Sand in the Coffee, Vol. 143: the snowbirds, and how to share a beach with people who stay until spring
Put the phone down for a second. That license plate in the grocery lot is from a state with real snow, and the person walking to it is smiling like they just got away with something.
They did. Welcome to snowbird season.
who they are
A snowbird is someone who lives up north in summer and down here for the cold months. They show up when the first cool fronts do, and they stay well past the point where the rest of us would call it a vacation. Some rent the same condo every year. Some own a place on the Key or in Orange Beach and have a standing spot at the same bar.
They are not tourists in the usual sense. They know which lot fills at 9, which side of the bridge has the shorter line at noon, and which restaurants quietly switch to winter hours. In other words, they know more than you do. That’s the most useful thing about them.
what the beach feels like with them on it
Quieter, mostly. The cool season belongs to people who walk instead of lie down. Expect the 7 a.m. shell-and-coffee crowd, a few chair caravans heading out around mid-morning, and a lot of folks in long sleeves who are warmer than they look. The sunset hour is the social event. Don’t be startled when strangers say hello. They’ve got months, and they’re not in a hurry.
how to be a good neighbor to a seasonal crowd
- Say hello first. It costs nothing and it gets you better advice than any website, including this one.
- Don’t take the long-term chair spot. If a set of chairs looks settled, it is. Go ten yards over and nobody will mind.
- Ask about the off-season, not the beach. “Where do you eat when it’s quiet?” gets you a real answer. Most of them have a short list and are glad to share it.
- Give the walkers room. The hard sand near the waterline is their morning route. Cut across it, don’t park a cooler on it.
- Be patient in the checkout line. Nobody here is on a deadline. That is, more or less, the whole point of being here.
what you can learn from one
Ask a snowbird what they do on a gray day. You’ll hear about a bakery, a back road, a pier, or a thrift store, and none of it will be on a brochure. Ask what they’d skip. That answer is worth even more.
see for yourself
If you’re deciding whether it’s a long-sleeve morning or a shorts afternoon, the cam at /live-cam/ will tell you what people are actually wearing, and /beach-today/ has the flag and the water. Check events at /events/ for what’s on this week, and /happy-hours/ if you’d like to see where the regulars end up at 4.
the short version
Say hello, give the early walkers their sand, don’t take a settled chair, and ask a snowbird where they eat. They’ve been doing this longer than you, and they’d like to tell someone.
— Chris
P.S. Know a restaurant, charter, shop, or event we’re missing? Add it — free, Florida side or Alabama side: /submit/
