Spring Breakers

Growing up, my family spent the week of Spring Break at Leo Carrillo, where we would camp, body surf (not me, PASS), do dutch oven cooking, scrounge up quarters for the coin-operated showers, read stacks of Baby-Sitters Club and Trixie Belden books, and basically be at the beach (in our cove) from 9-5. It was a full-time job, and the Urmstons were willing to do it. Living on the East Coast has allowed me to explore new beaches, and this past March I found myself on the gorgeous shores of the Sunshine State.

Mural on the way to our cove

URMANIUM 2015, Leo Carrillo State Beach

When AJ started at UVA Law last year, he was placed in Section G, the group of fellow students that became his crew and classmates for the year. I love them all. Within that group were the Backrow Bandits (direct all questions regarding this to him), which included Jasmine, who is a native Floridian; her family generously offered to let us stay in a condo they have in Melbourne. This perfectly fit in with the our family motto to always be "Ballin' on a Budget", and we leapt at the chance to get out of Charlottesville. (But I can't emphasize enough how gorgeous it is in the spring and fall. Family and friends, we will be there just one more year, plan accordingly.)

My first experience with Florida was through reading Judy Blume. Judy Blume is the BIZNESS. Kids these days need fewer Disney Channel characters in their lives and more Sheila Tubman, Tony Miglione, and Rachel Robinson. (There was recently an "Are you there ---? It's me, ---" reference, and someone was all, "Oh, like the Chelsea Handler book!", and I wanted to slap them silly.) In Starring Sally J. Freedman as Herself, Sally's family temporarily relocates to Florida to help with her brother's health problems. The story is set just after World War II, and opens with her family sitting shiva for a great aunt and cousin who died in a Nazi concentration camp. (Look at Ms. Blume, spreading knowledge and understanding to unsuspecting ten-year-olds!) It's a perfect balance of heavier subjects with the imagination and daily observations of a young girl missing old friends and finding new ones, all the while looking to her idol, Esther Williams. Obviously the Florida of the 1940s is different from the Florida of today, but as we explored the various beach towns, I saw the pink and turquoise stucco buildings that Sally described, and I audibly yelped. Those are interesting moments, when something brings you happiness because of what you are experiencing in the present, but a deeper emotion is felt as you are pulled back to something joyful from your past...and yet there is a yearning ache you can actually feel inside. Childhood nostalgia is something else. (This helps explain the success of Fuller House.)

Our drive south (listening to Bill Bryson's At Home) took us to Florence, SC, where we indulged in some bbq at Wholly Smokin'. Hands down, the BEST baked beans (spicy and with chunks of bacon) I have ever had. I also highly recommend the baby lima beans and roasted corn, as well as the warm loaded baked potato salad. The brisket and pulled pork were gold stars all-around, but those sides? LIGHTS OUT. (Look, I'm fully aware that none of you will ever roll through Florence, so this food journal is basically for us, because it is usually in those magical culinary moments when I am most overwhelmed with my love for AJ. This is either a very healthy OR unhealthy revelation, we really can't be sure.)

We began our stay cheering on our (current) home team, the Washington Nationals, in their spring training game against the Marlins. Getting to watch Ichiro Suzuki and Bryce Harper play was legit, and AJ even chatted up the Marlins bullpen, much to the chagrin of both me and the old dude working security, whose shouts and gestures AJ failed to notice.

In a league of his own

Our second night there, the Esmailbeguis had us over for a delicious home-cooked meal (shout-out to Seeta!), after which we were introduced to what became our favorite vacation hot-spot, Dell's Freeze. A towering pile of peanut butter soft serve dipped in chocolate? Don't mind if I do...three nights in a row. Ice cream is my favorite thing ever, and the house I grew up in was about a mile away from a chocolate-dipped soft serve stand that we would walk to in an attempt to find respite from the triple-digit summer heat of Bakersfield. (We also tried to make some fresh-squeezed orange juice with our cousins one time, using the citrus from the surrounding groves, but all I remember is a lot of sticky pulp and someone cutting their hand on broken glass.) Otter-Pops and sprinklers in the front yard were also very dependable, but Grandma's pool was the best.

We unwindulaxed at a different beach every day, including a nature preserve, and the calm Atlantic Ocean, with its sandy white beaches, continued to give as only God can. The indigenous flora and fauna is unlike what you'll see in the rest of America, and it's as though you've taken a trip to a new country, but without having to deal with getting new passports because both have expired and been misplaced and someone can't seem to find their birth certificate.

We hit up Cocoa Beach, home to the world's largest Ron Jon Surf Shop and Kelly Slater. Kelly has been crowned World Surf League Champion a record 11 times, and was the youngest (20) and oldest (39) to win that title. More importantly, he dated Pam Anderson (whom I saw a couple times filming Baywatch at Leo Carrillo! It all comes full circle...), and voiced a character based upon himself in Surf's Up, one of the greatest animated films ever made. While there we went to Yelp, our trusty travel companion, to track down some tasty eats. We were guided to The Tiny Turtle, where we grooved to 311 and Bobby McFerrin while stuffing our faces with Caribbean-inspired tacos and hot dogs, two of man's greatest contributions to the world. Sorry, Jonas Salk. Afterwards, we headed to Ron Jon, where AJ flashbacked to his puka shell necklace-wearing days and reminisced about the vacations his family took to the land of the hanging chads.

On our drive home we stopped in Savannah, GA for dinner and a quick exploration. That city is unreal. The architecture is so varied yet all breathtaking, and heaven is walking the streets and avenues under a canopy of trees dripping with Spanish moss languidly floating in the breeze. (Yes, I DO love and adore Southern literature and its descriptive cliches, WHY DO YOU ASK?) Dinner was outside at Sly's Sliders and Fries, where you absolutely cannot go wrong - see menu below. Also, free Mortal Kombat arcade game to play while you wait! (That means nothing to me, but I can appreciate a good throwback gratis distraction when I see one.)

 Now Imma let 311 sing this one on out. Amber (Click on link to the left!)