I was lucky to have my youngest son come for a visit recently. Unfortunately the weather wasn’t good, with cloudy skies and rain much of the time. We did manage a day at the beach lodging in our chairs and walking in the tide pools, but it was not swimming weather.

Visiting the Park

My son had not been to Smyrna Dunes Park since the boardwalk had been updated. All the old boards have been replaced – rebuilt with long lasting boards and metal sides. He mentioned how nice it looked.

I bought my resident year-long pass which now goes year to year and not just to the end of the year.

We went up to the top of the first lookout area, and the only one on the west side of the walkway, to get some photos. My son dislikes heights and even being this high gave him the willies!

The photo below is looking back toward the parking area with the condos near the beach.

These two photos show the view of the ICW, inland waterway. The dirt trail that runs alongside the walkway is where the dogs go for their walks. Dogs are only allowed on the boardwalk early in the morning. Farther up the path dogs and owners can get onto the beach.

I’ll share more photos of our trek out on the beach in a post to come. I found some pretty good shells.

New Smyrna Beach Walk

The first day my son arrived we took a drive onto New Smyrna Beach. I live close and it’s the thing to do. It was cool and windy but we did wear our suits although there was no one swimming. A lone lifeguard looked bored out of her mind.

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We found this tiny blue jellyfish, which looks like a man-of-war, just sitting on the sand near the road.

My son and I scanned the sand for good shells. He has collected them often enough to know I like certain ones. He found this awesome Dosinia – which I don’t think I have ever encountered on this beach – and little scallop, which is also a fairly rare find for this beach.

In between our beach visits we went out on the boat and had an adventure trying to cook hotdogs over oyster shells. Don’t ask – and don’t try it!

The following day my boys went fishing and caught three keepers – two drum and one trout. Fresh fish for supper! Yum.

He had a nice visit and was glad to have some warm weather to enjoy, then he went back to the New Hampshire winter.