The day the oil came

The sign at Pensacola Beach Properties boasts “Always has been, always will be — the most beautiful beaches in the world.’’



The sign is a lie. Because surely, there's a white sand beach somewhere in the world that doesn't look like it was vomited on by Big Oil.



Surely, there's a beach somewhere that people swim without being slimed by sheets of oil washing ashore. There has to be a beach somewhere that isn't being patrolled by Hazmat teams and work crews shoveling gunk and oily grime from shore.



Surely there's a beach somewhere that smells like sea salt and beer and not like a third world subway. There has to be a beach somewhere where dolphins frolick offshore instead of beaching themselves coated with oil.



Because this June Pensacola Beach is ugly. And it stinks. And to anyone who visits the shore to see the damage with their own disbelieving eyes, it is heartbreaking.