Life's A Florida Beach!

Kat · Post by **Kat** » Thu May 31, 2007 7:53 pm

There's some kind of Tropical Disturbance due here this weekend, so I thought I'd take the opportunity today to go over to the beach.
We're called Central Florida here because we are pretty equidistant from each coast.
The drive to New Smyrna Beach (East) is about 70 minutes.
That's the beach where we always went as a family and where I would go on my own many a time over the years. It's been at least 15 years since I had been there tho, and the changes to the beach have been on the local news often, after the hurricanes of 2004- and a hot topic.
Millions of tons of sand has been redistributed there only to be washed away in the last 2 years due to lingering storms off the coast. Today there were actually bobcats and bulldozers smoothing out the cliffs of sand, where there were no cliffs before.
I actually had to slide down the sand on my bum to get to the beach at high tide- I was at least 12 feet above the beach.

When I first arrived, about 10AM, there was only a lifeguard there. I plunked my stuff down nearby and took a walk. I noticed an Indian head and eagle profile with feather, carved into the sand seawall. No one had noticed it until I started taking pictures. Then I had to move my mat down the beach as the bulldozers were getting to work. Within minutes, the Indian Head was gone!

They dozed another dune nearby where I moved to- and I took a few photos there just before they came! So that is gone now too.
How quickly the face of the beach changes.

Here are pictures you might enjoy of a day at New Smyrna Beach today!

Kat · Post by **Kat** » Thu May 31, 2007 7:55 pm

New Smyrna Beach

Kat · Post by **Kat** » Thu May 31, 2007 7:58 pm

As always, if the picture is cut off on the right, you can click on the pic-in-the-box and it will open larger.

THere didn't used to be seaweed but now there is- at least at high tide it's deposited up high. It doesn't smell BTW.

Kat · Post by **Kat** » Thu May 31, 2007 8:03 pm

Face Gone already

Kat · Post by **Kat** » Thu May 31, 2007 8:06 pm

They finished pretty quickly. I couldn't hear them because the ocean was so loud.

Kat · Post by **Kat** » Thu May 31, 2007 8:08 pm

More beach pics.
There was very little of this in the water.

Kat · Post by **Kat** » Thu May 31, 2007 8:10 pm

More- not my spot- but my view

Kat · Post by **Kat** » Thu May 31, 2007 8:12 pm

More- My spot

Kat · Post by **Kat** » Thu May 31, 2007 8:16 pm

I was thinking, as I walked into the water, that 2 Thursdays ago I was at the Borden B&B!

Kat · Post by **Kat** » Thu May 31, 2007 8:19 pm

A Day at the beach

This was gone soon after I took the picture

Kat · Post by **Kat** » Thu May 31, 2007 8:24 pm

more.
This is a car I met down the beach- he had gathered all these lovebug bodies driving over on Rt. 415. The lovebugs are out in force and these kinds of grills have also been on the news.

Kat · Post by **Kat** » Thu May 31, 2007 8:25 pm

Map

Kat · Post by **Kat** » Thu May 31, 2007 8:28 pm

more

Kat · Post by **Kat** » Thu May 31, 2007 8:30 pm

me
not many people can be out there for over 4 hours!

Kat · Post by **Kat** » Thu May 31, 2007 8:33 pm

in the morning..

I had a really great time! Everyone was so nice and friendly and couples held hands.

shakiboo · Post by **shakiboo** » Sat Jun 02, 2007 9:19 am

Wow! Thanks for taking us with you on your day at the beach! I have never been to the ocean, but hope to some day. It's really awe inspiring! Thanks for sharing! Finding the indian in the dune must have been exciting, some one is quite talented! Loved it!!

Kat · Post by **Kat** » Sat Jun 02, 2007 1:46 pm

You are always so enthusiastic, shakiboo! It's so refreshing!

shakiboo · Post by **shakiboo** » Sun Jun 03, 2007 9:10 am

Thanks Kat! What a nice thing to say! I love looking at pictures taken by others, it give a whole different prospective then commercial ones do. More personnel I guess. Seeing it through your eyes. But anyway keep the pictures coming, I really enjoy seeing them!!

mbhenty · Post by **mbhenty** » Mon Jun 04, 2007 12:24 am

Here you go Kat. New England shells as opposed to Florida shells. Horseneck Beach, Westport, MA.

mbhenty · Post by **mbhenty** » Mon Jun 04, 2007 12:26 am

A New England pelican, we call them seagulls up here.

mbhenty · Post by **mbhenty** » Mon Jun 04, 2007 12:29 am

Gooseberry Beach on Gooseberry Island, Westport, MA. Overlooking East Beach.

mbhenty · Post by **mbhenty** » Mon Jun 04, 2007 12:31 am

Fishermen at the tip of Goosberry Island, looking towards Buzzard's Bay, Cuttyhunk unseen in the distance.

