We stayed in the Old
Salt RV campground on the Gulf shore of Florida for a week in mid-January. We arrived after
driving from Alabama for most of the day. The camp had few empty spaces,
although some of the campers were unoccupied. In the evening we walked to the
beach and took pictures of the sky after sunset.
Next day, we walked with the dog for about two miles on the white sand beach and paddled in the incoming waves. We got fish sandwiches at the local diner. Later that afternoon it rained. Overnight, bouts of heavy rain and wind shook the camper. Luckily, the rain had stopped by the next day and we were able to resume our walks on the beaches. We walked for two to four miles each day. We saw small flocks of sanderlings strutting by the waves and probing in the wet sand for food. The larger shorebirds included gulls and dunlin.
The local beaches had many shells or fragments of broken shells. The conchs must grow
quite large, a foot or more in length, judging by the broken pieces we found.
We found a store selling fresh seafood and bought a pound of large shrimp to
grill for dinner. We also visited a beach near Apalachicola. This beach had
more remnants of sea dwellers, including starfish, sponges and horseshoe crabs.
You can see some examples in the next photo.
After a week with two
rainy days, we drove north to Alabama again.
