Before we left Hudson Beach, I went down to the shore and took a couple of photos. Yesterday, the place was heaving with people. Now it was almost deserted, apart from this lone fisherman.
The flat calm sea - what a lovely sight!
We drove away from our motel at about 10.30am, heading first for the resort town of Madeira Beach, where we had considered staying last night, before realising it was about 50 miles too far.
The drive south was through a continuously built-up area of the coast with heavy traffic, something we have become quite unaccustomed to!
As we drove through the outskirts of Spring Hill, Wendy spotted this osprey on its nest at the top of a dead tree by the side of the highway.
We reached the resort area of Clearwater with its monstrous-looking hotels and huge condominiums. Here are the pink Hyatt and Marriott hotels.
The Marriott.
One of the enormous, bland condominium blocks.
The resorts merged into one another, with the sea always hidden by the high-rise blocks between the road and the Gulf.
We reached Madeira Beach and parked at an access point to walk down on to the white sand beach. It stretched to the north and south as far as you could see. A beautiful beach, but spoilt by the buildings!
Wendy's photo of the beach, carefully omitting the buildings, which are just out of the picture to the right!
We left Madeira Beach and were immediately stopped by a drawbridge that was in the process of being lowered, having just been opened to allow a yacht to sail through.
Our drive continued more or less due south and over the cable-stayed Tampa Bay Bridge. What a magnificent structure it is.
We both liked the yellow cables, which are more interesting than the grey ones you normally see on bridges.
Heading down off the bridge towards Sarasota and then Fort Myers, before turning west to the causeway that leads to Sanibel and Captiva Islands.
Before we reached Sanibel, we drew up alongside this sheriff's patrol car. I always like to stay slightly behind a police car, as I think they might see we are a foreign-registered car and want to stop and check if we are insured and have current driving licences. So, staying behind him, I then missed the right turn we wanted!
Driving off the bridge across the Gulf and on to the causeway to Sanibel.
Wendy took this photo of the Garmin as we drove into Sanibel. It shows the southernmost point of our drive, 26 degrees north. It was back in North Dakota when we reached our northernmost point of 49 degrees north.
Sanibel and Captiva are renowned for their flowers and seashells. Here is one of the beautiful coral trees lining the roads.
It was a short drive to our hotel, 'Tween Waters Inn, which is right on the beach. Our room overlooks the Gulf of Mexico. We immediately went down to the sea and had the most wonderful swim in the incredibly warm Gulf waters. A great way to end the day.
No comments:
Post a Comment