When I arrived in Orlando 13 years ago from Texas to teach at UCF, we unpacked all the stuff from the van into the new rented condo and headed straight for the beach. Along the way, traveling on the Bee Line Expressway, I saw palmettos in the thick roadside jungles alongside tall pine trees. 

The long stretch of road to Cocoa Beach offered the sight of wild turkeys and little white egrets resting on cows. Each cow appeared to have his own bird and the cows seemed even more abundant than in Texas. I found out later cattle ranching is a bigger industry in Florida than in Texas. That was surprising to me.

We stopped halfway to Cocoa Beach at a place called the Lone Cabbage Fish Camp on the St. Johns River in hopes of sighting an alligator in the wild. We saw a log floating by with two nostrils and that was enough to get us to take an airboat ride.

Gliding fast over river grasses and making wide turns and bends along the way was a unique experience for me. Now and then the guide would slow the motor down when he sighted a gator. We saw several pairs resting on the muddy banks under the hot Florida sun, and up above sometimes we saw an eagle. The alligators seemed to be elegant in their stillness and when their bodies moved they were equally elegant in their swift glide into the dark waters. I was thrilled.

After eating the best basket of fried shrimp and french fries imaginable, we were back on the road. Along the way, billboards for Ron Jon Surf Shop punctuated the landscape of hammocks and cypress stands and wide fields of pale yellow grasses. Now and then a large native palm stood alone on the prairie. In West Texas it would have been a pin oak tree.

Finally we arrived at the beach.  We hauled the umbrella, beach chairs, blanket, towels, books, and cooler filled with snacks to a promising spot, and I sighed with the satisfaction that only a road warrior who has traveled 2,000 miles to reach her destination can feel:  the east coast of Florida! I can still remember the excitement of 13 years ago when I arrived.

When we were kids, Dad and Mom drove us from Rochester, N.Y., to Miami Beach every January for vacation. My brother, Jack, and I sat in the back seat of our every-two-year-upgraded Chevy, annoying our poor parents with our constant bickering and refusing to sing along with their ‘50s harmonies.  

We spent the nights in Myrtle Beach, S.C., then Daytona Beach and finally Miami Beach. We must have whizzed by Cocoa Beach along A1A. I don’t remember anything about it except the old Thunderbird Motel.

Our annual week in Miami was mythical. Jack and I played in the sand and swam in the ocean outside our hotel every day. I remember one ride on the elevator when my Dad told us later that we were riding in the same car with the president’s personal secretary. He was very pleased to tell us that.

So it is summer again in Florida – and all that that conjures up.

I just drove through a pelting rain, signaling the beginning of Florida’s late-afternoon rainy season.

I’ll have some time off soon and I’m going to make some art, swim in the ocean, read a book or two – and rest.

UCF Forum columnist Carla Poindexter is an associate professor of fine art at the ��AV and can be reached at Carla.Poindexter@ucf.edu.

Courses are designed to teach the skills and techniques used by professional creative writers to create fiction, poetry and non-fiction.  Each class will consist of a lecture, discussion and workshop where participants will learn new techniques, create original works and receive feedback.

Classes for teens from 9 to 11 a.m. start Monday, July 11, and run through Friday, July 15. Adult classes will be held every Thursday from 6 to 8 p.m. June 16 through July 21.  All classes will be held in UCF’s Continuing Education building in the Central Florida Research Park (12565 Research Parkway, Suite 390) next to UCF’s main campus.

“We are going to provide the technical aspects and strategies,” said Associate Professor Terry Thaxton of UCF’s English Department. “All students need to bring is their imagination.”

Students will learn how to brainstorm story ideas, structure stories and critique their own writing.

In the adult course, an optional critique enables writers to electronically submit manuscripts to get feedback and suggestions for revision.

Each class will be taught by Sarah Prevatt, whose work has appeared in many literary magazines, including Vestal Review, Hawai’i Pacific Review, The Chaffin Journal and Saw Palm: Florida Literature and Art.  She has an MFA in Creative Writing and has taught at UCF and Miami-Dade College.

Registration for either the teen or adult course is $150. Continuing education credits are available for teachers who complete the course.  There are additional fees for credits, manuscript critique and late registration after June 10.

Registration fees will help fund UCF’s Literary Arts Partnership, a program that provides free workshops in public schools, prisons, shelters, assisted living facilities, foster homes and community centers.  The program teaches the use of creative writing as a positive outlet for self-expression.

For more information or to register, visit http://www.ce.ucf.edu/Program-Search/1367/Creative-Writing-Workshop. Those interested in the workshop for teens can register here.