The beach itself was gorgeous that day, too. High tide wasn't until 6 pm, so there was a lot of free beach area when we got there in the morning. However, it quickly filled up. Now, one of the most annoying things one can do on a beach is sit directly in front of you. I know that it's a beach, and there's only so much you can do about that, but yeah...one of these days I'm going to dig a trench around my personal space so no one invades it. Luckily, our area wasn't too invaded until later in the afternoon, when I was the only one left. Seriously, my mom had been gone for maybe 10 minutes when some Umbrella Poachers came by.
The Umbrella Poacher is a very specific type of beachgoer. They sneak up to the edge of a vacant umbrella, and leave most of their stuff there. Then, as they realize no one is coming back to claim said umbrella, they inch closer and closer to the shade:
On a related note, what is up with little kids wanting to roll in the sand?! I understand toddlers; they don't understand, and it feels cool. But this kid was at least 6, probably 7, and had no reason for the sand-rolling. Ew.
But I digress. Here is the Poachers' stuff when they all went into the water. Now, don't get me wrong - if they had asked if the umbrella was mine and/or if the people who had rented it were coming back, I would've happily told them they could use it. But they didn't ask, didn't make eye contact, just inched up toward the free shade. Grr.
Another type of person you see on the beach is The Blob, also known as the Space Invader. Case in point - The Blob that invaded us on Tuesday. This kind of beachgoer sends one or two people out to find available space. This is often a dad or late-elementary school-aged kid, both of whom are usually clueless about the social mores of beachgoing. They stake out some space for themselves, which, given that there are just a few of them, is no big deal.
Until they stand up and start waving at the rest of their entourage, which contains moms, grandparents, and multiple extra children. The Blob then spreads out in front of you, getting as close as humanly (or blobly) possible to you and the edge of your umbrella shade. It's bad enough when it's a considerate Blob, which keeps to itself and doesn't kick sand, run through your area, etc. But Blobs are rarely considerate. They spread, have children who kick sand and run through your space, have children who fight with each other, and worst of all - they have tents.
Will someone please explain to me the newfangled fad of having a mini-tent on the beach? The aforementioned Blob from Tuesday had a tent, but at least they had a couple of toddlers who sat inside it away from the sun. If it keeps a toddler from screaming, the tent is OK with me as long as it doesn't get in my way (although that's why God invented the beach umbrella, which works just as well). The Blob today had a tent just like theirs. However, the youngest kid in their group was all of 7 years old. And refused to sit under the tent. Seriously, they were in front of me for an hour and a half, and outside of two minutes right after they set the thing up, NO ONE used the damn tent!
The tent was good for one thing, though - The Blob put their tent right in front of the Umbrella Poachers' stuff!
Seriously, even poaching some of the poached shade. I never thought I would be defending Umbrella Poachers, but at least these people tried to minimize the space they had poached, and not get in anyone's way. And outside of the poaching and the sand rolling, these people seemed to be quiet and not annoying. The Blob - this one in particular - is far worse than the Poacher. I stayed on the beach until around 5 pm. I was trying to stay until the tide came in, in the hopes that The Blob would get wet, but sadly, I had to go back to help pack. There are no pictures of this, because it is sad. After we packed (and had a lovely dinner of unhealthy Boardwalk food), we headed over to my uncle's house to say goodbye to them. All of their children and grandchildren had accumulated throughout the day, so it was lovely to see everyone. On the way over there, though, I think we were driving behind Delaware's answer to the Duggar Family. Check out the number of kid stickers on this here car:
After visiting with everyone, we headed home, and then got up bright and early Saturday morning for an uneventful trip home. Well, uneventful except for stopping at Fractured Prune, home of the awesomest donuts ever. And when we got home, we were greeted by this very happy welcoming committee:
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