Sunday On The Beach By Harbour Village in Ponce Inlet

Sunday On The Beach By Harbour Village in Ponce Inlet

I have written about our beach in Ponce Inlet many times, and it keeps fascinating me again and again. This year I forced myself to leave office when it is still light, and it is not difficult in Summer with its long evenings. I have my swimming trunks, a towel in the trunk, my wife has a few more pieces there, and we go to the beach practically every day.

Sunsets on the beach are indescribable. I am walking this beach for years now, and it is always beautiful and always different.

Sunday we had our grandchildren with us. We were a bit late in the morning, and when we got to the beach, it was getting hot. The beach was unusually crowded, which means that there were more than 2 dozen people, and maybe even 3. I am not used to crowds on the beach, and the only time when we really have crowds is when there is shuttle launch. You can see it from our beach in Ponce inlet, but you do not hear the thunder.

The complex that we live in, Links in Harbour Village, has three Club Houses, one of which is right on the beach. We have parking underneath, a social room with full kitchen upstairs (on the dune), a gym, steam room, sauna, lockers. Outside on the dune is a small pool. the Clubhouse is gated, and all the doors are secured. From the Clubhouse we go straight to the beach.

This part of the beach is a natural one. It does not have a sea wall, and instead we have dunes. Our beach in low tide is about 500' wide, and even in high tide there is  more than enough room for everyone. The softer sand by the dunes is what attracts sea turtles, and it is a seal turtle nesting season, so we already sea their nests staked out by Turtle Patrol, who checks the beach every early morning to see whether the turtles came to leg eggs in the nest. Lady Turtles are large, from 4 ft in length, and they leave the track behind, which tells Turtle patrol what type of Turtle, loggerhead or green turtle laid eggs. The nests are protected and interfering with them can easily land you in jail. 

Last year we "adopted" two nests at $100 each, and it gave us the privilege to attend opening of the nest by beach Patrol 3 days after the tiny baby turtles hatched and left. They open the nest to see if any turtles are left behind and can't get out on their own. In one nest there were no baby turtles, they all left to the ocean, but the other was not that lucky, and our guide got 14 tiny baby turtles, and we played moms and dads and watched in admiration how they were literally fighting for life trying to reach the ocean.

You can't just take them and bring to the ocean, they will most probably die. they have to make there themselves, as in the process they are getting the strength to get to the Gulfstream, which is 40 miles away in the Atlantic.

But I digress. It is another month or more until they start hatching.

Meanwhile we separate, and I go jogging with my older grandson, who is 17, and who is a head taller than me, then I ran out of gas and we continue a brisk walk, and talk about life, is life, of course. he is a patient guy, and tolerate all that crap, even though could easily run away. He is a good kid. In a year I will not be seeing him that often as he will be in college. So, I enjoy my time with him now.

The youngster, who is nine, stays at the "base". He is on a surfboard, and his grandma is watching him from a distance. By the time we come back, the sun is straight up, it is hot and the sand gets hot. Time for me to get to my computer in the air-conditioned condo to my laptop, and to Active Rain. But the program is far from over yet. We go to the clubhouse, and the little one simply switches the ocean for the pool. There are kids with their moms, and our shy Shane is flirting with them.

Meanwhile my grandson is eager to play ping-pong with me, and we do it with all the enthusiasm of amateurs. then a sauna for 20-30 minutes, cold shower, and a few minutes later I am at home... until later in the evening, when the heat is over, and there are few people out there, and this is our precious time with my wife.

It was 88F and on the beach with its constant breeze, it feels even cooler. It is 93F just a couple of miles inland. You will never be hot on the beach as long as you are not under the sun. And you have to be respectful to Florida sun. I see a young woman. She is already covered, but it is a bit late. Instead of a sexy chocolate suntan that she tried to get, she looks like a freshly cooked lobster, and a large white cross on her back is not the testament of her Christian beliefs, but rather an imprint of her swimsuit, that failed to protect her from the sun.

If you think that you deserve a paradise while still here, just do it. Paradise is called Ponce Inlet. There are no businesses besides marinas ad restaurants. There are no hotels or motels. It dead ends at the tip of the island, and we do not see many transients. It is a place that I enjoy since 2004, and where we have never closed our entrance door at night.

If you think that it would be great to live or have a vacation condo by the ocean, and enjoy all the amenities of Harbour Village like a 149-slip State-of-the-Art Marina, or a 9-hole golf course with its beautiful greens, or tennis courts, or a mile-long raised walkway in 102 acre preserve, just come here. Not a single condo on the whole 23 miles of Daytona Beach can offer the amenities like these.

If you are not longing for a piece of Paradise, stay home and get your shovel ready for winter.

Florida is beautiful. Florida is contagious... I live here. Do you?

To search local MLS for homes in Ponce Inlet, click HERE 
To search local MLS for condos in Ponce Inlet, click HERE
To search local MLS for vacant land in Ponce Inlet, click HERE