My Day at the Beach - Before & After

I finally made it to the beach today! And what a spectacular beach it was! I absolutely love Caladesi Island and it seems I'm not the only one because it was named the Best Beach is the U.S.!

The day started a bit cloudy, but by 9am, it was bright and sunny. Mom and I caught the 10am Ferry and learned that the UV Index was 9, which means that without sunscreen a person will begin to burn in 10 minutes. Being the one of the fairest skin women in America, I slathered up with SPF 4,000 or so, sat under and umbrella, and never took my Lake Forest College t-shirt off.

I took a delightful nap, which is one of my favorite things to do on the beach. Is there anything better than drifting off to sleep listing to the waves hit the sand? I honestly don't think so. The water was a warm 87 degrees, although I didn't get in it. Salt water mixed with sand is not really my thing.

Part of what I love about Caladesi Island is that visitors are restricted to just four hours on the island, which keeps the it from getting overcrowded like Clearwater or Daytona and it also prevents me from sitting in the sun too long and spontaneously combusting. On my way back to the Ferry, I discovered this turtle and it was kind enough to pose for me - twice.

As we boarded the ferry, coming across the bay from the east, there was a huge storm complete with lots of thunder and lightning, but we made it back to Honeymoon Island just before the skies opened up. You can see how dark the skies are.

In spite of my SPF 4000 sunscreen, you can see what happened at the beach today from my before and after pictures.

Obviously, even though I have a lobster-like tan, I still have a smile on my face. How could I not? I spent my day at Caladesi Island!