One late afternoon we headed over to Ponce Inlet so the boys could fish and I could search for some good seashells. It was a successful visit (for me), as I came home with lots of nice shells. I have some pictures of the seashells that I collected on my post, Take a Closer Look When Seashell Collecting.
The tide was going out, which is perfect if you are a beachcomber. The water was very rough, and the only people in the water were a couple of surfers, and some fishermen who stood thigh deep. My boys fished from the shore – and caught nothing.
One man, who was fishing out in the channel, did catch a nice big fish, and I asked his permission to take this picture. He was proud to show off his catch, and rightly so! What a gorgeous Bluefish he had!
This man caught a big bluefish
I’ve cut off his head on purpose to show the fish, yet keep his identity private. It was a long walk back to the cars, but he didn’t seem to mind that.
Now we have a boat and will be out fishing from the boat more so than onshore. On our second day of boat ownership, we lounged in the water around Disappearing Island which is in this same general area of this inlet.
We are still waiting for the boat we ordered to come in and I’m dying to get out on the water. For now I must be content with visiting the beach and river.
This morning I headed over to Flagler Ave. to see how the ocean looked. There have been beach advisories lately because of the high winds, which cause high tides and rip currents. And sure enough, the waves were crashing and the beach was a mess.
Messy Beach and Rough Surf
The tide was going out, so I decided to drive down Penninsula Ave. and get onto the beach from one of those drive-on spots. The one I chose had a big puddle of sea water at the bottom of the ramp. The toll-collector and I watched the car ahead of me navigate it along the edge, and he made it. I have a 4-wheel drive Subaru, which always handled very well in the snow, so I was not afraid of a sea puddle (it was a BIG puddle). I slid around a bit but made it out to the beach traffic lanes fine. But the driving was very bumpy because of all the ruts in the sand. For that reason I didn’t go very far before parking.
Portuguese man-o-war
The first thing I noticed, besides all the seaweed, was the blue jellyfish. Yes, man-of-war jellyfish were scattered along the beach. I got a couple of pictures and didn’t know what type they were until I got home and showed the picture to my son. He knew right away it was a man-of-war. Believe it or not, people (tourists?) were still going in the water!
I walked the high tide line of sand hoping to find some cool shells, but all I found was the regular variety. My goal was to get close to the jetty and boardwalk of the Smyrna Dunes Park down by Ponce Inlet, but it was too far to drive on that bumpy sand. I may end up getting a pass so I can drive to the park and walk along the boardwalks.
Sea Bird in the Sand
I did see something odd though. A sea bird was plopped down in the sand. At first I thought it was dead, but it wasn’t. I’ve never been to the beach when a bird was nestled in the dune area. I snapped a photo without getting too close.
The shells I found were the regular arks. I was hoping to find some unusual seashells because of the high tide and rough surf. I didn’t find any super unique shells, but I did collect a little slipper shell, a black rock, and a Sea Purse Bean (photo below).
There are a lot of sea beans mentioned in my “Florida’s Living Beaches” book. Some have a much thicker ring, but they are all hard and roundish in shape. This is the first time I have collected a sea bean.
Recently I went to Smyrna Dunes State Park to walk, visit the beach, and take photos. My camera was full, so I had to keep deleting photos to take more, which was annoying. I would have taken a lot more photos.
My son had his girlfriend visiting over the Christmas break. She lives in New Hampshire and had never been to Florida. Well, the Christmas break is NOT the time to visit as everyone in the world is visiting Florida then…. or they are waiting to come for the spring break, which is also a horrible (touristy) time to come here.
We went to Smyrna Dunes Park late in the day and had to leave by 6:00PM or be locked in, so I was constantly checking the time. I was the odd man (woman) out accompanying the young sweethearts on a romantic stroll among the dunes, but I did come in handy when it came to photo taking.
We ended up on the west side by the Intracoastal (Indian River) where the sun was beginning to set and my son wanted pictures. So I used the girlfriend’s cell phone to take most of them, and got some very good photos (if I do say so myself). The sun was setting and they posed in silhouette… ah, young love!
