Memorial Day weekend always marks the start of summer, kind of. Many visitors come to our beach to enjoy the warm waters and the sunny weather. I thought I’d invite you too…for a virtual vacation day right here on the beach.

We’ll walk to the beach through the nature reserve. On our way we can observe many different birds, some of them rare, and enjoy the beauty of the marsh and the park.

The nature reserve and the park

…where the blue herons live

The marsh has flowers too…

…and we might spot a wood stork!

If we look carefully…

we could spot a small heron

or a roseate spoonbill

…and witness a bird shower

…or an osprey fishing right there

…or find a mom with two chicks

We might enjoy a great white egret

and climb on a hill

…to spot the mallards

or some fish…

waiting for the blue heron

…the reddish egret

…or the talkative ibis.

Once on the beach we’ll make ourselves at home. If you prefer, we can just relax, walk on the beach, collect shells, build sand castles, watch the birds and enjoy the sun and the water. The little “beach café” will stop right outside our “home” in case we forgot to prepare supplies for the day. If we prefer a bigger meal, the tent café is right next to the park.

Our home on the beach

We can watch the sun play on the ocean

…and collect some shells

or watch a sand piper patrol the surf

…and witness a pelican take off

We can build a castle and stand on the top waving!

…or check out the Gulf Tern

…watch the sail boats..

…and listen to the surf

We can meet identical twins…

…and buy a drink and a sandwich

…but be careful with the sea gull

We can admire the egret

…or build an alligator.

Or if you want to be active, we can “do” stuff. How about kayaking, parasailing or a nice dolphin tour? Or just speeding on a wave runner? Dolphins might come to greet us! It’s happened to me once or twice. Or we could go for deep sea fishing or be brave and meet the pirates? If we don’t want to be on the water, we can always fly kites on the beach! As you see, there’s lots to do…

Lots of activities offered…

..from dolphin tours to speeding on Sea Screamer

a wave runner is waiting

…and a dolphin might come along

Parasailing is fun!

..but kayaking might be safer…?

Deep sea fishing is an adventure

and so is boarding a pirate ship!

Flying kites is for land crabs…

…but it’s fun!

And when the evening comes, we can kick back and enjoy the golden sunset over the ocean…before we head back home.

The golden hour…

…colors the sand and the surf…

…where little birds find food

…and little girls leave their flip flops

…after building a castle

Sun’s going down…

…and soon it will dive into the ocean.

I hope you enjoyed the day on the beach. Have a wonderful long weekend!