Sunsets

Now I know, that last week I was a posty-post-a-lot, but I was really on the beach. No really, it was smoke and mirrors. I prescheduled the posts, so you wouldn't miss me so much.

We journeyed to Englewood, Florida. A lovely community of mostly older folks, snow birds, with a fantastic public beach and quaint old downtown section. A distant cousin and his wife make their winter home in Englewood. Growing up, I always thought of him as an Uncle and that has stuck.

E woke me the first morning, as we were bunking together on the screened in porch, ever so excited to see the sunrise. I am glad he did, it was the only proper sunrise of the trip.

About an hour later, I snapped this one. Their community is on a creek/river/inter coastal waterway. It is a brackish mixture and the boat dock is a stones throw from their porch.

Sunset was around 7:30 pm, a perfect time for the kiddos to see their first ever sunset. We played on the beach every day we were in Florida, but only on Tuesday - the first day of spring, did we watch the sun sink into the ocean.

A highlight of each trip to Englewood, has been the boat ride. They have a great pontoon boat and it is always great fun to take it out on the water. This time was extra special, as we saw an amazing amount of wildlife. (That is H, he was letting the spray cool him off.)

My favorite are dolphins. They were all over and not at all shy. I got very up close and personal with dolphins when we were on Jekyll Island and I really do love the playful energy of dolphins. This is one of the first groups we saw. In all, I think we say at least two dozen on our way home from RumBay, a fantastic seafood place. Dock parking is a plus.

We also saw some nesting Osprey. They make a peculiar noise.

Everything was very dry in Florida, as they have not had much rain this winter. Only two serious storms since October.

Everyday gave us a lovely sandcastle. Both L and E are on building kicks. This is L's effort on our first day. Very pretty.

 We collected about three times this number of shells in all. So many different shapes and sizes. Both L and my Aunt distracted H, so I could pack them up. He was adamant we leave them behind, but I was equally as adamant they were coming home with us. We found one Mom would have loved and we plan to take it to the cemetery and leave it with her.

It was a bit bittersweet being on the beach. Mom loved the beach. Seeing E finally not at all afraid of the ocean, would have made her so happy. E is just now embracing the beach. L has loved the beach from the first time we took her there.

The sky was amazing every single day we were in Florida. The weather was near perfect everyday too.

I have added this to my "I am going to try this before I die" list. They were way high in the sky at certain points.

The combo of sun, wind, sand and hard water did weird things to my hair.

On a palm tree, this sign makes zero sense. I got nothing...

I highly recommend Englewood as a quiet family vaca spot. The older folks are nice, welcoming and honestly there was no bad spring break beach behavior and zero crowds. My kind of peaceful vacation spot.