Sunrise & Shine: Don't forget the snacks...
Cooler air, quieter times, and (relatively) consistent waves, I'm feeling a fall Florida surf trip.
There's a memory I hold onto from when I was probably fifteen or so, boards loaded up, road-trippin with my brother and dad.
We spent a few days cruising up and down the Florida coast in an old, faded Volvo stationwagon, with what I remember to be almost zero pre-trip planning or destinations in mind.
The details are fuzzy, but starting the trip in Jacksonville, we definitely made it as far south as Sebastian and I know there was a good session at Matanzas inlet.
I know that because I remember it being so empty, there was no one else around, anywhere (other than all the sharks that were surely there but I had no idea about).
Since that trip, I've always tied fall in Florida to getting in the car and making your own mini road trip, trying to get away from people in a place where that's getting harder to do every day, by about 1,218.
Maybe it's just because it was 20 years ago (geez, can't believe I have mature memories from decades plural), but on that trip, it just felt like there weren't any other people in Florida.
It's like we had it all to ourselves.
And I know that's probably just me peering into the past through rose-colored glasses, and it's definitely not the case now, but I still wouldn't mind hitting the road this fall to see if I could find that feeling again.
Load up.
Playlist for the road
These tunes will make the miles fly by.
Mind if I join?
Plenty of pit stops to make on your road trip if you set out during the weekend of Nov. 10-12.
Nov. 10/11: Florida Surf Film Festival Q4 weekend in New Smyrna Beach.
Nov. 10-12: WSL and the Air Force Super Girl Surf Pro in Jacksonville Beach.
Nov. 11/12: Take your road trip to the air and pop over to Puerto Rico for the B.W.R.A.G ocean safety course summit.
Worth a watch
Wonder how many tire miles east-coast surfers logged chasing around swells this Atlantic Hurricane season. These six weeks alone must have burned through a lot of rubber. Definitely one for the memory books.
1000 words are worth a picture
If you're thinking you've got time for a longer trip, one outside the Sunshine State, take two wheels (and a board) on the slow road north along the coast, up US-17, the Coastal Highway.
Pre-shredded
Couldn’t get any deeper than this in the Lincoln tunnel! Some real Houdini stuff from Cam Richards during the Phillipe run.
This section smells like rich mahogany and leather-bound books:
You probably shouldn't read while you're driving, but you can take the time to catch up on surfing's origins by listening to the History of Surfing by Matt Warshaw, former SURFER Magazine editor. (audio book)
"Are we there yet?"
DISCLAIMER: This newsletter is highly un-edited, so if a link takes you somewhere weird, just hit the back button, clear your cookies, and refill your coffee. And if you find there’s too many Step Brothers, Old School, Wedding Crashers, or any other core millennial movie references in here, then you might want to consider parting ways now. If that's all good with you, "Did we just become best friends?"
