Florida, June/July 2015

Sharky's Pier at Sunset

Sharky's Pier, on Manasota Key, with the sunset underneath.

Under Sharky's Pier

The setting sun heads towards the waves on one of our first nights on Manasota Key, shot from underneath Sharky's Pier.

Immature White Ibis

A young Ibis posed for us for quite a while on a short trail off the road in the J.N. 'Ding' Darling National Wildlife Refuge on Sanibel Island.

Little Blue Heron

A Little Bluer Heron hunts along the water's edge in the J.N. 'Ding' Darling National Wildlife Refuge on Sanibel Island.

Roseate Spoonbills

A gaggle of Roseate Spoonbills (and friends) gather in the water at the J.N. 'Ding' Darling National Wildlife Refuge on Sanibel Island.

Sanibel Island Lighthouse

The Sanibel Island Lighthouse is framed against the late light from the setting sun.

Sunset in Red White and Blue

Evening on Sanibel Island, looking across to the causeway that connects the island to the mainland, during a spectacular sunset spectacle.

Clouds and 'Sunshine'

A huge storm cloud builds in the June heat over the water next to the famous Sunshine Skyway Bridge on Florida's gulf coast.

Boca Grande Sunset

Sunset pictures don't get any easier than this. Shot from the outside deck area of the South Beach Restaurant in Boca Grande on Gasparilla Island (with a Landshark Lager nearby...)

Rough Customer

Even standing on a walking platform a safe distance above this alligator, it is hard to feel very relaxed. This one was virtually motionless - which was fine with me. Photographed in the Big Cypress Preserve.

How Many?

OK, can you tell how many of tree trunks and/or vines are all intertwined in this closeup framed in the Everglades National Park? I can't. It is representative of the prodigious growth rates and varied types of plants and animals that coexist in this complex habitat.

Bad Ride

The driver of this vehicle had found a way to not have to worry about cleaning bugs off of the windshield. But I am guessing that may not have been much a a problem lately :)

Last Of The Sun

The sun peeks out for the last time from a low cloud bank, standing on the extreme southern end of Key West, looking out to the gulf.

On The Way To Dry Tortugas

Claudia enjoys the breeze on the stern of the cutter as we head towards Dry Tortugas National Park

Fort Jefferson Baking In The Sun

The empty gunrooms of Fort Jefferson look out over the moat to the sea, as the structure that was obsolete before it was even finished lies abandoned 2 and a half hours away by boat from Key West.

Dry Tortugas National Park

We knock another national park off of our list after a 70 mile 2.5 hour boat ride almost due west from Key West out into the Gulf of Mexico. The park is basically a large abandoned fort, sitting on a very small island, surrounded by crystal blue waters, with some nice snorkeling spots right off the beaches. It is a very unique place, and the boat ride, on a Coast Guard cutter, is a very well run and pleasant experience too.

So Many Bricks

A view through the lower archways on one side of Fort Jefferson gives an idea of the millions of bricks that had to be hauled by ship 70 miles west from Key West out into the Gulf of Mexico to build the fort. Even though it was never finished, the fort is the largest masonry structure in the Americas, being composed of over 16 million bricks. Years of water filtering through cracks in the 2nd floor ceiling of the abandoned structure have begun to form a couple of 'stalagmite' type formations on the floor of the hall.

Last View of The Fort

Our Coast Guard Cutter pulls away from the dock as we head back to Key West.