Sanibel's Gulfside City Park

This morning, I had a short bit of time to spare, so I went to Gulfside City Park.  It's located on Algiers Ln, just off Casa Ybel Rd. There were a few cars in the parking area, but wasn't crowded at all.

The first thing I noticed was SHELLS!!

The Shell Gods had made a visit!

My excitement was short lived, after I looked through some of the shells.  There were a lot there, and many that most people would like.  But, I had to quit taking the kinds that we have an abundance of.  Anyway, I think it's better they are left for

someone else. :) I know there would have been some little treasures hiding there, if I would have spent more time searching.

This is a beautiful part of the beach to go to, and great shelling much of the time.  Also a nice area to stay.  Ocean's Reach is right next to it, and I have it on good authority that it's a great place to vacation.  You might also want to check out their BLOG, it's is very informative and also has many great reviews from recent visitors. 

Gulfside City Park, has may nice features that make it a fun place to go for a beach visit and a picnic.

Another Cold Front For Sanibel

With yet another cold front passing through, our temperature dropped to 57 during the night. This morning we had some sunshine and a 69 degree temperature, but this afternoon it was cloudy and cool with SSE wind with gusts up to 20. The water was pretty rough. We have only had sprinkles and some very light rain this evening.

When trying to go to a West Gulf Beach this afternoon around 3, the traffic was very heavy. After taking Periwinkle Way and then CasaYbel as far as Pointe Santo, we sat in traffic so long waiting to get to the Tarpon Bay intersection, that we gave up and just stopped there. We walked out to the beach, where we hurriedly took a few photos and video. There weren't many people out, due to the chilly wind. I was in a short sleeve T and shorts, and didn't really get cold, but a sweatshirt would have been more comfortable.



There were some small shells in places and a lot of foam left from the waves.











Since the traffic was so heavy, we drove the Gulf Drives from Point Santo over to the east end of the island, instead of Periwinkle Way. At that point, we decided to make a stop at the fishing pier and check that beach for shells. After putting on a sweatshirt and getting halfway to the beach, it started lightly raining. It didn't really matter because there were no shells there anyway. I did see one fellow catch a small fish, which seemed to be the only action going on.

An Osprey standing guard on top the light pole.










Sanibel Causeway in the distance.


Osprey still on duty!

Sanibel Lighthouse and Osprey on a limb near a nest.




After waiting at the Periwinkle Way and Causeway Blvd intersection for about 15 minutes, while the traffic patrol kept motioning cars off island, I think you could say that the busy season is in full swing! :( If you have plans to leave the island for an appointment or for the airport, you had better factor in plenty of extra travel time.

Sanibel Friday Warm-up?

It was supposed to warm up today, but it seemed a little on the cool side to me. (After checking the weather later, I noticed that it only got up to 68 today.) I made a quick run over to the beach at the Nerita St. access on Middle Gulf Drive, around 4:00. It didn't seem quite as cool on the beach, which was nice. I was in capris and short sleeve T shirt and was comfortable. The sun felt very nice. There were lots of people out, some in chairs relaxing and others walking.

There really weren't many shells and I didn't see anything I wanted to pick up, so after a quick walk, and taking some pictures, I left.

There isn't much left of the sand sculptures that were here last week.








From there, I drove over to Pointe Santo on West Gulf Drive. Almost every parking space was full, so it seems that most of the condos are occupied now. As I went out on the beach, I noticed that there were quite a few beach chairs in use and lots of people on the beach. There were just a few more shells here than the other place. I feel sure there were more, further west, but I didn't have time to look any more today. The water was more clear at both places I stopped, than it had been lately and there were just gentle waves today.

I feel certain that if you walk out in the water and spend more time looking at different times during the day, there would be plenty of shells to find. :-) I'm a Slacker, remember?







The weather station on Sanibel shows 52 tonight and up to 75 tomorrow. Woo~Hoo!!!!

Tuesday Oddities

I was at Pointe Santo late afternoon today. The weather was GREAT; Warm sun and a cool breeze. There were plenty of people out having a good time, but the shelling situation wasn't very good today in that area. There were a lot of sponge pieces and odd things lying around though.

I only got a glimpse of the sunset on the way to dinner at the Island Cow. The sky was a beautiful bright pink.

Friday Finale

Today was a busy one for me. I was trying to finish up some jobs I had started. I nearly got that done, but do have a little more to do tomorrow. I guess that's the way it goes, even in paradise. :-)

The weather was beautiful once again!

Wednesday wonders

The sunset was very pretty this evening. There was a cool breeze and no noseeums. :-) Lots of people were out enjoying the weather and the view by Pointe Santo.

Rain Won't Go Away Friday

It rained off and on all night last night, today, and it's still raining lightly. There wasn't going to be a sunset to see this evening, but we did check the beach conditions around Pointe Santo.

It stopped raining for a while, which made a good opportunity to walk on the beach until it started raining again. I saw other people in both directions, who were bent over looking for shells. I just had the feeling that they were doing their last search because they would be leaving in the morning. Saturday is when most of the condo rentals end and begin here. Another reason I thought that is because none of them were smiling.

The wind was coming from the Southeast again. The waves were bigger than yesterday. There was mainly small broken pieces of shells coming in while I was there. But, maybe the disturbance from farther away will bring shells from the deeper water, into this area. Anyway, I think there's hope.

Some of my friends who are here visiting now, have had very good shelling luck. They have quite an assortment of shells piling up, including 3 large Junonias. I think you'll be seeing their photos in the local paper soon. :-)