ALMOST TO THE BEACH

Today I drive to the beach.  No, wait; let me correct myself.  Today I almost drive to the beach.  Or, today I drive almost to the beach.

(What I hope to see today.)

Honestly, it's not a super beach day.  Clouds are rolling in slowly, it's breezy, and it's not an ideal sit-on-the-beach forecast, but the temperature, even this early, is already over 80 degrees.  It is low tide, so the beach I prefer will be wide open, and I'll be able to walk about two miles in the sand barefoot.  I figure if I head up for two hours, do my walk, jump in the water, and read for a little while (as long as I don't get sandblasted), I can scoot home in time to make spareribs in the crock pot for dinner.

With this brilliant plan in place, I pack a beach towel, some snacks, a water, my book, money for the parking meter, and lots of sunscreen.

I leave the house around 8:40, which will put me in a spot and already part of the way down the beach by 9:30.  Traffic is a little heavier than usual, but I sail along at a pretty decent clip until I am a half mile from my exit.  All four lanes on the northbound side of I-95 are gridlocked.  My car, along with hundreds of others and dozens of semis, inches along.  According to one of those motorized signs, there is an accident just beyond the tolls.  Lucky for me I am not going through the tolls; I'm veering off onto 107 then route 1.  Easy-peasey, except...

Half the highway is turning onto route 1, including several semis, and now route 1 is gridlocked, as well.  I endure this massive back-up for about fifteen minutes, until I can see for certain that the traffic all the way to the beach is at a dead standstill.

Time for an executive decision.  My options are:
1. continue to sit in this traffic and do a slow crawl to the beach, maybe arriving around 10:30 or so;
2. turn around and cut over 286 to 1A and go entirely up the coast through the other beach traffic and arrive at maybe 10:30 if I'm lucky;
3. bang a uey on route 1 and go home.

(What I actually see today.)

I choose option #3.  The clouds are really moving in, the tide will be halfway up and blocking a good portion of my walking route, and I really want to get home to put the ribs in the crock pot.  I feel pretty good about option #3, especially since I wasn't involved in any accidents on the highway, I don't sit in beach traffic roasting, and I do not get ticketed by the local police (four motorcycle cops) despite the fact that I know they clocked me at ten miles over the speed limit on 125 coming home.

I guess, all things considered, this can be ruled a successful (non)beach day.