Sunrise - Sunset

Sunrise at Myrtle Beach
View along the beach at Myrtle Beach.
Sunset at Nor Cal Beach near Ft. Bragg.
Same beach during the day.


If anyone were to ask me my favorite place I would invariably say the beach. I have swum in the Pacific, the Gulf, the Atlantic, the Adriatic, the Mediterranean, stuck a big toe in the freezing cold North Sea, and walked the beaches of Normandy looking out across the English Channel. I love it! No where else do I feel as close to God and at peace as I do at the sea. Since moving to North Carolina I have been to Virginia Beach and Myrtle Beach. I have to say I was disappointed. They were far too commercialized. I much prefer the ruggedness of the Northern California Beaches. In many places there is not a high rise hotel in sight and there are maybe 10 people on the beach, instead of hundreds and where the view is nothing but hotels. The water may be colder, the fog may sometimes block the view of the ocean, but it draws me. It reminds me of my childhood, camping out with my grandparents and building sandcastles on the beach with cousins. My mother once told me that she could see the ocean from the hospital where I was born. It has been in my blood ever since. I hope to pass this love down to my daughter. So far she seems to like it. Especially the taste of the sand! I spent far too many years landlocked and hope to avoid that again.