Hanging out at the Beach
People are fascinated by water. As I traveled around Europe I realized that most cities were located on a river or other body of water. Looking back at the United States, the same is true. Populations needed a source for water.
Beaches around the earth are magnets for people from huts to skyscrapers build on the sand. We just love water and in particular the beach. In fact most of the world’s population lives on or near a beach. So how often do people who live near a beach go to the beach?
There are studies for everything today so there must be one about how frequent people visit the beach. As a person who has lived near a beach most of his life, I believe that the idea that the beach is there has more significance than actually visiting the beach. As much as I love the beach, I rarely visited the beach when I lived in Southern California.
Moving to Ocean Springs, I find myself visiting the beach more frequently, at least driving by. We have this routine called “beach pizza” where we pick up a pizza and drive to Ocean Springs beach and eat while watching the people, fishing boats and water. We do this in the evening when it is cooler and more people come out to walk the beach path or play ball on the sand. This beach allows dogs so people walk their dogs down the path where they stop and meet others with dogs and I guess discuss who chews up the couch.
We watch the sun setting in the West beyond the Biloxi bridge across the bay. It’s an inspiring sight. The feral cats come out in the evening and sit on the grass across the street waiting for people to drop by and feed them. The pelicans sit atop the old pilings, you can wonder where the last one goes when the pilings are full.
The shrimp fleet, depending upon the time of year, are leaving or returning. You can see their lights off in the distance. The Ocean Springs beach is close to the Ocean Springs harbor where a number of fishing boats, more specifically, shrimp boats tie up. If you love shrimp, you can buy them from the boat owners when they return.
Fort Maurepas park is located across the street from the beach and is home to events all year. The park is the original site of an actual fort built by French explorers after they landed in 1699. The first fort was long gone when the City erected a replica which was destroyed by a hurricane. All that remains is the sign. You can sit on the beach and wonder how it was when these intrepid explorers rowed ashore for the first time. There were native Americans here to welcome them, the Biloxi tribe. It must have been a sight for the native Americans to see the tall sailing ships just off shore.
Back to the water, it’s warm in the Summer and children love to swim in it. As with the entire Mississippi Gulf Coast, the water is shallow and children can wonder out dozens of yards before the water level hits their waste.
We eat our pizza and watch the sunset. It’s nice to see people out socializing rather than texting or Twittering on their phones. To be sure, some young people walk with their phones but many more just hang out talking and laughing.
People actually cruize the beach. There is a street that runs along the beach and parking is available everywhere. That’s one of the things we like about this beach, there is always a place to park along the beach with an unobstructed view.
Mostly we sit in our car, open the windows and taken in the atmosphere. There is a very nice pier with seating that extends about 200 yards into the water. This is a nice place to sit and watch or have a snack as well.
At the start, I mentioned not going to the beach often while living in Southern California. Between the traffic to get near the beach and the parking issues, it was just too much trouble to visit. I suspect that many people living in the area feel the same. Even in Ocean Springs there may be people who do not frequent the beach even though some moved here because of it.
If you are planning a trip to the Mississippi Gulf Coast, visit the beaches. Stop by Ocean Springs beach and take a walk.
