
But anyway, I was really pumped about it and so excited to bring this beer back to the sand. I also picked up some dippin' dots, because I hadn't had them since I worked in a movie theater as a teenager and we got a dippin' dots machine. I kind of hated them at the time but munching this package on the beach restored my faith.
So there's a fun combo. Not only did I come around on the beach idea, but Dippin' Dots in the same moment. That's a life changing trip.
After a perfect day of lounging on the beach, Regina was excited to take me for some seafood fine dining.
Fin's at Sharky's
This is the only photo I took at Fin's, and I wrecked it because it was so bright I couldn't even see my iPhone's screen. Decided to give up after this and just enjoy it.
There's this super kitschy beach bar on the pier called Sharky's and upstairs is, funny enough, a pretty fancy restaurant. Regina and I had some really delicious, if wildly expensive, seafood here and thoroughly enjoyed it. Though we were baking a little bit in the sun with the seat we chose, I kinda wanted to soak up as much sun a possible this whole trip.
I know if I lived down here I probably wouldn't want to spend very moment outside, but as any nature deprived new-yorker will tell you, we want as much time outdoors as we can get.
Next time: THE BEST BEACH IN AMERICA!
Are you pumped?