1/04

We spent a week in Florida over Thanksgiving. In the Keys, we visited Bahia Honda State Park, where the ranger told us the northernmost beach is where women sunbathe topfree. She said it was okay and common. We were only there to go snorkeling, but we did see three woman topfree, this on a Tuesday. In Pennekamp State Park, on Key Largo, we saw one woman topfree and Katherine changed from her clothes to her wetsuit without putting a top on. No problems at all.

In Miami, however, we were quite frustrated at what has become of South Beach. There were a few women topfree, but none felt even comfortable enough to sit up. Last time we were there, we went for walks up and down the beach with no problem. This time, we found that for every topfree woman, there were at least three men with video cameras circling like sharks. One guy had a camera and a telephoto lens on a tripod! It was pathetic. This was Thanksgiving Day. We were really bummed, until we went back to our hotel in North Miami Beach, and found to our great happiness that the stretches of beaches up there were very laid back and had plenty of women topfree. This was great because it would really be hard for a guy to gawk up there, and the crowd was very diverse in age and make up. We walked for about a half an hour, Katherine topfree the whole time. We were passed by the beach patrol about a half dozen times during our stay, and we saw probably a dozen topfree women out of maybe 50 women or so total.

The big surprise of our week, however, was our visits to Key Biscayne. At first we went snorkeling at the lighthouse park, southern tip of the island, and found two topfree women there. This was new since our last visit. Then we went snorkeling up on the bay side of the island, along the causeway itself, on a strip of land that runs literally alongside the highway. We saw a woman on her stomach with just a thong, and so I pulled up to three cops Miami-Dade police cars that were sitting in the lot and asked if it was there were any rules against Katherine sunbathing topfree on the sand there beside the road. Keep in mind, this is literally on the shoulder of the four-lane causeway. The officers said it was okay, so when we were finished snorkeling, Katherine hung out on the "beach" just wearing her thong. It was just no big deal and it was great. Even the other beachgoers didn't bat an eye. The woman who was sunbathing when we showed up eventually turned over herself, though she wore her top to go wading. When we were ready to go, Katherine loaded her snorkeling gear in the car without putting her top on ever. We waved at the cops, who waved back - though I don't think we were supposed to ACKNOWLEDGE them, really - and she hopped in the car and we drove off.

So all in all it seems that the gawkers on South Beach have sent the folks who just want to enjoy the sun to other beaches in the Miami area, and no one in those places is putting up a fuss. But guys, listen, it really is destructive to a good beach to take video. Women who go topfree just want to enjoy the sun, they don't want to be the subject of your movie. If you enjoy beaches where women can go topfree, which you obviously do since you're gawking, why are working so hard to destroy them? Guys have to be good stewards to this movement or it won't go.

--James and Katherine, Princess Anne, Maryland