My son and I headed over to the beach today, which is an unusual thing for us to do on the weekend. Weekends are too busy. We did go early, and still hit traffic, but it was a lot of fun. I love living so close to the seashore.
I’ve been debating on whether or not to buy a year pass for Smyrna Dunes Park. It’s an awesome place to walk with nice boardwalks that lead out to the beach on all sides of the peninsula. The cost is $20 for county residents and it’s $10 for each visit. If I go twice I will have paid for the pass. But… the pass is only good from now until the end of the year… not a full year, really. Still, it seems worth it because it’s a wonderful place to visit.
At 9Am on a Saturday the place was packed with cars! The woman who put the sticker on my car (yup, I bought the pass) said it’s turtle season (and the beach doesn’t open until 8am) so the surfers come here to surf early in the morning.
It’s also a place where everyone goes to walk their dog! Almost everyone we saw had a dog…. or 2 or 3 with them! We saw all kinds of dogs…. from Corgi’s and Shepherds, to big and small Poodles and mutts . Even so, the place is clean as can be. Locals respect the area and dutifully clean up after themselves.
The boardwalk is being replaced, so the first part is torn down and you must walk in the sand. I assume they will do the second part after the first part is finished, but I don’t know.
No matter. It’s still a wonderful place to visit. They have a new long fishing pier (see it in my first photo above) and my son and I went there first. He has a new metal detector and is dying to find buried treasure. So while he searched for treasure I cooled off in the wonderful ocean water. It was clear and refreshing. Fabulous!
Of course, I also kept my eyes open for seashells. I saw some of the usual arks and many tiny coquina in the sand. Found an orange jingle shell, a bit of coral, and a little crab climbing up one of the pier’s pylons.
The best shells I found were not on the beach though, they were up near the construction site! Look at this wonderful Lettered Olive! It’s small, but so pretty once I rinsed the dirt off.
Yup… I found this Lettered Olive and Banded Tulip along the fence which blocks people from entering the construction area. All that digging moved the shells around I guess, and there was not a single hermit crab to be found!
Hallelujah..!
The tulip shell is not in great shape. It’s encrusted with something that is gradually flaking off. It may end up being sorta pretty. The bands tell me it’s not the True Tulip like I’ve found before, but the Banded Tulip.
I also got this little gem of a shell, even though it’s somewhat broken, I love it. I think it might be a little Knobbed Whelk.
On the way back to the mainland we had to wait for a boat to go by and the traffic was building while the north causeway bridge was lifted.
