Beach Time

There's nothing like bare feet on the beach, so take your shoes off and go with me for a stroll....
We didn't have a whole lot of time for the beach this time around, but did manage to spend a couple of hours walking and shelling. I had forgotten how pretty the sand is in the Clearwater area and wow, has that area changed since I've been down there too. Me and my girlfriends from college used to head over to Clearwater many Saturdays for some beach time and I was pleasantly surprised at how it's grown and how pretty the whole area is now.
White sand. We needed to do some walking after eating all week. We did manage to go walking twice around Kim's beautiful lake in Lakeland that I shared with you a couple weeks ago. Cuban sandwiches, grouper sandwiches, strawberry shortcake and lots of cookies later, I need the exercise. Thanks to one of my blog readers, Laura in Clearwater, who told me about Frenchy's on the beach for grouper sandwiches. We didn't have a lot of time to do much restaurant hopping, but we stopped by 2 days for grouper sandwiches at Frenchy's before we hit the jazz festival. Oh my gosh were they great!! We also had a wonderful steak dinner in Lakeland one night at the Texas Cattle restaurant...one of the best steaks I've ever had.
After reading about Honeymoon Island, we decided to check it out and it is a beautiful state park, a nice spot to spend some time. Not being on the main drag, it's very peaceful and uncrowded and of course, no hotels around.
We took a ferry over to Caladesi Island from Honeymoon Island, a pretty place with sugar white sands, perfect for shelling for a couple of hours. That's always been a fun thing for me to do. I love walking along looking for shells to add to the collection.

Peter and I strolled and looked down at the sand for pretty shells. Some were still occupied, so those we had to leave. My hubby loves the beach too, so I don't have to beg him to go.
There's nothing prettier than sand and shells and there's nothing better than walking on the beach. Talk about peaceful, forgetting your troubles and enjoying the moment, the beach is the place to go for that.
Long stretches of pretty beach and green/blue water.

There was a nice display of all the shells in this area. I managed to pick up 11 different varieties, so it was fun matching them up to their names.
Hubby getting his feet wet and helping me look for shells. He found 2 of the bigger ones for me.

And me with my cup of shells.
One cluster of shells on the sand.

Nothing mor relaxing than the sounds and sights of the beach.
I caught a largebird in flight.
Love these sea oats.
Boardwalk to the beach looks inviting.
Boat marina...we noticed that lots of folks dock their boats here and enjoy the day. What a life that would be!

This is my seashell finds for the day. I was happy! I just love all the colors found in seashells. More boats
Traveling by ferry, these are mangrove trees. They have the most interesting root system, very thick.

A pelican and another bird sharing a piling. They were fun to watch. So I hope you enjoyed strolling the beach with me, even if you are still stuck in cold weather. Just close your eyes and pretend for a minute you are enjoying some warm white sand between your toes.

We have a real beach vacation coming up in May, just a few weeks from now and will be going back to Seagrove Beach, Florida, for a week where we went last year. I can't wait! We both love the beach and enjoy just chilling out and doing nothing but relax in the surf, sand, and sunshine.

I'm working all day today with my designer friend. I think we'll be painting furniture and doing all sorts of stuff. I'll see if I can take some pics to share later!