Burn baby burn!

Lets not talk about the color of my chest! I did wear sunblock, but I guess I should have re-applied a bit. We had a very nice time on the beach yesterday. Where we live there are some barrier islands, and most people go there to hang out on the beach. We are well know for beautiful beaches, the sand is awesome, like baby powder. That coupled with the turquoise waters of the Gulf of Mexico...

Compared to Florida's East coast I would say this side beats it hands down. Our sand is like I said outstanding, the water is beautiful, and often warmer due to the protection of the Gulf of Mexico. Yesterday it was reportedly 78 degrees in the ocean! We also tend to have less sharks here since sharks follow their pray, which likes the cooler stream sin the Atlantic. The reason people get attack is often due to sharks following schools of prey that went closer to shore, and they just mistook a person for their preferred meal... Not that we don't have sharks, but to a much lesser degree...

Our favorite beach is very secluded compared to the common hangouts. There are no signs, no tourists and no facilities of any kind. Just a long stretch of beautiful beach! It is located on the north tip of Longboat Key, just before the bridge to Anna maria Island. It is so nice to be able to sit down without someone on top of you, to walk the stretch along the water without watching for people going into the water, nothing to listen to but the waves, the seagulls and an occasional boat or water ski passing by outside the high tide marks... Wonderful!

At the very north end is a place called Greer Island Beach, but as we after a few years found out it is not really an island but is connected with the rest of Longboat Key. You can walk there by following the water line or hike through the woods, which we did both on Sunday. You can read a little about Longboat Key's history here.

Map of the area's barrier islands, I live just left of where the dot for Bradenton is, where the Braden River and Manatee River meets.

After we got home we had a nice BBQ and topped it off by making ice cream sundaes, yummy!

Today I had to work in the morning, and in the afternoon S and I hung out at L's house, she has a very nice patio with a great view of the river. S enjoyed the kiddie pool and I enjoyed the shade.

I am just getting ready to make some potatisgratäng to be put into the oven later, K won't be home until 9 PM. I am also going to grill some beef to go with that, got some fancy steak waiting.