The view of the beach in front of our hotel. The water was very warm and pretty gentle, compared to our area of the Pacific.One day we did a long haul down to Sanibel Island, about 5.5 hours from Daytona Beach. It had lots of seashells and while the weather wasn't the best for collecting shells, we did get some small ones and some large ones thanks to some kind ladies who gave me some of theirs.
I kid you not, the entire beach was covered in small shells. I felt bad walking on them and crushing them, but you get used to it after a bit.
The best way I found shells was to bend down, grab handfuls of sand/shells and then sift through looking for whole big ones. I see now why people were bringing colanders to the beach!
A pod of dolphins swam right by us on the beach. We saw wild dolphins three times on the trip on both the gulf and Atlantic sides. Coming back, we stopped at Siesta Key (below) and its famous beach.
The sand felt like walking in baby powder and it is very white, being 99% pure quartz. Another benefit? It was so white that it is always cool to walk on.We also spent two days in St. Augustine, which is a very European-feeling city. I think we would have enjoyed it more had it not been so terribly hot and humid.
If you watch 'Ghost Hunters' (which I do not) then you will recognize the lighthouse from one of their episodes. It is supposed to be one of the most haunted.
I got a surfing lesson one morning, and lets just say that I won't be running off to go surf the waves of the world anytime soon. I'm rather lacking in coordination department. I could never fully stand up and ride a wave, through I could do it on my knees. Even in the gentle surf I got totally thrashed and beat up. My body was sore for almost two weeks and I still have bruises. He kept telling me to relax, but right after we got in the water, he pointed out that we were surrounded by bait fish, so we were also probably surrounded by sharks. Lovely. I didn't freak out, but I had a real hard time relaxing after that. I found out the next day while attempting to boogie board in front of our hotel that I probably should have asked what the shark alarm was from the lifeguard before getting in the water. I heard this train whistle sound and was like 'there aren't any trains here.' Then I realized that it was the alarm for sharks and for everyone to get out of the water immediately. This isn't something they do often (I only heard it that one time in all my time on the beach) so it must have been a pretty good-sized shark. My only regret from surfing is that Mom saw a dolphin swim right behind us, but I was so busy trying not to drown or get eaten by a shark or humiliate myself in front of the surf instructor that I totally missed it.
The above mentioned bruise. My normal skin tone is about the color of my shorts. Ow!The last part of our trip was spent at Disney World. We got a killer deal on a hotel room, then were surprised when we got to our resort that we had been upgraded to the deluxe Beach Club resort for free! Yippee! It is the same hotel we stayed in before and we LOVE it. It was fun seeing the park all decorated for Halloween. We even went to the Halloween party at the Magic Kingdom, hence the pirate garb.
I love how it looks like the area is almost on fire. Rather appropriate for the POTC ride.
I was brave with Mom and rode Rockin' Roller Coaster (my face in the ride picture is one of pure discomfort and terror, I wish I would have gotten a picture of it) and I don't think I will ever ride it again. She was brave and rode Expedition Everest with me (though I rode it 4 times) and we were both brave and rode Tower of Terror and Kali River Rapids (the later in a poncho because we knew that you get SOAKED on that ride).
Finally, I was chosen to be an extra on one of the shows, but little did I know that it meant getting 8,000 gallons of water dumped on me. I was soaked! Below is a picture of me after getting all wet, being shown my video (a simulation of a warship being struck by a torpedo) by the cast member.
Last but not least, we enjoyed some great fireworks. I know the picture isn't very clear, but I was impressed by my new camera because it was totally dark and I was just holding it in my hands. It was a spectacular way to end a wonderful trip.
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