The best place

I sat on the balcony eagerly waiting for the sun to come up over the horizon. The sky was pink followed by a light purple then a lighter blue with not a cloud in sight. Two years I had to work to be able to come here. Two years with never a day off. This sunrise was the official start of my summer vacation. After two years I had so many vacation days that I was able to take off three weeks. It had paid off, all those days of working. While most people took a vacation once a year I saved mine for this. A glorious three week vacation. The sun began to rise, the colors in the sky turned into deeper richer shades. The dark blue ocean sparkled like something out of a fantasy novel. It was simply breathtaking. The sun rose above the water as I sat in awe of its beauty. Never had I seen the sun rise above a perfect blue ocean.

I walked out on the beach barefoot. The sand was warm and fell across my feet like a blanket. I walked to the edge of the water and let it roll over my feet. It was the perfect temperature, not hot and not cold, it was a delightfully warm temperature. The wet sand squished between my toes. I walked out a little further, now the water was up to my knees. I ran my hand along the top of the sparkling blue sea. I looked down and saw a little fish swimming around my feet. What a perfect start to my vacation. As I stood in the water a wave came crashing towards me. Before I could move the water rushed all around me splashing so high it got my whole shirt wet but, I didn’t care it was marvelous. The ocean had such a power and I was mesmerized by it. I walked out of the water and towards the shore. I walked through the warm sand along the beach letting the hot sun dry my clothes. I found some shells and stuffed as many as I could in my pockets. When I was dry I sat down in the sand and watched a purple crab walk sideways on the beach.

I took my shells back to my room and placed them gently on the table. They would be cleaned and placed in a special box that I brought with me especially for items collected. I picked up all my painting gear and walked back out to the beach. I set up my easel and canvas facing the boardwalk. I opened my acrylic paints and began mixing the colors. I sketched out the edge of the boardwalk and made lines where the sea and sky were to me. I painted the sky first because I wanted to capture it just the way it was. When I was satisfied with the way it looked I began the boardwalk. Within a few hours I had the entire painting done. I picked up my gear and the painting and walked back to my room. I ate my dinner out on the balcony and listened to the sea. As the tide came in waves crashed on the shore. I fell asleep that night to the sound of the ocean.

The next morning I got up and instead of watching the sun rise I rushed out the door. Today's adventure was going to be scuba diving. I had never been before and I was so excited for the opportunity to go. I walked along the beach towards the boat. The sun was shining and the sand was hot, I grabbed my sandals out of my bag and put them on. As I walked along the beach I found a dried out starfish laying in the sand. I picked it up and put it in my bag to be placed in my special box later. I reached the boat and climbed on, then the driver began driving out to sea. The water was splashing on both sides of the boat and we were all misted with it. When we got to the site where we were going to be diving I got dressed in the gear. The instructor was right there with me. As we jumped down into the water I tried to remember all the courses I had taken on how to do this. The gear was heavy but once I was in the water I felt weightless. The water felt strange with my wet suit on. We slowly dove down into the water. Air bubbles came from my regulator and slowly floated towards the surface. I looked around me and what I saw was breathtaking. The shining sun made rays of light under the water that looked gorgeous. Fish swam back and forth around us. As if they had somewhere important to be. I had an underwater camera with me so I could take pictures. The coral was vibrant with color, I had never seen anything like it. Some fish swam by that looked silver as the sun rays hit them. I saw a huge sea shell laying on the coral. I pointed to it and my instructor picked it up. He studied it carefully to make sure a sea snail was not living inside. He held on to it when he realized there was nothing living inside. An anemone caught my eye, just as I was ready to take a picture one clown fish popped out. I hoped I caught him in my picture. The instructor made a signal that told me we had to go back up.

As we reached the surface I came up out of the water and was able to breathe fresh air. We climbed back onto the boat and took off the breathing gear. I told the instructor that was the best thing I had done yet. When we got back to the shore I stepped off the boat clinging to my new treasure. I walked back to my hotel and grabbed something for dinner. Once it was dark I went out for a walk along the water. The waves were crashing loudly and water would sometimes come in so high it reached my knees. Even with the loud waves it was peaceful. The moon was shining bright on the ocean making a beautiful silver reflection. I decided as I walked along the beach that this was what I was going to do for the next three weeks. Because the beach was the absolute best place I could stay for a summer vacation.