A Day at Lover's Key with Carmel - 4 Mar 2015

Selfie of two old friends.

There was a fisherman behind Carmel and the heron was waiting for his dinner. He was not intimidated by Carmel at all. 

There were millions of shells to choose from today and Carmel got a few beauties.

If we could have picked a perfect day to go to the beach, this would have been it...and we went. The temperature at 9:30 am was about 18 degrees C and there weren't many people there that early in the day. A soft breeze was blowing off the Gulf and the Osprey were busy feeding their growing babies.

Originally we were going to pack a lunch and stay until early afternoon but the warm temperatures have returned to Florida and by mid afternoon, it is hot! Given that Carmel is still in the throws of battling hot flashes and her past issues with breast cancer say 'do not spend the hottest part of the day in the sun', we made (the wise) decision to go early, and come home early.

It was so beautiful at Lover's Key and each time we go there we are so grateful to have found and fallen in love with this State Park. We are always anxious to show off our favourite beach and even happier when our visitors are enchanted with the beach, the water, the shelling, and the whole experience in the same way we are.

Carmel got right into the shelling experience and we ended up walking all the way down to the beach and finding lots of little treasure along the way. The tide was out so there were fresh shells along the water line but millions of other shells along the previous mid and high water lines and we all got some beautiful shells. For the first hour the breeze cooled us off and we didn't notice the temperature rising but as we started back to the tram station, it was obviously getting much warmer.

Being a true Cape Breton'er, Carmel decided that she had to have a dip in the salt water of the Gulf so reached under her long tunic, pulled off her shorts and undies and headed into the beautiful green water. It has not been 'swimable' the past few weeks but today was definitely a day to go in and she had a dip and a bit of a splash. She came out after a few minutes and reported that the water was fabulous and it was another check-mark on her Florida vacation. She, and her barely covered bare bottom, headed back up the beach.

On the way back to the tram I had to constantly warn her NOT TO BEND OVER--the old guys at the beach would not have been able to take the sight. Fortunately, no big wind came along to blow her tunic up past her waist and all her non-shell treasures were kept hidden. lol

Carmel had offered to make her famous Chicken Parmesan for supper so I got to have a nap and hand over the kitchen reins to her tonight. It turned out fabulously and together with fresh bread and red wine, we had a feast.

We've managed to keep our calendar full in the week she's been visiting and there aren't many 'free' days left before she leaves next week. Thankfully the weather at home seems to be improving so I probably won't have to take her back to the airport next week at gunpoint! The days are passing quickly though and we'll do as much as we can without taking any time from lounging around the pool and/or sipping wine.

Until next time, love and hugs to all. xx