Sunday, March 11: It has been SEVEN years since I last visited Florida--a very sad visit that time; but this was a much anticipated, very planned SIX days--I've been counting it down for months! Florida is beautiful and fun and wonderful, but the MAIN reason I was visiting was to spend the week with my brother, David, and his family. However, since I am a lover of outdoor beauty, most of my photos were ... of birds ...
... and water, sky, clouds, boats, bridges, more amazing birds, etc.
I believe SUNDAY was our best weather day (the day I arrived). My plane landed at 11:21 am (after I got up at 3:30--which felt like 2:30 because of daylight savings! I boarded my plane in GR, flew to Chicago, and then to Tampa) and we were IN THE WATER (not the plane, goofus, on the BOAT) by 1:15!
David wanted to show me Anclote Keys Lighthouse, so we drove like 55mph out into the vast and beautiful GULF, anchored the boat and waded (freezingly) ashore to try to find a pathway to the lighthouse.
David is holding a discarded (I believe by the crab) crab shell in his hands. We walked along the coast for quite awhile but could not find a pathway to get us closer to the Light! I suggested just cutting through the brush, but David warned of SNAKES ... so I very reluctantly gave up that idea.
It was very windy and even though it was about 73 degrees, it felt ... COLD! I was NOT complaining, however. This kind of beauty always captures me.
Look at the clouds!
Salt water is not my usual experience and I didn't realize some salt spray had landed on my lens; hence, the little blotches on these photos.
We looked and looked for a way to get closer to the lighthouse, but finally waded back to the boat and went around to the other side of the island to get a better look. Still NO pathways to walk, so we gave up and continued our travels elsewhere.
The birds are a riot ... always congregating and having board meetings ...
A close-up of the Anclote Keys Light ...
I LOVE lighthouses. This one ... not so much! There is something so "foreign" about it. Egmont Keys Light is more "light-house-y" in my opinion.
At almost every marker, there was a bird or two or three stationed ... like they owned it!
We went under many bridges ...
The day was absolutely amazingly beautiful.
The whole time we were out there, David was kind enough to give me the low-down on the local sights. My brother is a true boater/fisherman/captain, so I was never worried one single bit about our safety out there.
I'm going to have to fill in more details in the next few days because I don't want to forget a single thing. We docked the boat and David got it out of the water and onto the trailer. We drove back to his beautiful house (pictures later) and shared a wonderful meal with Carol, Bernice, Andrew, Alison, Elisabeth and Chris. I regret living so far away from this dear family. David's children and spouses are interesting and beautiful people. I wish I knew them better. As far as Carol is concerned, sometimes there just are not nice enough words to describe a person--she is pretty special, for sure!
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