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FLORIDA TRAVEL >> BEACH CAMPING
LIFE’S A BEACH
Coastal Camping The Perks of Changing a Day at the Beach Into a Stay at the Beach W RIT TE N BY C A MERON COBB P H OTO G R A P H Y B Y N I K I M E R R I L L & C A M E R O N C O B B
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he two words every child wants to hear: Disney World. Whenever we took trips as a family, my brothers, sisters and I would prepare and climb in the car’s backseat, this time with Mickey Mouse ears and oversized grins. Several (dozen) “are we there yets” later, my stepmom would shout excitedly that we made it. The woodland setting surrounding us told otherwise, until we’d remember our gullibility. My dad occasionally had this thing he did where he would tell us we were going to the amusement park instead of the real destination. I know I should’ve probably been tipped off when the trips normally took less than an hour and the car was loaded up with camping equipment, but, to be fair, one of those times we really DID go to Disney World,
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OUR TOWN MAGAZINE
MARCH/APRIL 2017
and after that I never knew what to believe. My dad and stepmom are avid campers; I swear they spend more time outdoors than in. Combining that with their love for the beach, we frequently ventured to beach campsites all over Florida. Tip: Prior to your camping trip, make sure you are permitted to camp there. Parts of some beaches are off-limits for overnight camping for safety and wildlife purposes. Visitflorida.com provides a detailed list of allowed areas. The most vivid memory I have of camping was from a more primitive exploration. During the summer after Hurricane Ivan hit in 2004, my dad and stepmom decided there could be no better way to spend the blistering weekend than outdoors. A mere