Seashells by Millhill

Inlet Jetty and Dog Beach Photos

It’s now March, and we are dealing with closures, cancellations and long lines at the grocery store thanks to the Corona Virus.

But back in February I took a late afternoon walk at my favorite local place. I’ve taken similar photos before, but can you ever get tired of beach scenes? I’m lucky to live near such a beautiful place.

Covered seating areas along the boardwalk

At Smyrna Dunes Park, on my February visit, I took the counter-clockwise route. That path leads past the ocean with a couple of walkways veering off to the right that take a walker onto the ocean side, with drive-on traffic. You can see it here, but I didn’t get photos of the ocean side this time. I was headed to the Inlet.

Park closes sign — Mile marker and closing time on the railing

The new boardwalk is extremely nice, and signs are posted on the railing in a few places to remind visitors of closing time. The times change as the seasons change and sunset comes later, or earlier. The park closes at sunset.

Jetty rocks — Checking the little pools for something interesting

The rocky jetty is something I seldom photograph, but since it was low tide I wanted to look into the little tide pools by the rocks just in case something interesting had washed up.

This is where the fishermen go and navigate those big rocks to the end. On the other side, to the right in this photo, the surfers find the biggest waves. It’s also the location for the most shark bites – probably because there are lots of yummy surfers around! Just kidding – but it’s known as a big shark bite area.

Rocks at the jetty — Jetty rocks and tide pools

My shadow looks bizarre, as if I am wearing a trench coat! Actually, I had my long sleeve cover-up shirt tied around my waist. Lots of people had on long sleeves. It was windy and cool, but very nice. Just the way I like Florida weather to be. It won’t last.

I found a few shells to collect along the beach. This broken whelk (above) made for a good photo. If you want to see what I collected, read my post here.

The Dog Beach

Although dogs can be found on any part of this beach, all the way to the Jetty, this “river side” beach area is where most of them are. A dirt path runs alongside the boardwalk on the West side and has a few offshoots that lead out to this part of the beach.

dog beach at low tide — Low tide at the dog beach

Below is one of the sandy paths that lead between the boardwalk and the dog beach area. It’s not an easy walk in that soft sand.

Ponce Inlet dog trail to beach — Sandy path leading in from the dog beach

My beach photos make the place look deserted, but there were people (and dogs) everywhere. Up near the dunes people were sitting in the sand with their dogs tied to posts. Dogs are supposed to be on leashes at all times, but I always see them running free, playing catch or swimming when the weather is hotter.

sunset over the beach — Sun is setting over the beach

Before my February walk, I visited this same place with my youngest son who had come to visit in January. He always enjoys practicing his photography skills with sunsets and beach scenes. He got a few nice photos and found me a couple of nice shells. Read more about that here.

Also, in “winter” my boating son and I took a frightening boat trip through dense fog in this very area at the Inlet.

Winter Walk Near the Jetty

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.

Smyrna Dunes Park view from the two-story lookout

Smyrna Dunes Park view of ICW — Looking west toward the Intracoastal Waterway

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.

Breakers Restaurant from the beach — New Smyrna Beach

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

tiny blue jellyfish on the beach — Baby man-of-war?

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.

Dosinia and scallop shells found on ocean 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.

Looking For Shells That Are Out of the Ordinary

Because it is March in Florida, the state is overrun with northern visitors and Snow Birds who are here for a few months. Winter vacation brings in the people seeking sun and warmth in the middle of a frigid northern winter.

Bike Week is just winding down, and events are stopping because of the Corona Virus. It’s now so crowded on the roads that I mostly stay home.

But back in February I ventured over to Smyrna Dunes Park and collected a few shells. I was looking for the types of shells I rarely find, and I did luck out.

The walk was invigorating near the water as the temperature was in the low 70’s, and with the sea breeze blowing, it was very comfortable. It was late in the day, but the parking lot was still full. Lots of people take their dogs here.

I walked the boardwalk and then headed down to the sand to search for shells that are out of the ordinary for this area.

Right off I found a big, black ark. This is the place to find black seashells. It wasn’t an unusual shell, but it was nice looking.

Ponce Inlet New Smyrna Beach Florida — February at Ponce Inlet

As I strolled the shoreline at the inlet and found two golden colored arks with whitish edges. I picked them up. Arks are super common here, but they come in a big variety of colors and can be pretty.

When my son was visiting I found a hairy ark. I assume that is how they look before all that fuzz has been worn off by the waves and sand. I believe this is the periostracum (brown stuff that covers shells) and the clam could be a “bearded ark”, but it’s a guess only.

Ark shell with periostracum covering making it appear fuzzy

You can see the three arks in my photo below which do not have any brown coating. That is usually how I find them.

The black jingle shell caught my attention because of it’s large size. Jingle shells are not all that common to find around here either. Both black shells are easy to see in the photo below.

seashells black olives — Shells from the Inlet

Then I found my favorite shell, the Dosinia (shell at the bottom on the right in the photo above). As I eyed the sand I saw a flattened shell, and sure enough it was something I wanted.

Other than that, the only other shells I collected were broken bits of Olive shells.

I walked around to the dog beach side of the peninsula and then took the sandy trail leading back to the boardwalk. I’ll share some of my water views and jetty rocks on another post, when I get the photos uploaded.