Florida Journal 2016

June 2nd

So last night I decided I wanted to goto the beach today. I figured I'd camp as close to the beach as I could. Boy was that a mistake. I could not find a spot where I was not being eaten alive.

When I reached the drawbridge it was going up so I decided that was my sign to camp there. There was a little path next to it so I followed it down. It wasn't any less buggy but by now I figured that was just how it was by the water. I had so much trouble sleeping all night. Then at some point I began to rain. I threw my jackets over my head to try and stay a dry as possible and was a bit bummed until I realized it was a blessing in disguise, the rain kept those little suckers at bay. Luckily it was a very warm night as well, so even though I was wet, I wasn't freezing. Then of course the next day I remembered I had an umbrella, silly me.

I woke up a little after 5. It had stopped raining and the bugs were back with a vengence. I wanted so bad to go back to sleep but I couldn't take the itchiness so I packed up my things and headed off to Dania Beach.

After so many visits to Dania Beach I finally made to the beach. It was still dark but I saw cars pulling in. Fishermen ready to get their cast on hoping to land the big one. I walk the entire length of the beach hoping to find a place to get a coffee. I see trucks unloading produce for a restaurant but when i approach, the restaurant is not open.

Since I had awoken, the whole walk I kept seeing lightning flashing across the sky. I figured best to find some shelter. Luckily I saw gazebos all along the beach. I head towards the first one and drag my pack with great labor through the sand. There's a broken beach chair that someone had abandoned, the back detached from the seat and I think lucky me I have a chair to sit on. I give it a test but decide I'd rather lie in the sand and really experience the beach. I see lightning exploding off amongst the clouds and after a few unsuccessful attempts I manage to catch a picture of this phenomenon. I then realize a video would be much easier and record a few more bolts. I want to get a picture of the sunrise as well but it's too cloudy to get a good pic.

I doze off for a bit and then am woken up about 20 minutes later being eaten alive again. It seems like it takes these bugs a little while to realize you're there but once they do, it is over.

I decide to give it another go at finding coffee. The sky is beautiful with a mixture of pink and orange interwoven amongst purple clouds and i think to take a picture but so intent was i on finding a coffee that i shove the notion aside, i regret it now.

I see what looks like a shop next to the restaurant on the pier and as it turns out I was right, however, when i ask the woman working there, no coffee. I see her with a 711 cup and ask her where the nearest one is and indicates back on the mainland. Well screw that I wanna enjoy the beach today.

I start heading south figuring that I'll run into some place with coffee, besides I can't take the bugs any longer, and after walking a few blocks beyond the beach I decide to break out my handy dandy Google maps. I type coffee into the search bar and a few places pop up, mostly back on the mainland but I see a few on the island. There actually is a place right by the beach entrance nestled a block or two off the main road, which explains why I must've missed it, but when I check the hours it doesn't open until 8, it's only around 715 maybe 730 now so I check the next place which happens to be a Margaritaville coffee shop, yes that is right, and it is about 1.5 miles away, opened at 6. I decide to head there even though I could be drinking coffee sooner if I just waited for the close place to open, but I'd rather be walking than waiting around with my thumb up my ass getting eaten alive by bugs. At least when you're walking they tend not to bother you as much, I guess they can't keep up or something.

As I'm walking I realize that I've left dania beach and am now in Hollywood beach. I'm heading down the main road, I think it's called Ocean, and something tells me to take a turn left and walk along the boardwalk. I ignore this notion for about a block then decide that I might find a closer place with coffee if I walk the boardwalk.

When I reach the boardwalk, instead of turning right and continuing south, I decide to make a left and backtrack north. I just had this nagging feeling that I missed something within that block I spent deciding to walk the boardwalk. As it turns out I was right.

I walk about half a block and see this place called Ocean 13. The sign says it's a bar so I begin to worry that they won't have coffee. Then I see the sign at my feet with all the breakfast specials listed on it, with some as cheap as five dollars, too bad i only have four dollars in my pocket, and even though I don't see coffee on the menu I'm pretty sure they have coffee.

I enter the place and as I'm taking a seat at the bar I am greeted by a friendly man and I ask him for some coffee. He asks me if I want it in a to go cup and that sounds perfect so I can set up outside and hopefully earn my breakfast. He disappears shortly and then returns with this ginormous coffee cup, that should get me going.

I set up across the boardwalk sitting on the wall and play through my songs. When I start there is only one couple at the tables talking and drinking some orange drink which I can only assume are mimosas, but as I'm playing the place starts filling up. I notice an attractive lady with pink hair show up with two other girls. They take a seat and I can almost swear they are watching me play, although they were probably just enjoying the sight of the ocean.

After playing through almost my entire repetoir of original songs, a man in a black car calls me over. As I approach the car I wonder if he's gonna tell me to quit it or give me some money. He gave me ten bucks (: YAY!!! I get to have some yummy breakfast. Thank you and God bless you mister.

I head inside with a smile on my face and tell the waitress I'm getting breakfast as i clutch the ten dollars in my hand raising it up like one would a prized fish. I order myself the $5.95 breakfast special with 2 eggs, bacon, toast and grits. It was so yummy. They gave me like 4 or 5 strips of bacon cooked to that point where some of it is crunch and some isnt, the best of both worlds and while most places only give you one slice of toast, they give you two, which was good because the eggs were a little runnier than I have prefered in the past, but since I started remembering that I can use the toast to sop up the yolk I kinda like them a bit runnier now. I mixed hot sauce with the yolk goo and boy was that bangin. The grits were great as well.

While I was eating i discovered that the pink haired lady was the mother of the other two girls. I thought they were all just friends having lunch, she didnt seem that much older than the other two. As they were leaving she told me she enjoyed my playing and gave me five bucks as well. God bless you thanks so much