Monday, August 18, 2008

Almost time for Fay to arrive!

By getting all the work done, it left time to go out to eat dinner at Jerry's and get a couple more grocery items. That was around 5:30. There were several people in the restaurant and just a few in the grocery store. We had been wondering about the birds outside in the cages; felt much better seeing that they were all gone.

As we past the Heart of the Islands Center, I noticed they had all of their windows boarded up. The plywood had writing on it, so I had to get closer to snap a shot of that for you.






Anchor Point,across the street, had all their shutters on. It looked like most of the buisness places were closed. Someone told us that they had closed early to get prepared for the storm.



Made a run back to the house to get the gas cans, it was getting a little more cloudy again as we drove back.







Back out again and driving on Periwinkle, I noticed that a lot of the businesses had shutters on, I think I saw clear shutters on a few of the stores in Periwinkle Place.

Stopped by the Hess station to fill the large cans with gas for the generator. There wasn't anyone else there.




Bittle's Buckets was still open and and there were a few cars there. Made a stop at Bailey's Hardware to get a bigger light and more batteries. Their parking lot was empty except for 3 or 4 cars.



After coming from Bailey's made a left turn on Tarpon Bay Rd. Lilly & Co was all boarded up.



Above the trees, you could see a red color just above the tree line. Made a right on West Gulf Drive, you could see there must be an amazing sunset by the beautiful color you could see in the west. Stopped at resident beach access #1, walked out onto the beach to one of the most beautiful sunsets I've ever seen. It was certainly different than any I had seen before.









Looking toward the east, I could see a couple of people standing and watching the sunset.



The brown stuff you see on the beach that had been left by the tide is not red drift algae. I just read about it; here is just a quick overview of that article:

Botanical name: Sargassum spp.

For children, this protected sea plant washed ashore provides a pleasant distraction. They often pop the small bladders or balloons (grape-sized) that appear along its leafy blades of dark olive-green color. Those little bladders, swollen with oxygen and small amounts of carbon monoxide and nitrogen, float the sargassum at sea, where it can sometimes form large rafts or mats of drifting algae. Ashore, it can be washed up to the high-tide line and left in the sand, where it helps anchor dunes and provides fertilizer for flora. You'll be able to identify it by the unpleasant rotting smell, if no other way.

But smelly or not, this is one of the most valuable plants in its range, from the North Atlantic to the Caribbean, the Gulf of Mexico and even the Gulf Stream. It cannot be harvested commercially and none may be gathered within 100 miles of the coasts. It provides not only nutrition but a living place to more than 100 species of fish, 145 species of invertebrates and five sea turtles. Sea birds also rely on it, both for food and sometimes even a resting shelter.




The waves were still small and there were really no shells coming in. I could see that there had been some just above the high tide line.






Almost all of the homes we saw in that area on the beach had their shutters on.



Driving back along the Gulf Drives, there were only a couple of other cars on the street. It looked as though all or nearly all of the tourists had gone. There were a very few cars parked at the condos, etc. I had never seen those areas look so deserted.

This area is what we refer to as Charley Park, because the dead,broken trees still stand there from that hurricane.



There was a big rainbow in the east, but you can barely see it in this picture.



Decided to turn up street to the beach access to see the rest of the rainbow because it looked brighter. After turning, we saw a truck and a van sitting there from Channel 9 News, Tampa Florida.



Walking out toward the beach, I took another picture of the rainbow, but it didn't show well in that one either. The TV station already had cords run out to the end of the boardwalk and a camera tripod set up there.



There was loud equipment noises coming from the west side of the boardwalk. There were two pieces of equipment and a bunch of guys there. lifting plywood up and covering the glass doors of those condos.







A few people were walking on the beach further east.



A couple of boats were still out far on the water, probably hurrying to get in before the storm.



Everywhere I had been, the newspaper machines were turned over flat on the ground. I guess that will keep them from blowing away.



This picture is on Periwinkle going West once more.



Turned to go out on the causeway to catch another look at the sunset. That view was breathtaking. It looked as though the sky was on fire.








That is it for now. By the time I get this posted, I think the news will be that the storm will hit a little further south of Sanibel and we will only get a little rain. :-)

3 comments:

MedaM said...

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If you hadn't visited my blog I wouldn't have a chance to enjoy in your beautiful blogs.
Thanks for visited my blog and left your nice comment. I do appreciate it.

Tinkbelle said...

Toots :-)) Love that handle! I love your blog and pixs. It made me feel like I was there experiencing it with you. Looks this morning like you are only getting rain and I hope you are sleeping off your night of anxiety. You have now officially survived your first hurricane! Time to celebrate!
The plant info was interesting and I'll be sure to pass it along to my Plant Doctor! He'll love that info!
It looks like Fay may stall over you and won't even come as far north as NC. We were hoping the mtns would get rain so badly needed.
Keep us posted and I'll check your blog! It makes my heart glad that you are so happy there!
Luv, Bec

Faery said...

Wow I love all these photos.