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Our family rarely goes on vacation alone and it is always a joy to go somewhere by ourselves. We sometimes don’t get enough time alone for family fun. This year though, for the spring break of 2009, we planned a trip to Navarre Beach. The quiet beach is located on an island right off of Northwestern Florida in the Gulf of Mexico. Navarre Beach is a secluded area of beautiful white sand and enormous waves and isn’t overflowed with tourists. Thus, it is called Florida’s Best Kept Secret. The island is a long, but very narrow strip of land that seems like a green and white snake slithering its way through the endless mass of blue. It is so narrow that our beach house had a view of both sides of the ocean. There are many low lying beach houses and a few high rise hotels that stand out from the rest of the buildings. A lane of sidewalk follows the length of the island so people can jog, walk their pets, or just stroll to see the sights.

From the icky 40 degree weather in Nashville, it took seven hours to drive to Navarre Beach. My brother and I were very comfortably tucked inside warm blankets in the back of our minivan. There was plenty to entertain us. We had two portable DVD players; I had my iTouch that I got for Christmas and two good novels. It seemed that the rain followed us from Nashville up to the point of the outskirts of the island, bidding us goodbye for now. As soon as I got out of the car, the moist air left my skin sticky and hot. The beach house was livable. My parents had to sleep in a cramped queen sized bed, while my brother and I slept on bunk beds. There were two decks that had pretty good views of the ocean. At night, the rhythm of the waves lulled me to sleep. My peace was disturbed, however, when my brother insisted on sleeping on the top bunk with me very late that night. I woke up sore that morning.

My brother and I were so excited that we woke up at 7:30. Our parents stayed in until 9:30 and only got up because my brother kept pestering them to. After I had my bowl of cereal on the deck with the salty ocean breeze and rhythmic crashing of waves, we set out to the beach. All along the side, there were bright blue jellyfish that were swept there at night and left behind by the waves. They looked dead, but I couldn’t be too sure. I had a bad experience with jellyfish the last time we went to a beach. I got stung by one while playing in the ocean when no one else around me did. We had a morning of fun running around in the waves trying not to get wet but none of us succeeded. We would run out to greet the waves and let the water crash onto our legs and feet. My brother and I also gathered many pretty shells, but somehow they got lost when we were playing in the ocean. It may have been swept away by the tide. Our parents were so exhausted after running outside all morning that they decided to take a nap, a very long nap.

Finally, when they got up, we went to a shark museum full of interesting shells, fossils, and artifacts. There were also two cat sharks that looked like overgrown catfish. They prowled around like they were kings of the tank. In the end, we bought shells instead of actually collecting them on the beach. My dad also bought some new toys for our fish at home to play with. Before we left, they were supposed to be fed the long lasting weekend fish food, but my mom accidentally packed the fish food in a plastic bag thinking it was human food. My dad loves and cares for our four fish dearly and worked hard for them to stay alive. He had a dream the night we arrived at the beach that they died. I was devastated that all my dad’s hard work could be lost so hopefully they hadn’t. Our next destination was Gulf Islands National Seashore, a national park.

The park was on a different island that was facing Navarre Beach and had a fantastic view of it. We took a hike on a trail and looked at the unique plants they planted. Many of the tall trees looked like they had suffered from a hurricane though. There were many huge, red anthills overflowing with red ants. Some even had wings. I kept my distance in fear of getting bitten, but my brother was completely into it. On the way back to our beach house, we stopped at the bridge connecting the island with the mainland. There were people fishing for something and my dad went to take a peek. They were fishing for clams stuck on the side of the wall of the bridge! They said they could grill the clams and have a nice meal. One person had to work on prying the clam off the wall and another had to scoop them up with a net. I had never seen people fish like this. Tiny crabs about the size of a quarter would sometimes get caught in the nets. The little girls in the family gladly caught these for my brother who was quite interested in these little creatures. Most of them didn’t even pinch unless they were one of the bigger ones. We finally set home after a long and tiring, but fun day.

The next morning, my brother didn’t even want to get up because today was the day we were leaving. We packed our stuff and headed out to the beach one last time. This time we went to a public beach with very fine, cushiony sand. It was even more beautiful than the other one we went to. We practically had to drag my brother away from the beach. Afterwards, we tried looking in the fish market for fresh seafood. The shop had a foul smell of fish and my brother and I couldn’t stand it. Our parent’s noses, however, weren’t as keen and could actually stay in there for longer than five minutes. We ordered spicy crawfish and a type of red fish that proved to be quite delicious later that night.

This was one of the most relaxing vacations I have ever been on and I enjoyed it immensely with my family. Navarre Beach has been one of the better beaches I’ve been on. It wasn’t overcrowded and had some of the finest sand my feet have experienced. I liked it even more than Panama City Beach. Hopefully, if I ever come back again, it’ll have a more impressive sunset. I was a little disappointed because there were a lot of clouds the days that we were there so the sunset was obscured. Also, it was still a little chilly because we went in early March so we didn’t get to actually swim. The colorful beach houses lining the ocean side were all unique and pretty. The crashing of the waves was gentle enough to lull me to sleep. It was the perfect paradise for me and my family to forget the problems of our normal hectic lives.