The Park is a long boardwalk over the dunes that leads to the ocean and river in several places, and Ponce Inlet. I had visited this place years ago – probably 15 or 16 – and it has changed. Now there are trails just for dog walkers, and there were many people taking advantage. The dogs are not allowed on the boardwalks except at certain places.
At one point we walked down to the beach by the rocky jetty. The tide was out, and lots of little shells were caught in seaweed along the beach. My picture here shows some of the seashells I found. Pieces of shells that were once quite big, and the regular finds of the incongruous arks and cross barred venus clam.
We saw a gopher turtle (tortoise) snacking on some weeds in the dunes (no photo, camera issues), and I was reminded of the one that used to live in the corner of my yard. They are big turtles and slide down into their dens that are a maze of underground tunnels. My daughter volunteered at the Central Florida Zoo (named differently now) and learned all about them. They are quite amazing wild animals. With all the building going on constantly in this state, they are threatened. The gopher turtle, like much wildlife in this state, has lost a lot of it’s natural habitat.
Ponce Inlet lighthouse and beach at the end of the boardwalk.
We had a lovely time walking the boardwalk, and I was sorry I didn’t just buy the $20 yearly pass. I may go back and use this place as my exercise area. But I do have a beach pass, so I can drive onto the beach and then use the boardwalk, or simply walk along the beach. I’m lucky to live so close to this beautiful area.
I was in New Smyrna for a closing on my new house, and my son and I took a look at the beach. It was four days after Hurricane Matthew and we wanted to see how badly the beaches were hit. Happily I found that Breakers Restaurant, right on the beach, was still standing, and open for business!
If you’ve ever visited the area, you will know it’s the pink building at the end of Flagler Ave., with that awesome view of the ocean. If you are lucky enough to get a seat at the front, you can eat at the bar and watch the waves roll in.
Breakers Restaurant on the Beach, 4 days after Hurricane Matthew – It was open!
The parking lot across the street from Breakers is no longer free to park (that stinks), so we drove in just long enough to get a few pictures. It was raining, so my photos aren’t that great, but I wanted to share the better ones I took. I would have liked to get out and walk around, but the weather did not allow for it.
Rough Seas in New Smyrna, October 11, 2016
The ocean was churning up sand and the tide was high – at least the water was high – I don’t’ know what the tide schedule was. The beach entrance was blocked off to drivers (you can drive on the beach here), mainly because there was no beach. Below is a bad photo of the sign at the beach entrance.
Sign at Flagler Ave. entering and exiting the beach
One thing we noticed as we drove around the area was that the coast had been hit with more wind than we were inland. Everywhere we saw debris piled up along the roads ready for removal. Power trucks were everywhere, which meant that a lot of people were still without electricity. Buildings had shingles missing, and trees were down in some areas. Some places had tarps on the roof.
Debris from Hurricane Matthew Piled for Pickup Along Flagler Ave.
Luckily, the damage was a lot less than what was predicted. Many people along the coast evacuated, and had to sit for days wondering what shape their homes were in.
Leaving the Beach, heading for the north causeway
We headed south at Peninsula Ave. and took the south causeway home. The north causeway has a drawbridge for tall boats, mainly sailboats I would assume, but the south causeway bridge does not open. We headed home feeling very lucky that, at our rental house inland, we did not even lose power during the hurricane.
While we were over on the east coast of Florida one day, we decided to head south from the Edgewater area and try to find the next closest boat ramp. Down that way the ramps go into the western part of the Mosquito Lagoon. From there, make your way (in your boat) across to the Haulover Canal which passes through to the east side of the Lagoon.
Mosquito Lagoon West
We drove east for a few miles from Rt. 1 on a dirt road and finally came across the small boat ramp. It has room to put in one boat at a time and the boat loads into a narrow channel that feeds out into the open water.
Looking south, the Kennedy Space Center vehicle assembly building is barely visible.
Space Center, Cape Canaveral
I found some crown conch shells and thick clam shells, but the most interesting item I found floating among the weeds in the shallows was this horseshoe crab. It was not alive.
Boat Ramp, where we were, with Haulover Canal, Space Center view
Once we have a flats boat we plan to spend some time fishing in this area. For now, we have to stay close to the Edgewater ramp where we put the little boat in, as it doesn’t travel very fast, or handle waves well!
