Slices of Life on the Beach

Sunday 8/09/97 What a great place to live. Dabech is so calming. The everyday struggle to make a living often provides an abundance of things to stress a body out. Well, a quiet walk along Dabeach and things just seem to be Okay. The water these days is teeming with fish. It's fun to walk along dabeach and watch the visitors trying their hand at Florida style fishing. Not many places you use live shrimp as a bait. Most people would eat what we use as bait.
The weatherman (person?) sure has an easy job in the summer. The same old thing everyday. Thunderstorms today!!! The really hard part is when. Sometimes its in the morning and sometimes in the afternoon. But always the same. We all sit and wait for the gift from up north of the first cold front. That's the day we turn off the A/C. Our bill last month was as much as most people's car payment. Oh well, at least it's only for a few months, then back to $50 a month.
Another thing about living on Dabeach is how people seem to come and go. We have lived here now for 4 years. We have made a few friends and then all of a sudden they move away. We lost 2 friends this week. They both went back to their home town's after living here for 10 years. It seems as though the pull to go back home is very strong. We know they will be back (right after the first major snow storm) However, we do miss them. We offer this to everyone just to let you know things are not the same as up north. There you can have friends for years. Here, if you know someone for a couple of months you're lucky. You have to be sure of yourself, cause sometimes you're the only one you can rely on.

Saturday 8/02/97 Well it sure seems like a long time since we have been able to chat with our friends. Dabeach has been so crowded and filled with visitors. The water temps are now at 89. The highest I have seen it so far. Ths could be a bad sign for hurricanes. They need really warm water to generate. We are keeping an eye out for them.
If you have read our Love Story, you may already know we met 4 years ago on July 31. I also asked Janine to marry me on that day 1 year ago. We spent the evening with a group of friends at Mahi's. Wow!!! A great time was had by all. We met a couple from Germany. They joined us in the festivities. It turned into a long evening of conversation and sharing of cultures. The stress of the last month abated as we sat out on the deck of Mahi's and enjoyed the evening. Just does not get any better than this.
We indeed have lost all of our E-mail addresses. If you have sent us E-mail in the past please send us an update so we can write to you. Thanks.

Monday 7/21/97Sorry about the lapse in updating our pages. Our "Puter" broke. Went down 3 weeks ago and left us hi and dry. I have spent the last few weeks getting our new system up and running. We have lost all of our e-mail addresses and bookmarks. So, if you have sent us mail and we have not responded, please e-mail us again. We will write back. BTW, it has rained here everyday for the past 2 weeks. Mahi's Island grille has reopened and is doing fine. We will update soon.

Sunday 6/29/97Wow is it ever hot!!! The temps have been in the low 80's @ 8:00am every day. I went to do my 5 mile run today and came home drenched. (Guess I should have done it at 6:00am not 11:00am) The roads and beaches are starting to fill up as the summer visitors come for their vacations. It reminds me of Ocean City MD. in the summer. Though, not nearly as crowded. The breezes had died down the last few days and the thunder storms brewed up each afternoon. It pours for an hour and then it goes away. Welcome to Florida.
Update on Mahi Island Grille. It looks like it will reopen the first week in July. Sondra called Janine to ask her to come back and work full time. We are very excited about our old haunt coming back to life. We really hope all of our friends do come and visit us. Its a real small beachside grille. Very quite and easy going. You can wear what you want and be at home.

Friday 6/20/97 Well my friends, I have found some time to update you on DabeacH. The sorrow of my sister's death still aches in my heart, yet, life goes on. Dabeach has been packed. The summer crowd is upon us. The water temps are in the low 80's and the air temps at 8 Am are hovering around 82. It is hot!!! Dabeach is great. The humidity is very high. The A/C has been blasting the past 2 weeks.
SkipJacks (soon to be called the Mahi Island Grille) is ready to open in the next week or so. We hope all of our friends come and visit this beach treasure. There are so few places where you can put on your shorts and flops and sit outside and have a bite to eat near the water. Before it burned down we had so many people who came to visit us. We hope they return. We also hope many of our new "Cyber Friends" who are coming to Florida, stop in to visit us. Mahi Island Grille is located at the beach access of 23rd Avenue, beach side. Hope to see all of you this summer.

