By Shannon Williams
“I love places where there are crowds of trees“ Nitin Namdeo
Crowds have never really been my thing, I am not afraid of them and don’t avoid them, but I really just do not enjoy them. Twice this month of May (one of my favorite months) we have sort of sheltered in place due to the crowds, first for Jeep weekend and then sort of today, as everyone was leaving the beach. But here on Crystal Beach there are so many ways to escape the crowds, even when the beach is bumper to bumper and not an open spot in sight, you can go into the water and find your own little spot that is not crowded and watch the crowds.

That is always lots of fun until you have to get out of the crowd! When you hear the numbers of just how many people were at an event or a happening, you really wondered was I really in a crowd that big? We went to an Astro game a few weeks ago. Each and every time we have to travel I-10 you have to worry that you will get caught it the traffic. We got a late start, as I was trying to finish up something at work. The traffic was not really bad, but we backed up a few times. As you get to the ball park you wonder where you will park, how far away you will have to walk. We did great and found a great spot with little trouble. Walked right in to the ballpark and to the bathroom (no line thank goodness!).  It looked like we were going to be packed in there, but it we had empty seats in our row and it never felt that we were indeed in a large crowd, that was until we wanted something to eat! Hubby wanted Nachos, which was about a 20-minute wait, but we had time before the game and he loved them, so it was not bad. I decided to wait until the game started and see if the lines died down. So, at the top of the third, off I go to see what I wanted to eat and who had what kind of lines. Nothing would do, but I wanted wings!! The line was long, but I thought I could see the game from the line; it was not too hot, so why not. Well, forty minutes later I got my wings! Now they were good, but by the time I paid three times what I would at any other wing place and waited for 40 minutes, they were not that good! The game was a close one in the later innings , so we stayed until the end and the parking spot that seemed so close was not really that close; but in no time, we were back on I-10 and headed home. It was funny because as I was in my seat, I really did not feel like I was in a crowd, but as soon as I needed to head to the bathroom, the crowd was there.

Later that week, we attended the grandson’s Kindergarten graduation. It was crowded, no parking to be found and we waited in line to get a name tag; then again in line to go through security and the metal detectors. It was standing room only, both in the auditorium and in the classroom and forget getting to the bathroom LOL. A trip to Sam’s club that same week was totally crowed and it was a Monday afternoon! HEB was not much better, and I could not figure it out, it was not the first of the month or near a holiday, but both were just packed and difficult to get up and down the aisles.

This weekend, it seemed that every house on our block had company, but Thank God, it did not sound like we had a 100-extra people! I went to the fruit stand in High Island on Saturday, thinking that everyone would already be at the beach, but I was wrong, the traffic was non-stop and the little fruit stand was out of several items from the crowds! The world is getting out there again and I have to get use to crowds and make my crowd plan.

I took a cruise in February and the timing was perfect. COVID was calming down, but ships were not at full capacity, but those days are now over and the summer crowd is sailing again. I spent some time this afternoon making plans and reservations for a getaway or two in the next months, and had a hard time finding flights and hotel rooms for some weekends. I stopped before I reserved the rental car, but understand those too are hard to come by this summer.

A few years back we went to Yosemite to enjoy the outdoors. It was so crowded it really impacted our whole trip. The roads were jam packed and if you wanted to get out and look at some of the landmarks, you had to fight a crowd. I watched a story on Sunday Morning CBS this weekend and now you have to have a timed reservation for most National parks due to so many people. I am going to see how that works out for the park system and if it cuts down on the crowds.

So Summer has begun and I have to “plan” a little bit during this time of year, but still I will take a crowded Crystal Beach any day over the city! So get out there and be a face in the crowd and enjoy watching people which makes any crowd a whole lot more fun.

[May-31-2022]