You are not going to believe this, because I didn’t have my camera. You’ll just have to take my word for it. I decided to stop at the first real beach I saw near Carabelle to say an official hello to the beach. It’s a rest-area-looking arrangement, with concrete picnic tables under concrete awnings that look like they were built in the fifties. Just over a small rise is the bay in all it’s glory, complete with sparkling water and fluffy white sand.
I ate lunch at one of the concrete tables, enjoying the solid feel of everything around me. Even the water feels solid in a liquid kind of way. It feels like the earth is pulling me down closer to it here.
Then I put away the lunch things and took a blanket and a bottle of water with me on a walk down the beach. I’m glad you weren’t with me, because you’d think I was crazy. I was walking along saying, “Hello beach. I’m glad to see you.”
Not two minutes of walking went by when I saw something that both thrilled me and freaked me out–an actual, honest-to-God FIN sticking out of the water. Holy **ap!
Being from Nebraska, and not the slightest bit familiar with my fin classification, I stepped a few feet away from the edge of the surf, just in case. As I continued to watch, the fin wove its way slowly toward me, back and forth through the water like a dancer’s hand carving the air.
The fin seemed to know I was apprehensive. Do sharks swim all the way up onto the shore if they see a good dinner? it swam near me, then swam away, turning again to give me a thrill of butterflies in my stomach, then away again.
Suddenly, I recognized the arching path of the swimmer from documentary TV. It was a dolphin! How wonderful! I found myself wondering if this shoreline is full of dolphins, and whether I was making a fool of myself saying hello to a creature that couldn’t have possibly heard me. But it didn’t really matter. I was the only one on the beach, except a couple of people at least a quarter mile away.
Then, the most amazing thing happened. The dolphin swam at breakneck speed directly toward shore. It wiggled its way closer, splashing the deep water and doing a U-turn at the last second before hitting shore as if it was saluting me, then zipped out to sea again. It took my breath away and put tears in my eyes. Call me goofy. I couldn’t help it. You have to give me a break. I’m just a poor Nebraskan who doesn’t get to see the ocean every day.
I walked along the shore some more, picking up shells to send to my parents, and it happened again! I couldn’t believe it. I just stood there in awe, thanking the dolphin for making my welcome to the beach as special as I could have imagined. I watched as the dolphin swam away at a speed fast enough to create a smooth, liquidy wake. This time, I couldn’t see the fin–just the sliver rolling water.
I spent another half hour on the beach, lying calmly on my blanket and breathing deeper and clearer than I have for ages, soaking up the sun and loving the slow breeze on my skin. The whole experience was like a big feathery sigh.
What does this have to do with marketing? Well, nothing really. But after I focused enough to look up and notice a ten-thousand-foot view of my surroundings, I realized it was Saturday and there were only three people on this beach. Why?
It could be because there are better beaches not that far away. This one isn’t suitable for swimming…the beach drops off within three feet of the edge of the surf. I could see some kind of fish nipping the surface of the water all along (another thrill).
It could be because there are a lot of flies, due to the large amount of seaweed. Or maybe it’s not a safe place to be, and I just don’t know it. I’m sitting in my car as I write this, ready to slam the door shut if I see any iffy characters.
Maybe it’s because not that many people know about this beach. Would you even want to market it? Probably not. It’s a public area, and there isn’t any money to be made without lots of development. But then the dolphins would probably not stick around.
I’m just pinching myself and counting my blessings I somehow landed here for my official Gulf coast welcome.