Tuesday 6/11/97 It is with a strained and heavy heart I write this update. With all the joy we share, tragedy does waft around us. My sister Tricia was murdered on May 28, 1997 at the hands of her estranged husband. She was left dead for 5 days in her home, stuffed in a closet. She left 2 children and 8 siblings. We were able to attend the service for her on June 6, 1997. She is asleep now, and away from the two years of incredible torture and pain. My heart is happy she is at peace. My mind is angered the system failed to control the monster who murdered her. More info as time passes.

Saturday 5/24/97 Well my friends, I am back. The world of business has swallowed me up and left me for dead. However, I have survived. Its back to normal. We are off to DabeacH today. The water is getting warmer and the winds are blowing harder than ever. It was 88 yesterday and so humid. We are just starting the "Summer" days on DabeacH. All you can do is go to DabeacH and sweat. SkipJacks is coming along very well. It will be up and running very soon. We hope all of our readers who are coming to DabeacH this summer stop and visit us when they get here.

Saturday 5/10/97 Summer is here!!! The A/C is cranking and the humidity is awful. Lots of "Bad Hair days" today. Dabeach has been great the past few days. A friend and I went out to watch the sunset. Wow!! How jaded you get when you can just walk outside and watch nature display it's beauty. DabeacH has not been crowded at all. Just a few people and not many cars. This time of the year is the best for DabeacH. We are going to have some friends over to enjoy a few "Ritas". Should be some fun.

Skipjacks continues to make progress. We can not wait. Though I will not be there.....(other commitments). Janine is looking forward to the "Grand Opening". I can taste the cold beer already. We always kept the beer on ice. You know you have lived on dabeacH too long when: You do your Christmas shopping at the Orange Grove stand!

Tuesday 5/06/97 Good Morning all!!! DabeacH is alive and well. The last few days have brought many changes to our beach house. Janine and I are embarking on a new era in our life. While Janine will move onto Skipjacks when it rebuilds. I will journey back into the realm of business. I have been looking for the right situation. It seems that it has found me. I have accepted a full time position with a local company. We hope this arangement will be a positive move for all involved. we certainly will see. However, Dabeach has been great.

When we get a chance to go to parties on Dabeach, we often meet people whom we have met somewhere along the way. Saturday was no exception. While chatting with some people we had just met. We discovered that one of them were people had owned Skipjacks many years ago. What a treat to talk to a previous owner. He related many tales of how he had made changes and why he finally sold out. Life on DabeacH certainly is fun.

Tuesday 4/29/97 This is such a lovely day. The temps are around 75 and there no breeze at all. The birds (Mocking Bird, Red Headed Woodpecker and the Mourning Doves) are all in rare form this morning. The Mocking Bird has been singing all night. The woodpecker thinks our storm gutters are made out of wood.(Sounds like a machine gun going off) The Mourning Doves are looking for nests and fighting. Life sure is grand. The rains seem to have stopped today.

One of our favorite places to go, besides Crabby's is Frenchy's Saltwater Cafe. Great people and really cool food. The menu is so cool someone even scanned the menu and just called it Saltwater Cafe. Didn't even change the fonts or anything.. The other Saltwater Grill is in Pacific Ca. If you do get a chance to go to Saltwater on CLWB. Try the Buff Shrimp. Pretty tasty. The beer is cold and the service is good. We plan to enjoy the day basking in the sun and chillin" on DabeacH.

Sunday 4/27/97 Whew...What a crazy couple of days!! We had a major storm come through on Friday. 7" of rain. Flooded DabeacH big time. April is normally the driest month of the year. Well...not this one. The streets flooded with over 2 feet of water. It took a day or so to dry out. The sun came out and the weekend was great.

