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!

Best Beach in the US . . . No Kidding

I could have told anyone who asked that Caladesi Island is the best beach in the US, but no one has asked me.

Why do I bring this up? Because some guy named (conveniently) "Dr. Beach" has declared it so, which of course, means Caladesi Island now runs the risk of being ruined by all the nasty tourists.

Here's why Caladesi rocks . . .

• It's a barrier island located between Clearwater and Honeymoon Island (aka Dunedin Beach), Florida, in the Gulf of Mexico;
• The State of Florida very wisely made it a protected state park 40 years ago and therefore development is not allowed on the island;
• The only access to the island is via ferry and it's not inexpensive ($9 per person);
• The ferry runs hourly, visitors are only allowed to stay on the island for 4 hours, and therefore the number of visitors is restricted;
• Because of the cost, many locals don't even know about Caladesi and tourists don't want to be bothered;
• The beach is practically empty all the time;
• From your seat on the beach (and without binoculars), you can easily see schools of dolphins swim by; and
• Sand dollars and starfish are abundant and you can't help but step on at least a few when you're in the warm waters of the Gulf.

How do I know about Caladesi Island? Nana introduced Dave and me to it when we were little. I assume Mom, having grown up less than 10 miles from Dunedin, had been to Caladesi many times. No trip to visit Nana is complete without a trip to Caladesi Island.

In fact, the picture below, is my favorite picture of Nana. It's grainy because it has sat on the kitchen counter for 10 years uncovered and got splattered too many times. It was taken on Thanksgiving 1992 on Caladesi Island. I love her beautiful smile and how genuinely happy she looks. I miss that smile.