Another day another beach town visited. I arrived late afternoon seeking for a few hours of sunshine at a beach that’s open which I found at Oceanside, CA., a coastal city located in San Diego county. San Diego was among the first counties in California to reopen their beaches, parks, and a few businesses since the “Stay At Home” order was lifted last week. To me, seeing an open beach for the first time in a month and a half felt quite strange. There seem to be a huge unspoken uncertainty in the air as I watched a few people at the beach surfing, swimming, bodyboarding in the water and people rollerblading, jogging, walking or riding bikes with or without masks worn.

Signs about social distancing and staying home were still seen in the area. Despite the beach being open, activities were limited from tanning, bringing chairs at the beach, to anything relating to gathering of any kind. Police patrolled the scene a few times in a given hour to insure that people were following the social distancing rules. Those that didn’t were told to keep it moving.

Much of my time was spent walking around the neighborhood. There seem to be new apartment buildings built in the area with a hefty price tag attached to it. I found a few coffee and juice shops in the area. Since nothing else was open I decided to head home.