Collecting Memories: The Songs That Bring Me Back to Cape San Blas
One of the first things I do when I get to the Cape is turn on some music.
It's become part of my routine. The bags might still be sitting by the front door, groceries haven't all been put away, but as soon as the music starts playing, I can feel myself exhale. The drive is over, the schedule disappears, and just like that...I'm on Cape Time.
Over the years, I started adding songs to a playlist whenever one reminded me of the beach. Some are by musicians from the Forgotten Coast or artists who play here regularly. Others have nothing to do with Cape San Blas at all, but rather they feel like the Cape to me. Eventually I realized I was doing more than just making a playlist.
I was collecting memories.
When I listen to this playlist, some songs instantly take me back to a particular sunset, a family dinner on the deck, or a week spent with the people I love at the Cape. That's when I realized the music had become part of those moments. It wasn't just reminding me of the vacation; the songs had become woven into the memories themselves.
Throughout the day, the music follows me from morning coffee to long beach days, from rinsing off in the outdoor shower, to cooking dinner together, and finally onto the deck as another Cape sunset unfolds. It's playing through a speaker in the house, another on the beach, and later from the deck as the sky turns shades of orange and pink. After a while, you almost stop noticing it's there. The music becomes part of the rhythm of the day.
Then, months or even years later, one of those songs comes on unexpectedly, and I’m right back on Cape San Blas.
I'd love to share my Cape Time playlist with you.
If this playlist becomes part of your family's week at the Cape, I hope one day it brings you right back again to your week at the beach. Maybe it'll remind you of your kids dancing in the kitchen while dinner was cooking, an impromptu sing-along because someone brought a guitar, or a sunset so beautiful that everyone simply stopped talking and watched.
Sometimes, the best thing you bring home from the Cape isn't something you can pack in a suitcase. It's the memories you made together. And if a song can bring you back to one of those moments years from now, then I think that's a pretty special souvenir. If that happens, then this playlist has done exactly what I hoped it would for you, as it does me.
I hope it becomes part of your Cape memories, too.
🎵 Listen to the Cape Time Playlist on Spotify 🎵
A collection of local musicians, Gulf Coast artists, and songs that remind me of life on Cape San Blas and Florida's Forgotten Coast.
~ Carrie