mbhenty · Post by **mbhenty** » Mon Jun 04, 2007 12:37 am

Swansea Marina, overlooking the travel lift and the Touisset shore in the distance. Less than 1/8 mile from Lizzie Borden's farmhouse.

mbhenty · Post by **mbhenty** » Mon Jun 04, 2007 12:41 am

Looking NE towards causeway from Gooseberry Island. Horseneck Beach way off to the left. Perfect storm moving in. Lady probably waiting for her man to return from the sea. Sadly, she is looking the wrong way.

mbhenty · Post by **mbhenty** » Mon Jun 04, 2007 12:42 am

The sailing vessel Saudade at its mooring in the Coles River near Swansea Marina. Shortly after my return trip from Florida. After a long 12 day trek with no sight of land I was to tired to place on the sail cover, remove the spray skirts or tidy the vessel.....but she still looks smart in the late evening sunset.

shakiboo · Post by **shakiboo** » Mon Jun 04, 2007 10:47 am

Wow, what a contrast! It appears to be alot more rocky off the coast there in Goosberry. Is it that way all along the coast? Beautiful pictures! Thanks for sharing!!

mbhenty · Post by **mbhenty** » Mon Jun 04, 2007 6:17 pm

Thanks shakiboo.............yes in general the beaches in New England very unlike those in Florida. When you get up into Maine most of the beaches are rocky.

Not to compare with Florida, (I would never do that Kat

) Massachusetts actually has some nice sandy beaches. Kat can give witness to that when she was up here last year.

Right around the corner from Gooseberry Island is Horseneck Beach, one of the most beautiful beaches in Massachusetts. Not as wide or as long as the one in Daytona, but if you walked it, and didn't look up too much, you would think you were in Florida. (Of course if you walked it in January you may think you're in the North Pole.)

There are countless rocky beaches in New England but many sandy ones as well. Cape Cod has some beautiful sand beaches, including the ones out on Nantucket. Cape Cod area is very sandy.

Once you get up into Maine stone beaches dominate the landscape.

Most people who visit Gooseberry go for the walk not the beach. Many fish off the causeway or land bridge which connects the mainland to the island itself. As a matter of fact, I don't think the beach was there until they built the causeway which trapped the sand and turned the rocky shore into a beach many moons ago. Everyone in Fall River or New Bedford was familiar with Gooseberry when we were kids. It was a great "Go Parking" place. Also there was a great Bar/Nightclub at its entrance we frequented as young adults. It was called Andy's. How many times we left Andy's at 2 in the morning and decided to go into the surf for a dip. Lucky none of us drowned.

All the photos you see were taken this weekend except for the one of my boat. Will post more............how about you Kat?

Kat · Post by **Kat** » Mon Jun 04, 2007 7:21 pm

Great stuff! I remember staying on Nantucket and the beaches and the sunsets were gorgeous!
I'd have to go to the Gulf of Mexico to get good sunset over ocean pics.
Thanks for the vibrant pictures!

I was at The Gardens today taking photos. If you ask "how about you?" I will put up a 'succulent' from today's trek.

Kat · Post by **Kat** » Mon Jun 04, 2007 7:23 pm

One more from the Gardens today

Susan · Post by **Susan** » Mon Jun 04, 2007 8:39 pm

Thanks Michael and Kat for all the gorgeous pics! Truly a feast for the eyes. Makes me all too aware that despite my proximity to the beach, I've yet to go yet!

Kat · Post by **Kat** » Mon Jun 04, 2007 9:52 pm

Swimming is my number one requirement for a beach. Warmish water comes a close second, but I can take cold water.

Kat · Post by **Kat** » Mon Jun 04, 2007 11:10 pm

mbhenty @ Mon Jun 04, 2007 12:42 am wrote:The sailing vessel Saudade at its mooring in the Coles River near Swansea Marina. Shortly after my return trip from Florida. After a long 12 day trek with no sight of land I was to tired to place on the sail cover, remove the spray skirts or tidy the vessel.....but she still looks smart in the late evening sunset.

I was just watching CSI-Miami and Mrs. Raymond Caine, from South America, said at the end: "We have a saying: 'Saudade'- it means the sadness we feel for happy memories..."

Susan · Post by **Susan** » Tue Jun 05, 2007 3:49 am

I love the beach and when I was last there, did totally love the warm water on the Gulf coast of Florida. But for swimming, give me a pool, I like to see what I'm swimming with. I actually started learning how to surf a little last summer, theme the Beach Boys music here. The Big Kahuna I'm not.

Harry · Post by **Harry** » Tue Jun 05, 2007 7:55 am

Kat and MB, great photos!

Kat, that succulent flower is beautiful. It looks huge. And MB, the photo of Gooseberry beach on Gooseberry Island is a work of art.

Well done!

Angel · Post by **Angel** » Tue Jun 05, 2007 8:42 am

Thanks, Kat. That succulent is unbelievable!