The crisp smell of salt and the warm breeze of cheesy pizza welcomes our arrival. We’ve past the wooden “Ocean City Maryland” sign, but you’re never truly at the beach until that smell fills your nostrils and wraps around you like a blanket. Listening to my music, I glazed my eyes over the endless beach city. The usually bustling streets and shops are now sparsely populated, reminding me that it's only spring. My grin fades and I slouch back into the passenger seat. I have been coming to this wonderful beach town since I could walk. I was practically raised on salty water and creamsicle ice cream.  But not once did we ever drive down to our little condo right on the beach in spring. It was frowned upon in my family, but I couldn’t take the winter anymore. The school season has stressed me out beyond the point of no return and prevents me from focusing on my hobbies: horseback riding, writing, and reading. So by spring break I was dying to sink my toes in the smooth sand.

So here I am, my dad is pulling up to our small condominium, bright white and fairly modern, it looked exactly the same. Begrudgingly, I stepped out of the car, music still blaring through my earbuds, and looked out towards the beach. Under our feet, speckles of sand were left adrift by the wind. When we get up to our condo, bare and vacant, I slouch onto the stiff couch. My excitement was now dulled, sanded down to only a hint of joy. I shouldn’t have came this early.

I could never live at the beach. Now don’t get me wrong, I love this place, even more than my home in dusty Pennsylvania. Rolling hills and hazy farm days have nothing on the crashing waves and breezy nights. But the beach is like dessert. As much as you’d like to eat dessert all the time or even before dinner, you shouldn’t. And you know that. It's something to look forward to, if you eat it before dinner it spoils your appetite. Besides that going to the beach in spring isn’t nearly as fun as going in the summer. The local shops are all closed, the rowdy teens are still in school and don’t roam the streets at night, and the lack of people in the huge apartment buildings cause it to be dark and lonely at night. Those are what make the beach the beach. I could care less about the ocean, because honestly sharks aren’t my thing, but with nobody here it makes my favorite place seemed deserted and sad. Everything I have been waiting for will still just have to wait, I need to finish my dinner first.