Barefoot Beach, Bonita Springs, FL

One of the things that I am loving about living in Ft. Myers is that there are so many beaches to explore within an hour's drive and I am trying to relax on as many of them as I can!  I had read about Barefoot Beach in my AAA magazine and decided to give it a try this holiday weekend.  I knew being the first day of Memorial Weekend, and the generally agreed upon start to summer, that it would be crowded so I got there early in the morning at 9 am. 

One thing I am super grateful for with all this traveling around and living in different places is having a GPS on my phone.  It has been a life savor and saved what I am sure would have been many hours of frustration.  So when my GPS said turn left here to get to the beach, I questioned it a little.  Turning left involved going through a neighborhood with a guard shack in front and was full of fancy mansions that I think I've stayed in hotels that were smaller than some of these "houses".  Turns out it was a good thing I trusted the GPS because it was correct.  After winding through this neighborhood of these incredible homes on a brick paved street for about 1.5 miles, I arrived at my destination.  For only $8/day I was granted access to the county park with gorgeous beaches and one of my favorite things of any park... bathroom access. 

I walked on the boardwalk as far as I could go in an effort to get away to a less crowded part of the beach before settling on my piece of paradise for the day.  Before I could even set my stuff down and prop my chair up, I had already started finding some beautiful shells!  Within an hour of my arriving on the beach and without wandering far from my chair, I had already found a plethora of fun and colorful shells to add to my collection.  The water was so clear that even in thigh deep water I was still able to see my watermelon colored toe nail polish!  The beach filled up fast with people celebrating the weekend with their families but I was happy to have a little piece and quiet with not too many people on this beautiful beach even if it was only for a few minutes.  This was my first time going to this beach but it definitely won't be my last.  It has quickly moved up my list to my favorite beach so far in Southwest Florida.

 The view was incredible

 Toes in the water

 I spent part of the morning watching this bird fish in the water.

My awesome shell finds.

The park is also home to the gopher tortoise and I was super excited to see one as I was leaving the beach in my car!  It crossed the street in front of me and I just happened to be lucky enough that I had put my camera with my long range lense on the passenger's seat (because doesn't everybody??) and was able to grab it quickly and take a few pictures. 

 Why did the gopher tortoise cross the road?

To get to the other side, of course.

If you get the chance to go to this beautiful strip of sand with clear blue water then I highly recommend!  Or maybe I don't... I might want to keep this place a secret ;)

Cabbage Key and Cayo Costa State Park

When my best friend decided to come visit, I wanted to plan something fun and something beachy to do but most of all something relaxing.  She works hard at her full time job, goes to school, has the most adorable 3 year old and is married so she is very deserving of a little time off.  I booked a trip on Tropical Star out to Cabbage Key and Cayo Costa State Park, both small islands that are only accessible by boat, one that is inhabited and one that only campers with reservations can stay the night and the rest of us are just day trippers.

We drove out to Bokeelia on Pine Island to catch the boat at 9 am and just barely got out into the bay before we saw our first dolphin!  There were several of them diving fiercely into the water and the guide said it was because they were feeding.  I'd never seen dolphins in an almost aggressive motion so it was fun to watch.  We saw several more dolphins along the way, surfing by the boat and gliding through the water. 

After dropping off the all day Cayo Costa passengers we made our way over to Cabbage Key.  It's a small island north of Captiva that has houses and an Inn and a little restaurant on it that is great for an escape from life to enjoy a cheeseburger and a cold beverage (pina colada...yum!).  When we pulled up to the dock, it looks like a small house on a very small hill (the highest point in SW FL as it was built on an old Native American mound) but when you walk into the restaurant you can see there are several room that go to the back.  We sat in the front room with a view of the docks and the water but the back two rooms are filled with character including dollar bills hanging from the ceiling and walls that people leave to buy their next drink on their return. 

 Wall of money

 Who doesn't love a pina colada in paradise?

The restaurant on Cabbage Key

After lunch we boarded the boat to go back to Cayo Costa and spend the afternoon lounging on the beach and looking for shells.  We were tipped by a nice guy to turn left and walk 15 minutes down the beach to find large and fancy shells.  The farther we walked, the more remote we found the beach until it felt like we were the only people on the beach, and the bigger and fancier the shells became.  The water was a beautiful light green shade and it was so peaceful that I could have spent all day there.  It is definitely worth the trip for a visit out to the park.  It has the classic beauty of old Florida with it's remoteness and a peaceful vibe that sets you at ease the second you step onto the island.

The perfect place to take it easy and spend the day listening to nature.

Marco Island, Florida

Marco Island is about an hour drive from here but I've always heard great things about the island and the beach so I thought I would make the drive down there this weekend and check it out.  Before I went down there I researched public beaches and parking then I came across an advertisement for a Dolphin Encounter boat tour and decided to sign up for that too.

I went to Tigertail Beach on Marco Island.  Along with most of the beaches in this part of Florida, there were a lot of shells along the beach which is fun to look for the best ones.  I think it is funny because on other beaches the most beautiful shells are the same ones that I pass up on this beach because there are so many complete and fancy shells that I never see else where!  It was a little bit of a walk to get to the actual beach which made the fact that my beach chair is also a backpack with a built in cooler, perfect for the adventure.  The waves were crashing onto the beach much more than they normally do on the Gulf side of the state but I love sitting there listening to the ocean so it was perfect for me.

My afternoon started with the Dolphin Encounter boat ride.  It was a 3 hour ride around the intracoastal waterway and into the Gulf that took us to a little uninhabited island to spend about 45 minutes walking around and feeling like it was our own private space.  We saw 12 dolphins on our tour including several mommas and their babies and watched a few surf the wake of our boat.  One of the dolphins caught a fish in front of us! 

 Momma and her baby

 Dolphin with a fish in its mouth

 Dolphins riding our wake

It's the time of year for Osprey hatchlings to show themselves and there were many nests settled onto the top of the channel markers with little heads popping up and looking out into the world.

 Osprey

Baby Osprey in its nest

Corkscrew Swamp Sanctuary and Audubon Center

My brother and sister-in-law visited me last weekend at my new home away from home for 16 weeks in Ft. Myers, FL.  Just after I arrived here a viral video from a woman who visited the Corkscrew Swamp Sanctuary surfaced of a Florida Panther running past her on the boardwalk.  Prior to the video it had already been added to my list of places to check out while I am here but my brother wanted to see it too so Saturday morning, off we went!  There were no panther sightings but it was still a very beautiful place to visit.

The sanctuary is located in Naples, about 45 minutes from where I am staying but it is a nice, easy drive to get out there.  The park is home to many birds and wildlife and has a 2.25 mile boardwalk pathway around it so you can explore without harming the environment.  There are lots of extra little extensions to look out into lakes where we searched for alligators or to a clearer pathway where we watched two kite birds sail through the sky at high speed and swoop around the sky above us.  We sat on benches and listened to the sounds of wildlife around us from birds calling to the rustle of crawfish burying in the mud below us.  We saw a hawk perched on a branch, an alligator gliding through the water, little tree frogs sitting on greenery in the water, and a barred owl sleeping on a tree branch.  It's a very serene place that attracts lots of wildlife and if you are patient and observant you will really enjoy your time there like we did.