Desoto Beach

After a few unusually milder days, it was back to hot and humid today... a perfect day to go to the beach. Mum went out with Jeanette to her quilting group, so Dad and I went for a drive to Desoto beach... voted the best beach in America. The beaches are only about 15 minutes away, and all face into the Gulf of Mexico. Desoto beach is actually part of a huge national park known as Fort Desoto Park which includes camping grounds, hiking and biking trails, beaches, picnic grounds, a long pier and an actual fort. The fort was built in 1849, and union troops were stationed there during the Civil War to aid in the union blockade of Tampa Bay. We headed to the beach first - long white sandy beaches and very blue water. I wasn't really up for a swim though - slightly deterred by the warning of string-rays in the water, so we sunbaked instead.

After enough sun, we headed back to the car... and what turned out to be a bit of wildlife encounter. Firstly, a squirrel... a squirrel at the beach!! How strange... especially as I had only just fed them with Lisa recently in the much colder climate of London.

I also spotted a raccoon trying to get into the garbage bin in the picnic ground.

We then drove down to the Fort Desoto Gulf Pier.

On such a nice sunny day, there were plenty of people fishing off the pier. From the pier you get a fantastic view out into the gulf, and back to towards St. Petersburg. Then, our final wildlife encounter for the day - wild dolphins! It was hard to get a good shot of them, but there was a family swimming along together.

Classic American Moment #3: We drove home via the coastline up to Pasadena and back inland again. Along the way we drove past many fast food chains, however, one sign caught my eye. This particular place was advertising "over 80 flavours of hotdog" - I didn't even know there were 80 flavours of hotdog! We certainly got a laugh out of that.

Classic American Moment #4: We also stopped at the giant supermarket on the way home - this one is much bigger than the store right near our building. It's so big, in fact, that they actually offer you motorised carts to do your shopping so you don't have to push a trolley up and down the aisles!

We are heading to Orlando tomorrow, so having a quiet night in tonight.