What a Beach! Volume 2.0
The world-famous beach photography series is back...and not a moment too soon!
We had a beautiful spring day this past week, so my wife and I decided to take advantage of it and head to the beach. We hopped in the car, started down the road, and...
Oh, no! Our tire pressure was low in one of our back tires!
I pulled into the nearest gas station to put air in the tire and check for any damage. And wouldn't you know it...there was a nail stuck straight into the tread. Luckily for us, there was a tire store/mechanic right down the street, so we were able to get it patched, ate some food at a restaurant next door while we waited, then continued on our journey to the beach.
We would be arriving at the beach a little later than we had hoped, but the early-evening scene worked out well for us in the end and now I'm here to share some of that adventure with you! If you're not familiar with this series, you can find previous installments here:
What a Beach! Volume 1.0
What a Beach! Volume 1.1
What a beach! Volume 1.2
Here's what we saw on our most recent trip...
After some fire damage a couple of years ago and storm surge damage from last year's hurricanes, the boardwalk over the sand dunes was replaced. But the new faux-wood structure didn't deter this little sprout from finding the evening sun.
Before we could even make it to the beach, we spotted these cuddly little creatures in the dune grasses. They were at least five or six feet long and didn't move a muscle the entire time we stood there taking pictures.
Don't you just want to squeeze them and take them home with you?
After my wife was sufficiently satiated by this spring scene of scaly snakeskin provided by these slithery serpents, we continued up the stairs to the top of the dunes.
It would be a long way down from there, but the lure of the Atlantic sands kept us motivated to reach our goal.
We made it!
Once our toes hit the sands, we felt that we were not alone. Something was on that beach with us. Possibly something treacherous! We could feel that we were being watched. Lots of beady little eyes were gazing at us from all directions.
But what great beach predator was focused on us? What was out there that was most likely...stalking us???
We found a clue...
Not being familiar with the beach fauna, we figured that this footprint must belong to a fish or something that lives in the coastal waters. After all, it was feeding time, so it made sense that these creatures would be looking for food. And they couldn't eat dinner and then immediately go swimming again. They would have to wait 30 minutes for their food to digest, otherwise they'd cramp and possibly drown.
We were in a precarious position out there in the sands. We were not in our natural habitat. We were out of our element. We were exposed.
A little panic began to set in. But we remained strong and decided to continue forward.
We found something else that tipped us off that this was likely a creature of the sea variety.
With the additional information at our disposal, we decided to pick up the tracks again and followed them down the beach.
We must have been getting a little too close to something we weren't supposed to see. After a few minutes of tracking this mysterious beast of the eastern seaboard, a Navy helicopter was scrambled to distract us from our search!
Nothing was going to scare us away. We were determined to beat the odds...to not become prey...neither to the savage animals of the seashore nor to the savage animals of the state!
After our close call with the military, we saw it.
It was standing right in front of us.
The beast that had eluded us for so long and had caused so much emotional anguish.
Staring at us as if it had already decided that we were its next meal.
We were frozen with fear.
Oh...yeah...
It was just a bird.
However - he did have a friend with him. So it wasn't completely safe for us. Strength in numbers, you know. And they were in fact hunting...just not for us.
What a relief that was!
With our nerves now calmed, my wife and I were able to just enjoy the sounds of the crashing waves and the blowing wind. It was a nice break from the day's mishaps and the scary encounters we had with nature.
We spent some time there in order to save energy for our trek back to our familiar lands...which will be shared in Volume 2.1, so stay tuned!
All photos were taken by me with my Canon 6D.
VOTE FOR ME!
beautiful nature....and great pictures!
Pretty nice pictures... Those footprints are mysterious for sure, did the helicopter actually told you to go away?, that's scary...
No, they didn’t tell us to leave. I guess they could have, but they were in a helicopter, so we wouldn’t have been able to hear them anyway.
Good to hear you survived the ordeal of being out and about. Especially that helicopter had me worried, I thought for a moment they had finally come for you.
They tried to take me...but they were out-gunned.
It's amazing what these compact SLSAMs can do these days. If have a few Russian ones if you're ...
Wait, there's somebody at the door.
Don’t answer it! It’s a trap!!!
Better watch out....I heard those beast's love to eat scraps on the beach and swarm anyone daring to feed them lol
The story is very dramatic, from the disaster that hit the car tire, to meet the snake, and you also had time to take picture a helicopter :)), surely this is a fun trip with your wife :)
So much drama! So much excitement!
So much...
Nature!
Let me know that you din’t take the snakes home 😀
The foot print could it be from a dog?
Paw print!
A dog? On the beach?
That's ridiculous. What would they even be doing there?
Lol...
On the west coast some beaches are dog friendly. The dogs behave like kids at the beach digging in the sand, lay in the cooler hole they dug. Chase tennis balls thrown into the ocean and brings them back. And sniff other dogs all over the beach. It must be a west coast thing?
https://www.californiabeaches.com/dog-friendly-beaches-southern-california/
Probably. I don't even think we have dogs here. I see them on TV sometimes. They look fluffy enough for some kind of use, I guess.
It's back!!!!
And what a whopper! I can't think of anything that isn't here... I mean you even got the men in black (sort of) following you!!
ps: kill the snakes
Yeah...I didn't even mention the sand-throwing turtle that was next to the snakes in the dunes. But I didn't get a picture of him before he buried himself, so he didn't make the cut into the story.
PS: Good idea!
Just kidding, @herpetologyguy!
I am not a fan of snakes at all! Having a snake chase you while in the sand would be awful! Lol
This looks like an incredible vacation! Sometimes just sitting back and watching nature is one of the peaceful things.
Makes me want to get the metal detector out of the trunk.
Damn. You're old, huh?
Young at heart. So young I forgot my age earlier today while filling out a form.
Was it your AARP membership card?
We don't have those.
That first photo looks like a painting. I have not been to a beach in so long or really outside too much in general :p
It is a painting!
Well...it was made with the oil paint filter on Photoshop. But it's pretty much the same as if i had painted it myself.
lol exactly the same @ats-david.
You really like that oil paint filter, don't you?
Yes I do. Thanks for telling me about it. It’s great for cover images.