Ghost town

Apparently, there is a mass exodus on the eve of Spring Break. When we got here the first of February, every single site was filled – now it seems more like a ghost town. While all the snow birds want to winter here, they don’t have no stomach for the hordes of young’uns. All week we have been hearing about the ban of alcohol on the beach which starts March 1, and all the locals bemoaning the adverse impact on their revenues. When we planned to head out on March 1, we didn’t know we would be leaving with the masses. There are 30 RV’s leaving on 3/1, and there is even a local traffic officer that will hope to make it a bit more orderly.

We took the last chance with some nice weather to enjoy the Miramar Beach area. We headed over to Pompano Joes, a seafood restaurant, to actually get some real Gulf fish – not just fish dip. The food was really good, and our stroll along the boardwalk while waiting for our text that our table was ready was even better. While I know it’s a bit hard to tell from this picture, this kite surfer came off a wave and caught more than 30 feet of air, doing a flip on his way down. He stuck the landing BTW.

Also, as we walked along the beach awaiting our table, we took in all the sites that the beach had to offer. I imagine folk felt cooped up by the cold and wet, so even though it is not bikini weather, it is sunny so everyone was on the sand. This was probably the most impressive structure we saw today.

The more we strolled around today, taking advantage of the sun and getting our last looks in before we leave, we came to the understanding that pretty much nobody lives full time anywhere near the water. Every building we saw was a vacation rental, some single-family dwellings and some multi-family condos. I am sure it is part of the marketing positioning, but it seems like each unit has a catchy name – and all of them are nautical in nature. While I can’t say this was the best name we found, it certainly is in the running.

The Woman has officially begun to freak. All you hear about on the news or on the internet is the outbreak of the Corona Virus and the cases of Covid 19 in the US. So, she made me go to the local grocery store so that she could stock up on canned soup and chili, toilet paper and hand sanitizer. I thought she was nuts – the stores here looked the same as they had all month. But then our daughter, Karen, sent us some pics of what the huge, big box grocery stores look like in Seattle. I guess I stand corrected.

Talk to you soon.