Memorial Day Weekend

Kevin and I spent such a fun 2 days in Melbourne, Florida.  Since it was a three day weekend, we wanted to take advantage and go on an adventure.  We were going to head to Naples on the West coast of Florida, but then decided to head about 3 hours North and check out some of the beaches more known for surfing. The evening we arrived  (last night) it was a little stormy, so the waves were ideal for surfing. But, as we were unexperienced, and I was a bit cold, we decided to wait until today for our surfing adventure.  We did, however, enjoy walking along the beach, eating pizza at a local shop, and relaxing at the hotel.  This morning, we headed to the surf shop.  I was not convinced that I was going to attempt surfing because a) I am slightly afraid of the ocean and things touching my legs in the water, and b) I wasn't sure that I would be able to do it.  I figured I might be just as happy watching Kevin from the comfort of my beach towel.  In the end, I ended up doing it because for $10 to rent the board, I figured I might as well give it a whirl.  Although the board is part foam and part something else, that thing was heavy and was catching the wind every second, so it was a little tricky to carry.

Kevin was the ever-patient teacher, but I was getting a little cranky as I was trying to paddle out there and the waves were breaking in my face and I felt like I was going nowhere.  The good thing was that I was so busy battling to get past the breakers, that I wasn't too worried about the sharks that might bite my extremities off at any given moment.  Once we made it past the breakers, I began enjoying myself a lot more.  I felt like I faced a big fear, because honestly, I get in the water at the beach, but I don't really enjoy it.  But this turned out to be a ton of fun. I caught several waves, but never attempted standing up.  Instead, I rode them on my stomach.  Kevin did much better than me, and once I gave him permission to not babysit me anymore, he was able to stand up and ride a wave.

Everything was going great, but we knew we had to head it to return the boards and check out of the hotel.  We were waiting for the "perfect wave" to finish off this adventure, and last minute, I saw one forming and decided to go for it.  I felt the wave pushing me and before I knew it, the wave took me, I buried the board in the water, the wave pummeled me over, I think I did a flip, and then I came up for air.  I survived, so I was happy, until I saw that my board was broken in half.  Awesome.  I am sure the man at the surf shop is gonna love that.  And didn't we sign something that said we would pay for damages that we caused??  Long story short, that $10 rental didn't end up being so cheap as we had to pay for half the price of the board because it was unfixable.  I guess that's the price you pay for a fun adventure :)  Below is the aftermath...

Despite the little extravaganza with the board, we had such a great time on our weekend getaway and we are thinking about when we can go back.  Maybe next time I won't break the board :(  And we will work-out beforehand so our arm and back muscles won't be so sore!!