IT'S OFFICIALLY BEACH PRE-SEASON

Ah, yes, it's the first official beach day of the year.  Well, the beach doesn't quite know that, but the rest of the local population does. 

We are having a small stretch of unseasonably warm weather.  To be honest, it has been an incredibly mild winter with three or four small snow storms and a few days of sub-zero blustery horror, so this stretch of warmth isn't as unusual as it seems.  If I'm going to be completely transparent, I've already been to the beach, albeit briefly and accidentally while on my way to my sister's house outside of Kennebunk.  Today, though, is my first planned, conscious, intentional beach day, even if it is impromptu.

I pack up my camera, including fresh batteries since the last time I changed them was in Poughkeepsie in the fall.  I grab a down vest in case it's chilly at the coast, my leftover water bottle, some gloves, and my keys.  Hard to believe that at 9:30 a.m. I toyed with the idea of going to the beach, and by 10:15 I'm filling up my gas tank and heading northeast.

I arrive at stop #1 with little incident and proceed to exit my car, parked right along the breakwall, when I see a man and two kids come running from the access stairs.  They are laughing and somewhat dampish from the waves, which, despite it being an hour past high tide, are smashing against the wall, sending spray high into the air and over into parts of the parking spaces.  I grab a few pictures of the ocean, clearly showing its attitude.  Apparently it knows summer isn't here yet and has no intention of allowing anyone on the sand for a stroll.  Not for another six hours, anyway.

My next stop is Hampton center, where I have some difficulty finding a decent space because hundreds, possibly even thousands, of people have the same idea I do: Hit the beach for a preview of the summer yet to come.  I try to snap a few pictures, but there are so many people that it's impossible to get a clean shot.  I don't know whether I find the plethora of people frustrating or comforting, but I do know that I do not want them in my photos.

I drive over the bridge into Seabrook, stop by the small harbor which is an unusual shade of green today, and snap a picture or two of the moored fishing boats with the nuclear power plant as the backdrop.  I maneuver my car from there down one of the deserted side streets and park in a restricted area that clearly screams TOW ZONE.  I trudge over the small boardwalk through the dunes and look at the ocean.  It's quieter here, the surf still large but not as violent as it had been in North Hampton.  I like it here because the beach grass creates a buffer between the sound of the surf and the sounds from civilization just a half block away.

There's no need to pause in Salisbury.  The recent storm damage has been all over the internet and the news, so I continue south, over a second bridge, and stop for a few minutes in Newburyport.  I could put money in the parking machine and grab myself a cup of tea at Plum Island Coffee Roasters for old times sake.  This is where two grad pals and I spent hours and hours of our academic lives as we raced to the thesis finish line two years ago.  I don't know, though.  It's starting to cloud up.

Three hours later I roll back into my driveway.  It has been a good day, a crowded day, a refreshing day.  An official beach day, to be sure.  I don't have the parking receipt to show for it, but summer isn't even here yet.  There will be plenty of time for that when June finally rolls around.