Away from the books. Away from the computer. Away from other Sherlockians, antique stores, book shops, anything English . . . but can you ever get entirely away from Sherlock Holmes?

The answer appears to be “no.”

The good Carter and I found ourselves in Daytona Beach this week, with the Daytona 500 just past and Bike Week rolling in – two extremely non-Sherlockian events, especially as the bikes of Bike Week are of the Harley-Davidson, not the Violet Smith, variety. Eating shrimp, drinking mai tais, and playing miniature golf amid fake volcanoes don’t evoke the world of Sherlock Holmes in the slightest. Even though, yes, Holmes did mention golf once, and, yes, Florida and oranges were featured prominently in a certain case. But if sitting at breakfast drinking orange juice brings “Five Orange Pips” to mind every single time, I really think you’ve crossed a Sherlockian line and should seek professional help.

It’s good to get away from everything now and then, and give one’s brain a rest, just as Dr. Watson prescribed a change of scene for Holmes in “Devil’s Foot.” (Yes, taking a vacation is, in itself, very Sherlockian, I’m afraid.) For a Midwesterner, heading down to the beach for a stroll along the shore is just the perfect change, too.

With the newly built resorts and aging remnants of the boardwalk arcades and shops on one side, and the crashing surf on the other, one can blissfully walk along letting the tide wash over your bare feet and just look at what shells are being exposed by the latest wave. No thoughts of work, hobbies, the mundane chores of home, or even Sherlock Holmes, right?

And then you see a blob lying on the sand in front of you and realize that a jellyfish just go washed up on the shore. You have to observe it closely to see if it resembles cyanea capillata – “The Lion’s Mane” – in any detail, and are thus sucked right into that adventure from Holmes’s retirement.

Yes, there’s no escape from the master of detectives. You can run, drive, or fly, but you can’t hide.

Your humble correspondent,

Brad Keefauver