The Essential Beachcomber

Loaded up for a day @ the beach.  Who's gonna carry all this stuff? It is very common to overhear a conversation between vacationers on the beach discussing the fantasy of how awesome it would be to live on the beach one day.  We've all had those conversations.  Funny thing is, once you do live here weeks can pass without a day at the beach.  Work, family commitments, rainy weather & lack of leg shaving can all prevent that spontaneous quick trip to the beach.   I can always tell the newcomers from the beach old timers. The locals are the people who arrive at the beach loaded up like a pack mule.  They know how the tropical sunny conditions can turn on you quickly without the proper shade & hydration.  Choices have to be made as to what to bring with carrying it all on & off the beach in mind. My bare minimum list would be:   chair                         ...

The best view to end the day with - Blind Pass Beach - Englewood, Florida Who doesn't like getting presents?  The best gifts are those unexpected ones. It's not your birthday, it's not Christmas, hubby didn't screw up and is trying to get back into good graces. I love the gifts that have some thought behind them.  Here in Englewood the beach is just a hop, skip, & a jump away.  It's very tempting to blow off housework, grocery shopping, or even call in sick well to work and head to the beach.  Most of my circle of friends know that as the afternoon wanes & 5 o'clock rolls around, the family is fed, & the sun is getting ready to set;  there is a spot on Blind Pass Beach in Englewood that has become our gathering place. You don't have to text the where, just that you are there. So there we congregate in our circle of beach chairs talking about whatever and watching all our kids romp in the surf, pick up shells, & shark's teeth. A...

Dr. Stephen Leatherman - His office is the beach (credit : www.solotravelgirl.com) When planning a destination that involves surf, sun, & sand thousands of  travelers  turn to the experts for advice. In this case "America's foremost beach expert" Dr. Beach.   Dr. Stephen P. Leatherman aka  Dr. Beach is a Professor and Director of the Laboratory for Coastal Research at Florida International University. He's a scientist.  Dr. Beach is a  really smart & really educated guy who has parlayed his passion for the outdoors into a super nice gig travelling the world & ranking the top beaches.  He announces his annual list of best beaches every Memorial Day weekend. This May 30 will be his 20th anniversary. Dr. Beach has developed a 50 point rating system that covers all aspects of a great beach from water clarity, sand softness, & the size of breaking waves to the smell, the amount of wildlife, & accessibility. Dr. Beach is as we s...

My 74 yo Mother (GG) has not embraced technology although she is winking at it from a distance. GG had the cassette tape-thing down pat then I threw her a curve ball by gifting her a cd player. After several sessions of me instructing her she got pretty adapt at playing her new cd's except for one incident where she listened to the same song over and over and over all night long because she hit the wrong button.  She has a cell phone that she forgets to charge and a tv that has 3 remotes.   I set her up a facebook account so she could keep in touch with her grand kids & some old high school friends but she never uses it. Just like the email lesson we had previous to  facebook she thinks if she hits the wrong key on the keyboard she will blow up China.  GG has taken a shine to one perk of using the Internet - Bill pay.  GG hates to pay a bill any earlier than she has to.  I think she just doesn't like giving up her money any sooner than she ...

Crop Circles - formations, usually found in grain crops, where the crop has been mysteriously found laid flat, in patterns, that did not exist in daylight the previous day. I find the phenomena fairly interesting although I suspect there is a prankster out there somewhere with too much time on his or her hands. There are lots of folks who think aliens are sending us secret messages through the crop circles.  What could they possibly want from us? Goggle translate needs to catch up with this one.  A while back I was night shelling on Little Hickory beach and came upon some odd formations in the sand.  It was a super low tide and I was walking on the sand bar.  There were curly cue patterns everywhere in the sand. Crop circles came to mind - is this a secret message to be decoded or just some shell out gallivanting looking for food or running from a predator?  The Olive Shell gives new meaning to meandering, gallivanting, mosey, & ramble. (Picture cou...

The coolest sea turtle evah! One of the most marvelous sites you'll ever see on the Gulf coast of Florida is a sea turtle crawling  up the beach to make a nest and lay her eggs.  The female turtle uses her flippers to dig her nest and deposit about 100 ping-pong sized eggs.  She then uses her flippers to cover & camouflage the nest then returns to the sea leaving behind her brood to hatch on their own in approximately 8 weeks.  Most turtle babies hatch at night.  They depend on the moon & stars over the Gulf of Mexico to guide them back to the water.   The trek from the nest to the beach can be treacherous for the hatchings due to predators like raccoons, fire ants, & sea birds, beach furniture and sand sculptures, & artificial lighting from condos & street lights.  In an effort to help the turtle population grow most coastal communities have laws in place to limit the environmental lighting from May 1 through Oc...