If You Live Near the Sea….
Jana "Banana" Thornton Wednesday, April 18, 2012
If you live near the sea, you thank your lucky stars. While others must wait for their vacation to visit the coast, locals are blessed by the scent of salt in the air, sunlight sparkling on the ocean, and that delicious feeling of sand beneath their bare feet whenever they please. Here in Myrtle Beach, we love all seasons but we especially enjoy our home in the spring.
The weeks between spring break and summer vacation become a magical time for residents of the Grand Strand area with mild traffic, warm temperatures and quiet beaches. This is the time of year when we rediscover our beautiful corner of the world, and appreciate the tranquility of the sea. We don’t mind sharing our pretty locale with visitors- but we certainly love to enjoy the beaches a little before “company arrives”.
This Monday evening was one of those magical times. My husband and I rode our bicycles for an hour then stopped to walk onto the beach just as the sky began to grow pink from the setting sun. We were both amazed to look up and down the shoreline and realize that we were the only two people on that end of the beach. There was nothing but wind ruffling across the dunes, waves rolling onto shore, and the call of sea birds. It was a surreal moment, and one not soon forgotten.
Although I am a Yankee transplant, I feel like a true local since I was raised as a child of the sea and am delighted to live near it again. My home state of Maine is also a popular tourist destination- our logo was “Vacationland” for many years. I waited impatiently for the short summer months to swim in the cold waves, build sandcastles, and climb the rocks in search for tide pools and sea glass. I learned to appreciate the busy traffic of the “summer people” that traveled to us from Canada and across the US, and find South Carolina to be very familiar as a popular tourist destination.
The difference here, unlike my home state, the lack of snow and bitter cold temperatures means that I could enjoy the shore year ‘round. Unfortunately (like many other locals) I got too busy with work and family to make time to enjoy the beauty that surrounds me. This has been true since I moved to the Grand Strand...until now. Armed with a camera and notebook, I have the great pleasure of being a tourist in my own community and will share all the delightful sea-side surprises I can find here on Myrtle-Beach.com. Whether you are a visitor, a local, or a business, I hope that we can connect to share the beauty of Myrtle Beach with the rest of the world. And yes, indeed, I do thank my lucky stars!
Jana “Banana” Thornton will be sharing the beauty of the Myrtle Beach area here on Myrtle-Beach.com. Join her adventures, and please feel free to contact her with ideas for future stories and features at jana@myrtle-beach.com.