Today was sunny and 86 degrees with a cooling NW wind. It was perfect for sitting on the beach, visiting with a lovely couple from Holland. In the area where we were, the algae, seaweed or whatever, didn't seem to be coming in today. There was only a small amount left at the high tide line and it was mostly dried out. I didn't notice any odor from it either. It was so nice and relaxing that time flew by and when I realized the time, had to jump up and run to get ready for a friend's 40th birthday, surpise dinner party. No time to take pictures or video. I'm guessing that there may be some very nice photo opportunities this week because there's a 30 to 40% chance of rain each day. I love those Sanibel clouds. :-)
I did a post on my Treasure's From The Sea blog, with a few photos. You can check out the deposits in The Wicker Bank of Sanibel.
Went to Pointe Santo this afternoon to check on a friend's condos. Later on, I walked out on the beach to find even more of that parchment colored stuff on the beach than there was yesterday. It's tubular shaped pieces, about one to two inches long and was at least a foot deep in places and was beginning to smell a little. I've seen just a little of this algae, seaweed or whatever it is, on the beach a few different times, but nothing like it is now. It was thick enough that you couldn't see if there were shells, within 6 to 8 ft from the water's edge.
It was sunny and 85 degrees, but felt like 92 until you got on the beach. There was a strong steady breeze blowing. The water in the Gulf is up to 86 degrees today and there were lots of people out swimming.
If you walked through this stuff, it was very slippery.
Lots of shells left high up on the beach.
Best viewed in HD on YouTube by clicking on screen below.
By late evening the island was surrounded by clouds again. So, I thought there would be a pretty sunset. You be the judge....
The view from Spoil Island B on the Sanibel Causeway. Rays of sunlight were shining straight up from behind the clouds.
Looking South toward the Lighthouse.
When the sun came under the clouds, it was a deep red color, and only took a couple of minutes to disappear.
Best viewed in HD on YouTube by clicking on the screen below.
Today the temperature got up to 87. At the beach this evening, there was a cooling SW wind, making it very pleasant. There were shells on the beach, but it was almost all very small, broken pieces, that I saw around resident access 2, off West Gulf Drive. Only stayed long enough to chat with some friends, before leaving.
Best viewed in HD on YouTube, by clicking on the screen below.
Preparations are being made to get ready for a visit from several of my Grand Children. They will be spending most of the summer here on Sanibel Island, with the first one arriving on June 2, the second on June 5, the third on June 21, the fourth on July 7 along with one of my daughters and her husband. They will all leave on July 21. Around the first of July my youngest daughter may also come for a few weeks. I think it's going to be an exciting and fun time. So......
Today some grocery shopping began along with a few other things. That meant leaving the island for a while. It was a warm day, around 87 degrees, but it really didn't seem that warm because of the wind. The water looked pretty calm from the causeway. There were very few people on the spoil islands today.
This was the view of the sky from the top of the highest bridge as we left.
This is a view of the sky on the way back.
A couple of hours later, after putting groceries away etc, we made a drive back toward Spoil Island B to try to catch the sunset. This was the sky as we were going.
This is the sky, from Spoil Island B just as the sun went down.
The sky in the east as we turned to go back.
This was just after sunset looking out over San Carlos Bay and Pine Island Sound. The end of another day. Best viewed in HD on YouTube, by clicking the screen below.
So that's it for the comings and goings, that probably caused us to miss a really good beach day. It had to be very pleasant with the beautiful clouds all around the island with a dome of bright blue sky and sunshine overhead. Oh well, there's always tomorrow.
Today a couple friends who have been vacationing near Tampa, drove to Sanibel to spend a couple of hours on the beach visiting with those of us on the island that they know. Several of us met on the beach, off West Gulf Drive this afternoon. Three people that live on the island, two visiting here from St Louis, and two others from Holland. We took beach chairs, umbrellas and a few adult beverages. The temperature was 87, but there was a nice breeze coming from over the water to keep us cool. There were beautiful white fluffy clouds that seemed to surround the island, but the sun was shining brightly over us. It was wonderful sitting on the sand, in the shade, visiting, looking out at the turquoise colored water and watching the birds perform for us. So much so, that it was hard to leave. Six of us made plans to meet for dinner, two had to cancel at the last minute, but that gave us an opportunity to get better acquainted with the friends from Holland, who have been coming here for vacation, many years. This was a very enjoyable day.
Best viewed in HD on YouTube by clicking the screen below.
This morning was 'Turtle Walk' day. So, if you want to read how that went, check out 'Turtle Talk'.
It has been a while since I've checked the progress of the Blind Pass project. This evening seemed to be a great time to do that.
After parking on the Sanibel side of the bridge, and then walking onto the bridge, I was very surprised when I looked down. The little boat that the workers use was turning around to go back under the bridge and toward the bay.
The containment cell is gone now, except for the wall next to the Gulf. There has been a considerable amount of progress since I was here last, but the project still may not finish by the projected date, because of equipment break downs.
Now, the next thing I was going to tell you was, that there is an armed guard standing by the out flow pipe. Just in case you had an idea of going out there to look for shells. But, on second thought, I'll tell you the truth. :-)) I've heard that people have been finding some nice shells there. Even though shelling hasn't been prime lately, I have friends who have found an outstanding shell during an afternoon of shelling on the beach off of West Gulf Drive. One of them found a very nice Scotch Bonnet and another one found a very nice Helmet shell. Both of those are only found frequently. There were also a few big Kings Crowns found there too, which doesn't normally happen. Maybe it's possible that some of those shells came from the Blind Pass dredging and rolled east?? I guess we'll never know the answer to that one.