Friends came by to enjoy the sunset on Saturday. They left and another friend popped in with a buddy from Indiana. We all cruised to the local watering hole to enjoy a brew. 1:00am came mighty quick. We saw some friends we haven't seen in awhile. It was like a reunion. Glad to have seen them again.

Tuesday 4/22/97 Stellar Morning!!! A slight breeze from the south, a stunning sunrise and there are a few clouds in the sky. Indian Rocks Beach is a bird sanctuary, and as such, we have a great deal of birds flying and nesting this time of year. We had to take all of our plants down from their hanging places since the birds deem them to be "Ideal" nesting places. We've had this young female mourning dove that feels our larges spider plant was just the place for her. I had to take the spider plant inside to keep her using as a nest.

Update on Skipjacks: They are rebuilding!!! We spoke with the owners on sunday. They are thrilled. So are we... Can't wait to get back "Home". The building is now under roof and the interior is being "Created". Wow!!! The owners indicated they wanted to bring the old team back. We used to have so much fun. Jamming to Buffet on the CD player and running our butts off just to keep ahead of the crowds. When Skipjacks was opened, we would go there on our days off. We'd get a pitcher of beer, a few orders of grouper fingers (may have been the best on DabeacH), and chill on the outdoor deck. Soaking up rays. Doesn't get any better than that. It will be SOOOOON!!!

Sunday 4/20/97 Good Morning to all. What a great day. Just wanted to let all of our friends know. No soup for you! We're going to DabeacH and soak up some rays. Can't wait. It has been cold here the last few days. But not today. Bright and sunny. Not a cloud in the sky. We are cruising to Dabeach and then down to Crabby's for a few chillies. John (my brother) eat your heart out and put that snow shovel away. 4 months till the party begins.(WINK) If get a chance to read "The Love Story of DabeacH" please feel free to send comments. Thanks.

Wed. 4/16/97 Does anyone know the phone number for "Noah" the Boat Builder? It seems to have rained for the past week. I'll admit we have had a great winter, and we are well over due for rain. But 3 months worth in a week... BOOOO!!! I had to turn on a small heater the other day. The temps were just above 65. Way to cold for us at DabeacH.

A group of us all went to Crabby's for "Crabby Hour" on Sunday. What a blast. We took up half the bar. JR. was in rare form. A good time was had by all. We have a new neighbor at DabeacH. He moved in a few weeks ago. He seems to be a great guy. He has adapted to DabeacH in just a few days. He'll be here for awhile. More on him as time passes. For now, I'm looking for my sweats and my socks. I'm freezing. (Yeah, maybe I should close the windows and put on some jeans)

We have got quite a nice group of readers who read our "slices of life" on DabeacH. We would like to welcome a new reader who e-Mailed us the other day for some advice on "Local Info". Glad to have you with us Mom of 3. Hope you continue to read and enjoy Dabeach.

Thursday 4/9/97 What a great week we've had at DabeacH. Since we moved to our new digs, so many people have come by to visit. It has been wonderful to enjoy beach life with our friends again. SkipJacks is rebuilding at a rather slow pace. The roof joists are up and they are ready to set the roofing. A great sign for DabeacH!!!

The weather the last few days has been "Chilly". Its been around 55 at night. Get out the sweatshirts. The days have been right nice...The signs of our visitors leaving are all around. You can see the cars all packed up and ready to go home. We sure will miss them...:-)

The gulf waters are around 75 and the fish are jumping on the lines. Spotted Trout, King Fish and Spanish Mackerel abound every where.... Bring your gear if you come in the next few weeks. Don't forget the sun screen... Tanning index is up to 8 already..

Friday 4/4/97 How the world changes on DabeacH! Janine has changed jobs. We have 3 new friends that moved to DabeacH. SkipJacks is rebuilding! We opened a new web page on Web site promotion.

Janine has started working at "The Steak Joint". She really likes working there. The Steak Joint offers steaks and seafood. Prices are reasonable and, of course, the service is perfect.

We noticed, after months of delays due to the "Permit" process, SkipJacks is rebuilding. They have torn off the roof and are slowly rebuilding the insides. All of IRB is waiting for the reopening. we will keep you posted.

