By Shannon Williams
Crystal Beach has many things that make it, well, unlike so many other places. It starts with the ferry, what a way to arrive!! A little mini cruise complete with a water feature (just stand at the front of the boat), entertainment for the children (a few pieces of bread and stand at the back of the boat), the sound of the waves, the smell of the ocean, and if you are lucky a seagull will welcome you with a special christening!
Once you dock, you can find just about everything you could want or need, good places to eat, plenty of wildlife to watch and marvel at, night life with live music on any given weekend, great food (oh, did I already say that, well it is good). There is also some of the best people watching that can be found anywhere! The fact that the Bolivar Peninsula is one of the few places that you can drive on the beach and drink on the beach, BUT NOT AT THE SAME TIME, brings a whole other level of people watching. Now I am not much of a drinker, but will stand by the right people to be able to have a cold beer, or a very cold margarita, not to mention a snow cone with some Sangria wine poured over that great ice. Driving on the beach allows people to “set up” their own little resort for the day or a few days, whether that be just an ice chest or a full set up with a tiki bar, grill, and a place for a nice siesta. Then we have a parade every day of the week, where you see every type of vehicle and some non-vehicles (horses and such). What more could you ask for and it is all right here…BUT, what concerns me and scares me is when you mix the drinking on the beach while you are driving some sort of vehicle. Way too many times during the busy season we hear the sirens, and check Facebook to see what has happened. Then we again have a dead body or serious injury due to someone drinking and driving some sort of vehicle.
I want for people to have fun and I know it is great fun to drive on the beach or other parts of Crystal Beach in just about any type of vehicle. I want for people to be able to come down and enjoy themselves and if that means having some drinks to relax or to have a little fun, good for you, but how many times do we have to hear about someone coming for vacation and leaving after a tragedy or death of a loved one. The rip tides are bad enough and cannot be prevented, but we work to educate people so that they are on the lookout and teach them how to get out of one. Alcohol related accidents can be prevented, but you see, once you start to have a drink to unwind or increase your good time, that little part of the brain that helps you stop unsafe behavior stops working and is replaced by the “hold my beer” part of our mind!!
In a past life, I was an alcohol and drug abuse counselor and worked many years in the substance abuse units of the state hospitals in Texas. Below is something that I used for years and it is true today.
It will remove stains from designer clothes
It will also remove the clothes off your back.
If by chance it is used in sufficient quantity,
Alcohol will remove furniture from the home
Rugs from floor, food from the table,
Lining from the stomach, vision from the eyes,
And judgement from the mind.
Alcohol will also remove good reputations,
Good jobs, good friends and happiness,
From children hearts.
Sanity, Freedom, spouses, relationships,
A person’s ability to adjust and live with
His fellow man and even life itself.
As a remover of things, Alcohol has no equal.
(author unknown)
So just as we work to help people be safe with the rip tides, lets try (and pray) that people will carefully enjoy alcohol and the beach, so we can all enjoy a cold one and drive a truck load of stuff to the beach and watch the parade go by. It is part of what makes Crystal Beach like no other, and I don’t want us to lose it or lose any lives due to a “hold my beer“ moment.
[July-27-2021]
Posted in 
Perhaps we could start with designated areas of no alcohol area for the mature ones.
Perhaps barricading segments of the beach like the Audubon society has done to limit the distance one can travel
Or maybe hire locals to monitor DUI. Their only job is to watch for drivers who need a breath Analyzer because some people just don’t have self control.
Or perhaps we will see a lot of privatizing the miles of beach like stewart beach where we lose the free beaches.
But like with all responsibility we see 12 year olds driving side by sides texting or instagram while driving.
With no adults in vehicle. No insurance and no experience is a deadly combination.
Thats why i camp the new ferry beach.
No college kids.
Lots of mature people.
Now if we can just stop the foreign ships from dumping in the channels we’d have a great mature beach.