Aug 16: A Beach Break

It was one of those mornings. A morning too delightfully languid to hurry home. A perfect morning to stop by the beach. So as I drove down A1A from Lighthouse Point toward Dania Beach, with many hours of work awaiting me, I paused anyway for a beach break. When I reached the Fort Lauderdale beach, I parked my car and walked a couple of blocks to H2O Café for breakfast. I sat at an outside table in the shade of a tall palm, feeling warm in the still tropical air but happy to relax where I could absorb everything happening around me. People were walking across the street in pairs and groups and families, spreading out blankets for a day on the sand. Others wandered past me as they scouted out places for their own beach breakfast.

I ordered black coffee and a fruit plate. I could see several tanker ships waiting offshore for the okay to enter Port Everglades. Perhaps another dozen or so boats were visible too, charter fishing boats and private yachts that had motored out for a morning at sea.

The Atlantic Ocean was ideal for boaters - and swimmers. It was calm and flat and twinkling in the sunshine, a blue much lighter than the clear skies that stretched to the horizon. My server, Amit, delivered my order and told me he'd watched the sunrise that morning as fingers of cloud and light had spread across the east. My coffee was strong, just as I'd ordered, and the chilled watermelon and strawberry, cantalope and honeydew and pineapple were flavorful. Directly across from me I saw the lifeguard in his stand keeping tabs on the swimmers as they walked from blankets to waves and back again. A slim young woman with dark hair glided by on foot along the water line, visible to me only in silhouette from the waist up. At a distance, I imagined she was very beautiful. Then a parasailer appeared high over the sea to my north, dangling under a round multicolored parachute in the brilliant light. Amit brought me a refill of my coffee and, with a smile, said, "You're not really going to go and do work after this. Are you?" He gestured toward the beach. Amit had a point, of course. I've often commented in these blogs about how tough it can be to enjoy Greater Fort Lauderdale during work days. You don't want to go back to your desk. But I paid my bill anyway and walked reluctantly toward my car. I'd had my break and, for now, it would have to be enough.