Beach Tripping

Submitted by Opal Rivers

It’s odd what you find when you are sitting on a deserted beach.  Nothing would be the obvious answer, but not true.  Most days, I can be found sitting at the SurfWatch Headquarters writing stories and listening to the beach sounds.   SurfWatch headquarters (90, 19, 21) is on the Home of Surfing in SL and the SLSA beach on Solace Dreams.  So, with beach sitting becoming a hobby for me, is it any wonder that I was bound to meet someone else on that beach?  The first person I found was Tauri Tigerpaw on the beach.  Ironically 10 years ago, Tauri was the first person I met on the beach in my first AV.  Now, the days of the Majini sim, the beautiful people who visited it, and one special cat on the beach are only memories.  RIP, Zenon (Parnall).  Then we saw a man wandering down the beach one day, with hands in pockets.  If he were to drive as crooked as he was walking, he would have gotten a DUI.  That day, we met Dave Ganja on the beach.  With quick wit and humor, the Ganja man is an interesting soul with stories to tell about life, you choose which one -  RL (real life) or SL (Second Life).  It’s for sure, you will not leave his company without reeking of the ganja and a completed ganja inventory.  I do appreciate the enthusiasm, I must admit.

 Next, we encountered Maryann Maa, who is now serving on the Board of Directors of the SLSA (Second Life Surfing Association).  She was explaining to us her strategies for surfing in heels.  The discussion was certainly informational.  Additionally, my friend Namssab1nad Piers (Nams), CEO of Lumiere (113,149,22), also popped on the beach for a while.  He is working hard on lighting up SL (among other things) so the rest of us do not have to worry about it.  With all these unique souls gathered on the beach, I invited them to visit a wondrous sight on the next sim. So, the beach trip begins.

As the beach journey began, we passby a small dance floor and more rental shacks on SLSA beach.  There is an SLSA Hall of Fame that celebrates the efforts of those AV’s that have passion for the sport of surfing.  Through the dangerous sim crossing, we finally arrive at Solace Beach Estates Community.  Just beyond the sim crossing is a spot where the most amazing phenomenon occurs (48,113,21).  A seal family lives here, and next to them is alligator island.  It is truly a rare spot in the world, when these two-species share a habitat.  If you walk on the gator’s island, the gators run away.  Just as you think the show is over, a great white shark breaches the waters in an exciting display of skill.  Now you wonder which of the two the shark is hunting, seals or gators.  As you finally take your eyes off this wondrous sight, you realize this is an interesting part of the beach.  Quality shopping from excellent retailers, and a guitar stage, tropical beach clubs are a few of the features.  This noob friendly sim also boasts an amusement park with a pirate theme.  Stay for the midnight spectacular light show, as well.  

Well, as this road trip comes to an end and all AV’s had gone their separate ways, I looked back at the gator island and was certain I had seen one of those gators with MaryAnn’s shoe in its mouth.  If you should happen to visit this location, take care to heed the warning of the gator island.

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