Beach Dreams

It's been a long winter, blah, blah, blah. You've heard it all before, right? Well, it's hard to keep up a garden blog during the winter anyway, let alone a winter like this one. Instead of focusing on snowflakes, or the dried brown twigs remaining from last year's garden, I decided to mostly just ride it out till the garden really does return. But now and then, I get the urge to dig back through my photos to remember warmer days. Today, I wanted to revisit all my favorite beaches, starting in my hometown.

 I grew up in a small town on the shores of Lake Michigan, called St. Joseph. Most locals simply call it. St. Joe. It's a charming little tourist beach town, attracting people from all over, but mostly in summer. I'm pretty sure they roll up the sidewalks in winter, even though there are things to enjoy in every season. I have to admit that I haven't been back to see it in winter for many, many years. But they recently installed a webcam that points right at the lighthouse, and through that, I have once again been able to see the raw beauty of the beach in winter. However, I'd much to prefer to visit in summer, like this.

Every year, I take at least one trip up there. These days, I'm a tourist there like any other. I do have some friends and family still in the area, but mostly I go there just to see the sights. Most importantly, I go for the beach. I'm not a big sun bather, I just like to be at the beach. I want to hear the waves roll in and feel the sand under my feet. It soothes me.

 Still, I can enjoy other beaches too. St. Joe is on the west coast of Michigan, but there are many other lovely beach towns along those same shores, including South Haven,

Manistee,

 Holland,

 Muskegon,

Ludington,

Whitehall,

 Sleeping Bear Dunes, and many others. Did you figure out by now that I have a particular fondness for lighthouses?

While Michigan beaches may be my favorites, we do sometimes visit more tropical beaches. I do love those too, just in a different way. One of our favorite spots is Marco Island, off the SW coast of Florida.

We also love Siesta Key,

and Sanibel Island.

So even though these beaches seem so very far away right now, it soothes me to look back at them while winter still lingers. Someday soon I hope my beach dreams will turn to reality.

Tropical Getaway

Now you'll know why my garden blog has been a bit quiet. I've been off on a beach vacation to Sanibel Island, a lovely, quiet little place off the coast of SW Florida. See?

 Sanibel is known for its shells, and for good reason. You will often see people bent over searching for special shells, and that posture is called The Sanibel Stoop. I did it often.

There were also lots and lots of birds. The beach was always full of them! But they were not bothersome at all. I found them entertaining instead.

 Sanibel sunsets are so beautiful. I only missed one, and that's because it was raining that night.  If only the no-see-ums didn't come out to chomp on me every night at sunset! For a tiny little bug, they sure have a great big bite.

 They even have a lighthouse on Sanibel, but it sure isn't like any Lake Michigan lighthouse that I'm used to.

 Near the lighthouse, you could see a view of Fort Myers Beach and the causeway over to the island. We joked around a lot about having to pay six dollars just to cross this bridge, but I have to admit that the views were incredible. We discovered that you don't have to pay the fee to get off the island, but we still felt a little "trapped" there because we didn't want to pay every time we left. So we just stayed put.

Most restaurants are seafood based, of course. We always expect to enjoy endless grouper while in Florida. Gramma Dots was a place recommended to us as a great place for seafood, and we sure did enjoy it. The setting by a marina really had a lot to do with that. And yes, there is a giant piece of lint in my lens! It ruined so many of my pictures that I finally gave up. I'll take it to the shop tomorrow, I promise.

Many said that The Bubble Room was a place we had to see to believe. It really was a kooky, crazy spot as you can see.

We also found a charming little church, called Chapel by the Sea, with an old cemetery nearby. I love old cemeteries like this, with interesting old graves. Here, most graves are decorated by shells, especially the unique shells that are so hard to find. I guess no one dares to remove these shells from a grave. We sure smiled over the grave decorated with beer cans!

One of the best parts of our trip was the resort where we stayed, in which every room had an ocean view like this. There's nothing like waking up every morning to see this.

 But best of all, to me, is the beach. Just a few steps is all it takes to be on the beach, and trust me, I was there every day. I've always been drawn to beaches, and it feeds my soul just to be there.

 We had an early flight out, so I took one last walk down the beach and found this sunrise to greet me. Goodbye Sanibel, you are a beautiful spot. Hope to see you again someday!