Delray Beach on Florida's West Coast is a mix of fun shops and fabulous restaurants and bars that line the main street. The beach itself is a paradise of soft white sand that stretches on for miles or as far as the eye can see. But there is danger lurking at the high tide mark; danger in a squishy blue bottle...
On the way back to our home base in Jupiter, Florida from our alligator safari in the Sawgrass Recreation Area, we decided to stop somewhere and grab dinner. Some relaxing beach time and perhaps catching a sunset would be a nice way to end our day of gator watching. Delray Beach looked like a nice place to explore so I entered it into GPSangeeta and we were there in a flash. Situated between Boca Raton and Boynton Beach and a bit off-the-beaten-path, Delray Beach has a young and artsy vibe to it. There are many art shops and galleries to explore in the Pineapple Grove district of Delray Beach as well as funky murals to check out.
The main street of Delray Beach is called Atlantic Avenue and leads from Interstate 95 all the way down to the shoreline. Atlantic Ave is very vibrant; filled with upscale restaurants and Caribbean themed bars. I thought we would hit up a nice Italian pizzeria for some wood-fired oven pizza Margherita after we play on the beach.
We found a parking lot that wasn't an outrageous amount to park in near Atlantic Dunes Park, right behind the lifeguard station. Parking near the beach is very pricey and can be hard to find during peak season.
The beach was gorgeous and deliciously empty in January! Miles of soft light brown sand and gentle surf. It wasn't long before my son's shoes were off and he was dipping his feet in the water. Then his pants were rolled up, and he was wading into the water up to his knees. Of course, soon his pants ended up being rolled up so high, they looked like short-shorts and he was frolicking in the surf, getting soaking wet.
I took it all in; the sea air whipping my hair around, the smell of the saltwater all the little shorebirds running around where the eatin' is good along the tide line. In an instant, I was homesick for Vancouver where I grew up.
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| The Beach to Ourselves! |
We decided to walk north along the beach for a while and do some beachcombing for treasures like beach glass and shells. I still could not believe there was absolutely no one on this beach except the odd dog walking its human. It was not that cold out-at least by Canadian standards; maybe the Floridians were still donning their snowsuits!
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| NOT a Florida Sea Cucumber! |
Wandering down the beach, we found some interesting shells at the high tide line. But then we found something strange, and beautiful...and ultimately horrible. A strange bright blue creature that had helplessly washed up on the sand. My son thought this must be some kind of sea cucumber because of its shape, and I didn't think anything much of it either. My poor child went to "rescue" the defenseless sea cucumber (because that's the kind of gentle soul he is) and took it back to the Ocean and put it in. "Mr. Sea Cucumber" immediately washed back up on the beach, so my son repeated the rescue attempt.😱
That's when my poor son started to feel the stings. His hand went red and swollen, and it burned like crazy. Oh, NO-that was a jellyfish! Well, that is no fun. But being raised as a West Coast boy, he had been stung in Vancouver by jellyfish loads of times, no big deal. Then the pain started to worsen; my son went pale and started to complain that his armpits hurt. I figured this meant lymph nodes and perhaps an allergic reaction of some sort. MOM panic ensued, and I stayed outwardly calm, but inside I was freaking the F**K out! We walked briskly back towards the car, and my son was nauseous at this point. I cheerfully suggested we stop in at the lifeguard station to see if they could help.
The station looked closed, but I knocked on the door anyway and a staff member came to open the door. We recounted our tale to him and the lifeguard explained that the "sea cucumber" was a Portuguese Man O War jellyfish and is very dangerous-especially if you were swimming and a group of them sting you! The lifeguard gave us a few packages of this green goo called "sting zapper" and I put it all over my son's hands. It smelled nice, like tea tree oil and perhaps peppermint. The lifeguard told us he gets stung almost daily when he is at work and it hurts A LOT. He also told us that some folks can have an allergic reaction to the venom; so just as a precaution we should be on the watch for signs of difficulty breathing in the next hour or so.
It took a long while before the jellyfish venom to stop stinging, and we decided to head back to our home base near Jupiter for dinner in. My son slept the whole way back in the car and immediately crawled into bed exhausted.
We must go back someday to explore Delray Beach and all that Atlantic Avenue has to offer.
The next day the welts on my son's hands were mostly gone, and he felt good as new. Of course, now we ALL know not to touch the blue bottles on the beach. So this was our tale of harrowing deeds of peril with wild alligators and deadly jellyfish!
Gotta keep your wits about you in the exotic wilds of Florida!
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