Not this time of year, but in the dead of winter. That’s my preference. Catch some bigs redfish in the surf, and enjoy a great cognac while fire watching. This is when I want to eat chili and cornbread, sitting in my lawn chair, by the fire, with good friends.

I have a beach camping spot, away from the masses, where I can go for a three day weekend and see maybe 1 truck a day go past the camp site. Usually plenty of driftwood to collect and burn. In the old days, of course, cell phones didn’t exist, but over the last 30 years, service has improved, now, we can see 2 cell towers on the mainland. I never said cell coverage was a good thing. Can’t hardly unplug anywhere any more.

And yeah, this is a 4-wheel drive only spot, many miles from an access road. Takes more than an hour to get to the spot.

It’s best when cold, because the mosquitoes are almost nonexistent and people are too.

Went in July one time, big mistake. Hot, no shade anywhere, ice in coolers melted in one day, sweated in the tent, mosquitoes were relentless, sargassum fouled our fishing lines. We packed up and left the next morning.

Even though I like to camp in the middle of winter, I still want my beer to be ice cold, on the edge of freezing. With lime. So that when I sit by the camp fire and take a swig of beer, I can inhale some of that camp fire smoke and get a two fer one.

Sometimes I haul a small load of seasoned oak firewood to the beach to burn and sit in the smoke. Love the smell of oak firewood.