Just Beachin’

Dare I say that last weekend Jupiter, Florida got a little dose of “fall” weather?  (Don’t fool yourself, “fall” around here is also known as “less humidity”).  I know, I know, after all of my theorizing about Summer and Not-Summer, declaring that autumn has arrived in our fair burg is just a wee bit hypocritical.  However, temperatures were a little lower, the air was a little drier, and one heck of a wind ripped across the beach.

P and I started off our weekend at the Center Street Nook with a hearty breakfast with friends.  Definitely a Jupiter favorite, I’ve featured the Nook on the blog before.  You have to stop by for their seasonal special, a pumpkin waffle with apple cider syrup – it’s to die for!  Hurry and get your greasy spoon fix before season.  Once the snowbirds return, the line is out the door with a 20 – 30 minute wait.

After carb loading, we meandered over to Jupiter Beach, just north of the condominium that the Jupiter Inlet Webcam sits atop.  Much to our surprise, the wind was whipping across the sand, the water was a lovely shade of brown, and surfers descended the beach in droves.

The lifeguards even flew the red flag.

Do you know the meanings of the beach flag warning system?  You should!  Here’s a little cheat sheet for the next time you visit the beach – think of the flags like a traffic light:

Green – Low Hazard, Calm Conditions, Exercise Caution (just your average day on the shore)

Yellow – Medium Hazard, Moderate Surf and/or Currents

Red – High Hazard, High Surf and/or Strong Currents (Surfers rejoice, swimmers beware!)

Double Red Flag – Water Closed to Public (hurricanes, toxic algae bloom, poor water quality)

Purple – Dangerous Marine Life (This one always throws tourists for a loop… it can mean anything from jellyfish and man-o-war to sharks.  Try explaining sea lice to someone from New England… that’s a blog post in itself!)

P chatted up the lifeguard on duty and got the scoop on the Hurricane Matthew aftermath.  Apparently, the storm left behind a high pressure system offshore that’s been churning up the water and making waves (hence, the brown color and surf bums).  Couple this with the weekend’s supermoon and you get extremely high tides, causing flooding along the intracoastal and other low-lying areas.

It was plainly not a good day to read at the beach unless you wanted your pages ripped from the binding.  I’ll have to catch up on Oh, Florida! next time.

I’m looking ahead to Sunday morning, when temperatures are supposed to dip into the upper 60’s (69 degrees counts!).  I’m ready to open the windows and get some fresh air into the house!

What are you looking forward to this week?

xo,

JUP Girl
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