Friday 3/21/97Rain! What a treat. It has been so long since it has rained here that I have forgotten how to drive in it. Seems when it rains around here the roads become like ice. There are more traffic problems when it rains than any other time. The oils from cars build up on the road and when it rains they are very slippery.

We stopped by Crabby's last night to say hello to JR. Seems the rains have slowed the onslaught of visitors to dabeach for a night. Not to worry, they're here! This is the calm before the storm. The next 3 weeks will bring over 1/2 million people to our county. People up north say we don't have seasons. Well, we do! Just they are not weather related.

Sunday 3/16/97 Time sure does seem to pass quickly on DabeacH these days. Moving sure is a pain. We have finally gotten our stuff in some semblance of order. It seems just about the time I feel like kicking back and enjoying the day, Janine comes up with another brainstorm of what I need to do next.

Season is really upon us these days. DabeacH was PACKED this weekend. Lots of visitors and locals hanging out. We spent a few hours playing in the water and watching the visitors walk by. Life sure is good here. The temps have been so mild the last week, we just had to sit back enjoy for awhile. We have been spending time enjoying POWWOW. If You have not tried this program, we strongly suggest you do.

Sunday 3/10/97 The moving is complete. Thank goodness. We had a small Rita party today to celebrate the our completion of our move. "Just a few friends" as Buffet would say. Not too routy nor subdued. A chance to visit with people we haven't had the time to see the last few weeks. We sure are enjoying our new digs. We have opted (not by choice) to use the sparse eclectic look. A few nice things surrounded by lots of plants. We actually have more plants than anything else, but, when you live at DabeacH what else would you expect.

The weather has been as nice as you could ever want. Very nice temps, soft breezes and lots of sun. We've been kinda busy moving and arranging "stuff", thus we have not had time to get to DabeacH. We hope to wander over on monday to check out the rays. We have noticed lots of visitors and of course so much traffic. A 2 mile jaunt to the store turns into a 45 minute journey to hell! That's the price for living in paradise. Everyone wants to be here and they all come at the same time.

Sunday 3/2/97 Summer is here! The weather has been so nice the past few days. Warm temps and a nice breeze. We have been blessed with some of the best weather we have had on Dabeach for quite some time. We wished we could have enjoyed it, however, we were in the midst of moving to our new digs on Dabeach. You never realize how much junk one can amass in 4 short years. We only moved about 40 feet, but, that 40 feet included a trip down a flight of stairs and up another flight of stairs. The aches and pains will subside and we will enjoy the fruits of our labor.

"Season is here. So many people and so many cars. Shopping around here is as a daily challenge. Seems the visitors push their carts around like they drive. You have to be ever on the aware to be certain you know where you are going, since the visitors have no clue. It is a bit daunting, but hey, they help pay the bills for us so..... Ya'll come on down. Bring lots of money. We will try to be a bit less erratic about our postings, with the move and other sundry life issues, we have allowed some things to slip away from us. Sorry.

Friday 2/21/97 Well, a lot has happened since our last update to DabecH. Time sure does have a way of getting away from you when you live on DabeacH. Janine's birthday was this week. The usual celebration and such was enjoyed by all. A few ritas and a few beers made the day pass along without a hitch. We sure do have alot to celebrate. We're moving next week to little bigger place. We now will have a carport to protect our little red Miata. It sure gets faded in the intense sun of FLA.

We spent yesterday enjoying the local scenery. I guess acting like visitors. We drove down to the outlet malls near Sarasota to window shop. The weather was just perfect. Top down on the Miata, and off we went to see the sights. I guess our tans had faded a bit over the winter, since, I now have a slightly red face from driving with the top down. Janine's mom sent us a check for her birthday, so, we bought a new blender for making ritas. ( We wore the other one out) She got a Kitchen Aid. WOW is it fast. Blended them up in less than 20 seconds. What a treat.

