In late July I took my first trip to Sebastian Inlet State Park. I was really impressed with this beautiful Florida State Park. I was on a four day road trip with my best friend from high school (boy, that was a long time ago!) Alex. Well, now he is Dr. Alexander Kerr, Assistant Professor of Marine Biology at the University of Guam Marine Lab. He was in Florida for several scientific conferences and had a few free days, so we got together and did a bit of beach hunting. Sebastian Inlet was one of our stops.
We arrived on a hot July weekday morning just before noon. The park straddles Sebastian Inlet, which has rock and concrete jetties on both sides. The main parking area on the north side is underneath the tall bridge that crosses the inlet. We headed straight for the beach at the most famous surf spot in Florida. There was a small swell in the water, but only a few beginner surfers. Not much for an experienced surfer to be interested in.
We took a walk up the beach looking for shells. I was snapping photos and Alex was picking up and identifying all kinds of shells. It was ungodly hot, humid, and still. I took note of several things about the beach at Sebastian: First, the beach is quite steep; second, the shell fragments on the beach were not sharp and jagged like they are on many beaches, instead they are smooth and highly polished by the pounding surf; and third, the color of the water was really inviting.
A surfing summer camp for youth called Billabong Sebastian Inlet Surf Camp had their tent up on the beach, supervising a group of young surfers while a dark cloud grew in size in the southern sky. I decided I was overheating and suggested that we head for the jetty and look for a breeze.
The north jetty at Sebastian is a fine piece of engineering and is built with fishing in mind. It is very long and has plenty of room for hundreds of people, although there were only 30 or 40 on the jetty then. We caught a slight breeze out on the jetty and walked out to the end. The view is magnificent. Several people caught fish and we saw quite a few cannonball jellyfish swimming by. The dark cloud continued to loom larger as we headed back to our cooler to get some cold drinks and lunch.
We took our food to a picnic area shaded by large sea grape trees as the breeze picked up, the sky grew dark, and thunder began to sound on the other side of the inlet. We sat and talked about old times and Alex told me about his new house on Guam. As teenagers we spent a lot of time together on Anna Maria Island beaches, surfing, beachcombing, playing our guitars on the beach, and foraging for various edible wild plants in the vacant lots around the island.
I wanted to walk over to the shallow lagoon and photograph it, but lightning was warning me to head for the car. We’d have to come back the next day to finish exploring the park. No problem.
And don’t miss the photos I took of snorkeling at Sebastian Inlet.
