As you scroll through photos and videos on our NSB Homes Facebook page you’ll notice Boss Man David Kosmas featured in them boating and fishing. For David time on the water is more than a hobby – it’s a way of life. David is, was and always will be a NSB River Rat.
The Kosmas children
Memories of Life Near Turtle Mound
As we talked about this week in the blog David was raised near Turtle Mound in Bethune Beach during a time when that area was mostly undeveloped. They were one of 5 houses in their neighborhood! David has so many memories of growing up with Canaveral National Seashore in his backyard – hunting snipe, sitting in cold beach sand buried halfway up his body, and scavenging the beach for treasures.
David’s dad Paul helped build the house (nicknamed the KosmaHall) in which they lived, and when the state bought out the families to make the land a conservation area that house became a ranger station. Their Gramma Myrtle loved the area so much that she too built a house in what would later become the Canaveral National Seashore Park.
Gramma Myrtle near her home in the Canaveral National Seashore.
Thanksgiving Memories
David remember Thanksgiving at his Gramma’s house in the Seashore as well as Thanksgiving in a lodge on the Blue Ridge Parkway. Part of the trip to the lodge involved a 1 lane gravel road loaded with switchbacks – and his family of 6 packed into a Chevy Blazer.
A Life Lived on the Water
He remembers picking wild oranges (and having fights with them), hiking up Turtle Mound, making bows and arrows out of palm frond sticks and fishing line, gathering sea beans and cats eyes, and watching the sea turtles lay eggs.
Paul Kosmas Sr living the NSBLifestyle.
The Kosmas children grew up in and on the water – and their childhood is another example of how special New Smyrna Beach is. Even as the town has grown up, the river and lagoon and Bethune Beach and Turtle Mound remain – bastions for children of today. The beautiful landscape, the people, and the sense of community – of living a life on the water and in the water – respectful of and thankful for our resources – that’s a big part of the NSB Lifestyle.
