Wanderlust at the beach and memories from last year

My family and I went to Ocean City this past Thursday for a short time to pick up our Nana from vacation with my Uncle and Aunt. We got up early and made our traditional stop at Jimmy's Grill for breakfast. Whenever we go to the beach for the day, we always stop at Jimmy's Grill for a bite to eat. I used to think it was only our tradition, but I found out that when my mom would go on beach trips with her family, Pop and Nana would have the family stop at Jimmy's Grill for breakfast as well. It sort of makes me feel special now. Even though Pop had such a short time here on earth with me, I can still see traces of him where we go sometimes, and the happiness that still lingers on that he left behind.

 

One of my favorite parts of the trip is going across the bay bridge. Usually every time we go across , I like to stare at the ships and watch how fast they go, leaving nothing but lone waves in their wake. But this time my eye focus was centered on the horizon. I longed for more...I wanted to grab a boat, not even bother purchasing a map, and go explore. I had to quickly push these thoughts aside. I knew I would be hoping to vigorously for them, and just leaving my heart to ache. It just can't happen.

 My Uncle, Aunt, cousin Kurtis and his girlfriend, Bryanna  met up at the beach for the day. Sadly, the ocean was too rough for me to dare to even try getting in, but it was such a beautiful day to just stare and watch the waves in all their glory.

 

A man came up to me and told me that you could tell that a storm was coming by the way the waves were acting. A storm never came that day, but I could tell how easily he could be mistaken. Because the waves were almost exactly how I remembered them from one day on vacation last year with my Uncle and Aunt. I was out jumping waves with Kurtis, Bryanna and Britney and the waves started getting pretty big, and they were coming fast. It was overwhelming to get to them before they turned to white caps and crashed on you. It got really stressful and I made a swim back to shore. Not long after I had gotten back to land, thunder rumbled in the sky and the lifeguards called everyone out of the water.

 

We left around 2pm and went back to the beach house to get changed out of our bathing suites. Even in that short amount of time, I had gotten quite a tan! And the sun was barely making a presence beyond the clouds the whole time we were there. It could partially have to do with me not putting on any sunscreen...but I hardly ever burn, I just tan really well.

Anyway, I went upstairs to change and I couldn't help slipping into my old room from last year and taking a look out the window.

That window may as well been my favorite part of vacation. At night I would put it up and listen to the water rising and falling in the canal. It's such a relaxing sound to fall asleep to. I still find myself longing to hear that sound sometimes. I remember a couple days while we were on vacation with them, it was raining. Britney and I closed ourselves in our room and opened the window and listened to the rain pitter patter onto the roof and the canal water. Sometimes the breeze picked up and we got a mist of rain in our face. It was such a refreshing time!

I closed the memories away as I backed out of the room and closed the door behind me. I'll be back someday. I hope.

 

-Stephanie