This photo is the Captiva Island side of Blind Pass. There were a lot of pelicans sitting on the rock jetty.
Here you can see an Egret and just in front of it is a pelican with its wings spread out to let the sun and wind dry its feathers. It's a little hard to see against the dark rocks. I love watching the pelicans.
There were several people fishing. There is a really steep drop-off there.
This man fought for quite a while to get this fish in. I could tell it was a nice size, when he held it up as if he was measuring it, or maybe sizing it up for dinner. :-)
The video is of the Gulf side of Blind Pass. The equipment was pretty loud today and that was just from 1 Dredge, the other one is broken now. I can imagine how loud it must be if both were running at the same time. Also, none of the other machines were running when we were there either. There was a smell of diesel exhaust in the air, blowing toward Captiva. It's the 1st time I've noticed it since the project started.
Best viewed in HD on YouTube by clicking on the screen below.
This evening, around 5:30 we stopped at the Lighthouse Beach to see how busy it was on Memorial Day. The parking lot was full but the beach wasn't as crowded as we thought it would be. I think many had already left for the day. The temperature got up to 86 today with high humidity and not much air moving which made it seem even warmer. That would probably explain why most of the people were out in the water. The temperature in the Gulf is up to 83. There were a few jet skis out, a couple of people kite boarding, and several boaters.
For me, it was a good day to stay where it was cool and enjoy a late evening cook out with friends.
Best viewed in HD on YouTube by clicking on screen below.
I know what you're thinking, and you would be right. Everyday on Sanibel is a 'Lazy Day'. The temperature got up to 87 today, which is a little too warm for me to be sitting out in the sun. I'm ok with it, as long as I'm walking along the edge of the water and there is a breeze. The beach was a busy place today, probably due to Memorial Day Weekend. Lots of people were out wading, and seemed to be enjoying the 80 degree Gulf water. There weren't many shells in this area.
About mid-afternoon it was nice sitting at the West Wind Inn Pool Bar in the shade. But, after talking to friends for a while, the sun had moved enough that I lost my shade. I was ready to go where there was air-conditioning. It was also dinner time, so we went to the Jacaranda.
On the way there, I noticed clouds coming over the island again. But we didn't get any rain from them. Going East on West Gulf Drive North on Tarpon Bay Rd East on Periwinkle Way Jacaranda I was sooo ready for a good glass of iced tea!
Dinner was excellent. A couple appetizers were ordered. SanCap Shrimp, which was jumbo shrimp sauteed with spiced rum, coconut cream and Florida orange juice; the other, was a cup of New England Clam Chowder, both were delicious. I had Baby Back Ribs and the others had, a Fillet, and Grilled Grouper. A hidden Mickey, a slice of red pepper, was found under the Grouper, which was quite a hit! :-) The food was enjoyed by all of us. Kudos to our friend Sander, the Chef. We had a very nice server, Rob, who took very good care of us. Any younger ladies who are visiting, might want to ask for him. :-)
This was a whole pound of ribs, they were in a double layer. YUMMY!!
After dinner, as we were leaving, we saw the Jacranda tree that stands in the middle of the parking lot. (There's actually a little story about this tree on the Jac's website.) It had some blooms on it and this is actually the first time that I had noticed it blooming. There weren't a lot of them on the tree, but my guess is that the rain may have made most of them fall or since they usually bloom in May, it may be nearing the end of it's blooming period. The photo doesn't show the tubular lavender blue flowers very well and it doesn't give you the sweet smell experience either. The foliage resembles the lacy green foliage of the mimosa.
Best viewed in HD on YouTube by clicking on the screen below.
Around noon today, I drove over the causeway to do a little shopping at the Target on San Carlos. This was the view as I came over the highest bridge.
When I came out from shopping, I thought it might be judgement day. :-)
But the trip back was uneventful, until I reached the causeway islands on my way back. It looked like there must have been a carnival going on or something. There were cars, trucks, kayaks, sailboats, fishing boats, pontoons, jet skis, wind surfers, kites flying, lots of people fishing, swimming, picnicking, and sunning. There were several different signs, advertising cold drinks, hot dogs and ice cream. I started watching for the dolphin and sea turtle rides. :-) A couple of days ago, when I said the causeway islands were peaceful, I most definitely spoke too soon.
These photos don't begin to show all of the action that was going on. They are just a sampling.
The clouds were gathering again and looked very pretty as I looked toward the lighthouse.
Just before sunset, we went to resident access 7. There were a few shells, but I didn't pick up any. There weren't a lot of people on the beach, just a few that were watching the sunset.
The humidity was pretty high today and the temperature was in the mid 80's. The wind had been pretty strong most of the day. That didn't seem to be helping to keep the noseeums away. So, after a couple videos and a few photos, it was time to run; literally!
Better watched in HD on YouTube by clicking the screen below.
I am a retired, grandmother who is living a dream in this tropical paradise, called Sanibel Island.
My blog was created to share some of the beauty I see around me each day. This tranquil place is a haven for wildlife and the natural beaches are spectacular. I will post pictures now and then, that I snap quickly with my cellphone.
Since I am on 'Island Time' and consider myself to be a 'Slacker', my posts may not be on a regular basis. But,I hope you enjoy sharing some of what I am blessed with and come back to visit often.
