A Little Late in the Season...

In spite of the fast-approaching winter season, I couldn't pass up an opportunity to share something I found the other day when traveling near the shore. On a normal day I would be anxious to sit and relax on the beach, but not this particular day when the wind was blowing and the temperature was hovering around 40 degrees. I pulled over for not even five minutes just to take a quick look at the water and experience the Atlantic coast in complete silence - any longer and I think I would have froze.

All along the road were sets of stairs that led over the dike to the beach and water. In front of each staircase was a small gravel parking lot. As I pulled off into one of the tiny lots I noticed "No Parking" signs. I said to myself, "I won't be here very long and besides, this is not the middle of summer with thousands of people swarming around so it shouldn't be a problem." I started to walk up the stairs but suddenly stopped at the sight of a "Private Property" sign! This staircase was private property? These "private" steps led to a large deck set atop the dike, just before the rocks dropped off to a narrow beach. For a brief minute I enjoyed an unobstructed view of the Atlantic then headed back to my car before I caused a stir. I could envision someone running out of the house across the street claiming I was trespassing.

As I started to drive away I thought to myself, "how cool would that be to own a private deck right on the beach?" The owners of this beach-front perch had a fantastic view of the water and plenty of room to entertain a small group of people. Most likely, as I said, the property belonged to one of the residents that lived across the street, making this find even better! I would love to be able to wake up on a summer morning, walk across the street and sit on my deck over looking the beach. What makes this thought even more appealing is knowing that some loud, annoying group of people wouldn't be parking themselves next to me within thirty minutes of sitting down. As far as I could tell, the only thing on this beach was these private steps/decks so most likely the craziness should kept to a minimum.

With the wind pushing my car around the right lane, I continued driving up the shore and thinking about a warm summer day at the beach....and how much fun it would be on my own private beach! I wonder what a person has to do to "own" part of a beach...hopefully someday I'll find out!

That's the Golden Perspective...what's yours?