I Got My Toes in the Water ... Life is Good Today

Day 264  |  Pelican Bay  

A day at the beach. That was all we had planned for today. We loaded the beach chairs and bag of "stuff" into the dinghy and zipped over to the Cayo Costa State Park dock. The walk to the beach was a familiar one, but today we stopped and spoke with the campground administrator. She had set up two picnic tables full of shells -- one full of specimens for identification purposes and one for "free samples." We chatted about the sea urchins we saw yesterday, and she told us their appearance was a sign that the water was recovering from the red tide pollution that hit the area in January.

After crossing the dunes, we set up our chairs at the surf line of the Gulf of Mexico. For a half hour or so we just sat with our toes in the water, enjoyed the scenery, and thought how fortunate we are to have this opportunity. I quickly got restless from sitting so we began walking north along the beach. Today's I Spy discoveries included several tiny starfish and multiple coquina clam shells. For a great deal of our walk, we shared the beach only with shorebirds.

We made three separate walks along the beach and were able to get in our 10,000 steps. Along our second trek, we spotted a large jellyfish and tried to get a good look at it while maintaining a safe viewing distance. I didn't want his tentacles anywhere near my bare feet. Once again, I'll state that this area is gorgeous. Pictures do not do it justice. On our final stroll of the afternoon, this one southbound, we came upon a large dead tree that was decorated with shells. Before we knew it, 3:00 had come and it was time to head back to Crossroads.

A couple of my favorite photos from today of Cayo Costa State Park's Gulf of Mexico shore.

Back on board, we loaded the dinghy back on the upper deck, removed the sunshades from the pilothouse windows, and stowed both our deck and beach chairs for departure. It will be difficult to say goodbye to this spot, but I know there are even prettier spots waiting for us around the bend. We'll leave early tomorrow morning and head to Fort Myers Beach where we hope to find a mooring ball. For $18 a night, we get dinghy dock access to the downtown district and trash disposal. Its a pretty good deal, but first-come, first-serve. Fingers crossed that there's a spot for us.