I moved to town a few months ago and during the summer months I was turned away from entering the beach by some teenagers because my ID doesn’t reflect that I live in town. I’m in the military and still maintain an out of state home of record… but I do in fact live in this town. They refused to see my lease or electric bill or ANYTHING other than my out of state ID.
Once the fall came, there were no adolescents telling me what to do so I’ve been taking my dog to this small beach ever since. It’s so quaint and beautiful, I have no complaints about the actual beach itself. Sometimes after some rain the water comes up too high and the beach is not usable.
I had never explored the boardwalk/trail on the left side of the beach, and I noticed that there was an alternate entrance. I was curious to see where the other entrance was and whether or not I could take my bike on the trail. So today, after work, I drove my car down to the entrance to the trail and was trying to read the signage regarding bikes, private property, etc… I didn’t know what to expect but I wanted to make sure I wasn’t doing anything illegal. Within less than a minute of being in the area, one of the residents came out of their home and started telling me that I can’t park there (I know, there’s signs).
I said “yes sir, I’m just reading the signs.”
He said “The signs say there’s no parking down here.”
I said “Yes sir, I can read. Thank you.”
He said “I’m just waiting to see evidence of that.”
I said (trying to lighten the mood) “I have glasses so I gotta get up close to read some stuff.”
He said something else stupid and redundant and I left.
Was I on private property? Not according to the signage.
Did I park my car there? No. My car was never in park.
I was simply reading the signage posted around a “public” beach in the town that I live in. I wanted to go on a bike ride in the town that I live in…..
The members of this town are SO possessive, territorial, and unnecessarily rude that they leave the comfort of their own home to demean a girl who is reading a sign….
It’s all extremely ridiculous considering that you only do ID checks in the summer months, and only during certain hours. What do you think is happening the entire off-season when no one is “guarding” your precious sliver of shoreline? There are police officers that sit in the parking lot pretty consistently, yet no one has ever said anything to me or inquired about my residence. Why? Probably because it doesn’t matter!! As a town, you have made-up rules to fit uber-specific situations that serve no purpose. If tourists were a real problem, then your beach would be trashed during the fall when anyone can go to the water. But it’s not. The culture that you created has bred such a negative and possessive tone that someone who resides here has felt ostracized by her own neighbors.
In all, I just feel as if your “system” for monitoring the beach is too broken and ineffective. This town needs to fix itself before you can start telling other people what to do. Yall put your foot in your mouth yelling at a resident for reading a sign. Get a life!! I shop local, I eat local, I pay the insanely high water bill, I help my neighbors with chores and errands, I babysit your kids, I made sure your kids got on the bus safe…. My drivers license might not say it, but I live in this town. One of the most difficult things about being in the military is having to re-establish yourself in new communities every few years. This is the most trouble I’ve ever had. And it’s all over a small “public” beach!!!! The culture is so weird...
Read more
Learn more insights from Wanderboat AI.