Weather has been fantastic. Winter is over and here comes the sunshine. There are so many people here it's getting harder and harder just to cross the BLVD. during the day. The motels are filling up and the beach is just a little crowded. Fishing has been great. We see so many people fishing on the causeway bridges. Seems most of them are catching something.

Thursday 2/6/97 Life on IRB seems to have a life of it's own some days. The last few days have been so nice, that, you don't want to do anything except sip on Rita's and watch the world go by. Well, that's pretty much what we have been doing. Not too many mind you, but, a nice chill was enjoyed by all. The expression on the beach is "Every night is saturday night". It sure has lived up to it's name the last few days.

There are lots of people around these days. Don't know if it's the weather here or up north, but, people are walking everywhere. Eateries and motels seem to be full. Speaking of eateries, the small beachside restaurant where we worked until last august is finally being rebuilt. Seems we had a fire in the kitchen and it closed. Janine is so thrilled!!!! She loved working there, and cried for days when it burned. The owners have said in less than 6 weeks it will be finished. This is great news for the locals. Skipjacks (Murph's) was the only beachside place where you could come from the beach and grab a bite to eat. Check back often to read about the progress of the resurection of Skipjacks.

Monday Morning 2/3/97 If the sky cam @ the pier could reflect the beauty of the sunrise this morning, we would never leave our computers. Just as pretty as you would ever want to see. Slightly cool (65) and no breeze. What a great day!! We spent the Sunday with our friends. A few beers, burgers on the grill and lots of SUNSHINE. Just chillin on DabeacH. The bonds that form here are ones that seem to last awhile. I will admit beach people don't warm up real fast to newcomers. Sort of makes sense. So many people come and go, that, it is hard to keep track of where everyone is. After awhile, we seem to be able to put the faces and the names together. Then it's a slow process of getting to know the person.

What is really funny to watch; is the new people who come to the beach thinking they can buy their way into the community. You'll see them at Whitey's (the local watering hole of the upper part of IRB) spending up a storm and buying everyone drinks. They brag how they have a 2/2 place on the water and they only pay $1,000/month. We've seen it so many times. Within 3 months they are burned out, out of money and driving their moving truck back home, with their broken dreams and sad faces. The point being life isn't all about money..cars..fancy houses. Just a few friends and someone to love. The rest just takes care of itself. The best advice to newcomers to the beach " Just let it go".

Sat 2/1/97 The sun is shining!!! The last few days have been in transition as far as the weather goes. Thursday was cold and wet all day. Friday was breezy and cool. Today the sun is out and the temps are going into the 70's. DabeacH has been pretty quiet the last few days. Lots of moving trucks going on and off the beach. It seems a lot of annual properties come available around this time of the year. Doesn't make much sense to us. One would think when there are over 200,000 people descending upon our little area, that the property owners would try to rent at the seasonal rates.(IE: 2-3 times normal). Well, it doesn't happen that way.

Another odd phenomenon on the beach is how rental properties seem to just recycle amongst beach people. A good example is how we will be moving next month. We have lived in a small (850 sq. ft.) apartment 1 block from the beach. Our friends live across the court yard in a duplex stilt house. They are moving to house a few blocks away. They told us Wed. morning and by noon we were at the real estate agents office signing a lease for their duplex. The people downstairs jumped at the chance to move upstairs, so they're moving. All on one block, and all within ourselves.

Wed 1/29/97: What a great few days we have had. Sorry for the delays in posting this past week. Some things do have a tendency to get in the way. It's the end of the month and locals are scrounging to make the rent for the month. Many times you will see the locals having barbecues on the first of the month. Usually the menu includes anything that you have in the freezer. (Meaning it's all you have to eat) The party is for all the people who made the rent that month. Life in paradise is great, but, the money..... You get the picture.

Many people ask when is a good time to come to Indian Rocks Beach. We feel the whole month of Sept. and the from the second week after Easter until the end of June are the best times for locals. There are very few people and the temps of the air and water are just perfect. Come down and see for yourself.

Background provided by: Maxter and Minnie

Updated 06/22/97