The Essential Beachcomber

This is just so wrong on so many different levels.

Another beach day...you betcha. My day off this week was Friday and I decided to play today. I live 10 minutes from some of the most beautiful beaches in Florida (IMHO) . Stump Pass is a state park.  It costs $3.00 to park all day and they close promptly at sunset.   The ranger shoos you off as soon as the sun sets. He doesn't even give you time to absorb the beauty of what you just saw.  Okay folks, shows over.  You can stay but you can't stay here.  But I wasn't out for a sunset today so Stump Pass it was. I stopped at the Circle K on Englewood Beach and grabbed a bag of trail mix & an extra large Diet Pepsi and drove to the south end of Englewood Beach to Stump Pass.  After, I got set-up on the beach I decided that it was such a nice day with a cooler-than-it-has-been breeze that I would walk south to the pass, something I had never done. I've been close but was stopped by a thunderstorm.  It's 1 1/2 miles to the pass and it took me a c...

I'm working on a little project that I will be sharing with you soon. I left work at 5:30 this afternoon & skeedaddled out to the beach to work on a surprise for my mom.  I'm almost done.  As I sat watching the sun go down there were several people taking the usual sunset pics.  They always stop the picture taking just after the sun dunks the horizon.   If they would just wait another minute or two the best of the sunset arrives - the back splash.  Please enjoy and try not to get sand everywhere.

Someone asked me  about Hurricane Earl today.  I didn't even know there was a storm out there. I work 50 hours a week. I watch very little tv . Unless they do a weather warning on HGTV I am clueless until my mother heads out to load up on batteries & bottled water.  It's not that I don't care - I guess as a native-born Floridian you become used to the storms. Hurricanes are just what happens in the summer.  You just hope they don't happen to you.  That's why back in July when Tropical Depression # 5 was on top of Sanibel Island I had no idea. I had checked the tide charts not the weather.   I got up at 4am loaded my visiting sister from Tennessee & niece Pookie into the truck and headed south for a day of shelling. Our first stop was  Little Hickory Beach which is southeast of Sanibel Island.  The sky was a tiny bit over cast.  There was a gorgeous rainbow over the beach and we got lots of pictures.  The shel...

To all you nice bloggers that left comments &  kind words of encouragement - Thank you so much.  ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I spent part of last Sunday on the beach and it was a great day. As the sun went down the raindrops started falling and didn't stop until today. One friend told me her rain gauge measured 10 inches for one day.  Now we always need the rain. Florida is coming out of a long drought and our aquifer levels are still recovering but it's been raining for 4 days....come on. When I saw the  Sun peak out today around 10 am I grabbed my shell shovel and headed for the beach. It was a full moon last night and it was now low tide - grocery shopping would just have to wait. The sun is trying to peak out As I read all the beachy blogs out there most of the comments express the same theme...how they love to see all the pictures of the shells and the beaches but the longing of wanting to actually be there themselves. It stinks to have to wait for a once a year vacation to get to the beach.   I feel so blissfully blessed to have this beautiful Gulf of Mexico 5 minutes fro...

Tervis Tumbler Store @ 928 Tamiami Trail in Osprey, Florida Tervis tumblers are the coolest glasses ever! They are insulated so cold stays cold & doesn't sweat everywhere.Hot stays hot but the cup is insulated so it doesn't burn your hand.   They come in a myriad of different sizes and styles.I have a Gator Tervis, a "K" Tervis, a Tervis with 3 little beach cabanas on the front, 2 Gator Tervis coffee cups & a very cool shell Tervis that is missing at the moment.   Tervis gives you a lifetime warranty. Just bring/mail back to their headquarters in Osprey, Florida and they will replace it at no charge. They have replaced 2 for me thus far. One I dropped at work on the concrete floor and the inside thermal/insulated thingy popped out like a rocket. The other one cracked somehow. No one will fess up. Not to worry, both have been replaced with nice shiny new ones courtesy of their lifetime warranty. My niece Pookie & I went to a benefit garage sale ...

The sky is gorgeous to the west over the beach Turn head to the right - sky to the west - not so good. Should I stay or should I go...na na na na nana Stay of course. It sprinkled a little but no lightening or thunder. Check out Barney in the middle of the clouds.

  The only thing I like better than walking the beach for shells, shark's teeth, & whatever else happens to wash up is going to thrift stores. I like the consignment shops & discount stores but give me a little junky storefront crammed full of who-knows-what to dig through and I'm a happy camper. I like shelling especially when my head is in bad space. There is just something about focusing on the treasure hunt that makes me forget I just had a stressful day. Well, if I can't make it to the beach my thrift store route is the next best thing.And look what I found today sitting up on a top shelf. Isn't this napkin holder a beauty? Front side Cool Contact  Paper Someone took the time to make sure all the coquinas were the same size and all lined up. I can tell they chose the best of all there little mini's for the accents in the center. All that work to hold paper napkins.  The other side For me there are no good days and bad days....just good find...