Friday, January 21, 2011

Vilano's Empty Winter Beach


Bear says, "The weather is here, I wish you were beautiful!"
(He's such a Buffett fan)


Vilano beach is very shelly and is a pretty decent place to hunt for fossil shark teeth. It's not as productive as Venice or Englewood for fossil sharks teeth,but it's definitely worth a look if finding ancient teeth is your thing.
It is mine, although not with 100 pounds of labradork tugging on a too short leash.
I'm surprised any of these photos are in focus!



It was a cold day and the sun was setting fast when Bear and I took our beach walk ...
Make that "beach run", a beach outing with Bear almost always involves running.

Ahhh, solitude.
I love the emptyness of a winter beach.
The photo above is looking south towards St. Augustine Inlet.


Looking north.
Empty here too!

This red coquina shell beach is a real vehicle trap and even 4WD's can wind up sitting mired on their frames if the driver is careless.




This driver was not careless and did not bury his JEEP in the shell sand.
Guided by his faithful dog, he made it out alive.

(Bear and I are both trying to look serious in this photo ... he smiled first immediately after this photo, so I win)

20 comments:

Thunder said...

Great pictures of the beach! I knew Bear couldn't stay serious for very long, he's such a clown! ;-)

Just so you know while you're enjoying 60-70F temps today we're sitting in ice and snow at a cruel 8-15F here.

threecollie said...

Beautiful! Went to Venice Beach just once long, long ago. Spent the whole day picking up shark teeth and brought them home to NY to my mineral collector parents. While we were gone they met a collector from Fl. who sold them a whole bunch of milk cartons full of HUGE ones. They weren't too impressed with our handsful. How I would love to do it again.

Mark P said...

How cold was "cold"? My wife is bugging me about a vacation and she likes the beach. I'm a mountain person, but we may have to head down towards the Gulf sometime. But now that I think about it, I guess it will have to be sometime after March, so I assume the temperatures will be about what we get in May up here in the frozen northland (north Georgia, that is).

Dani said...

Every once in a while John will liberate some gravel from a roadside construction site and bring it home so we can pick through it. Good Times.

R.Powers said...

Dave,
Around mid-day the AC kicked on in my classroom due to the warmth outside.
Then at bus duty a few minutes ago, I was freezing in a cold grey mist.
Florida!


ThreeC,
Yes, but the ones you find are so much more specialer than any purchased treasure.



Mark,
Windy and in the low 50's I think on that day. Pretty chilly coming off the water,but I had my old Park Service parka so I was goooood!
March is a tricky time of year at the beach, you can freeze your asterisk off while getting a 3rd degree sunburn, after becoming a popsicle while in the still cold water.



Dani,
I could do that for hours. Lucky you.

Karl said...

Good afternoon FC,

Nice shots, I love an empty beach.

Were you holding the camera for that last shot? If so how did you aim?

roger said...

i love a beach in winter, especially one that stretches out so far.

swamp4me said...

The jacket is a particularly familiar shade of green...

Ben and Carrie Tracks said...

Oh labradorks.... hahah . Glad to have run across your site, really enjoying the view from Florida and looking forward to keeping up with your adventures!

-Carrie and Ben

R.Powers said...

Karl,
I am holding the Sony out the window of the JEEP and guessing the trajectory.
You are not seeing the 5 or 6 shots that were of the ceiling, the rearview mirror, Bear only, my hat only, or a too close flash blasted shot.


roger,
me too and i love the sweeping curve of the view north.


Swampy,
The NPS parka and accompanying inner vest date from 1985. I wore them on the job until 1988 and then off the job every winter.
They are official issue and made by North Face. I took off the insignia once I left the NPS of course.
North Face should stand up and take a bow. The quality of these garments is spectacular.

Carrie and Ben,
HI! Welcome to Pure Florida! I'm glad you like PF!

Caroline said...

Just love bus duty! I will trade my -30 windchill for your cold grey mist. We never worry about AC, we are low tech...open the windows.

Danielle said...

Just stopping by to let you know how I continue to enjoy your adventures...although I don't comment on them much....too jealous ;)

R.Powers said...

Caroline,
I will not whine about the cold anymore. :)

Danielle,
Thanks! Good to hear from you!

Miz S said...

The sky is so beautiful in all these photos. Winter sunsets are beautiful aren't they? Is it something about the angle of the sun?

And I love the contemplative photo there at the end.

Pablo said...

Happy Birthday, FC! (1/23/11)

kevin said...

Happy Birthday. You're old too.

Doug Taron said...

Happy birthday, FC. You are exactly (to the day) two months younger than me.

R.Powers said...

Miz S,
I'm not sure what Bear was comtemplating in that last photo, but he does have deep thoughts.

Pablo,
Amazing attention to detail. Thank you.

Kevin,
I have joined you sir. And thank you.

Doug,
Thanks!

Bill said...

FC,
Vilano was always treacherous, even for old Datsun pickups and Scouts. Of course the whole point is not being stuck. You know what that means.
LOL

Billy

Mara said...

Hello Sir,
Great blog, just a quick note to update you on Venice and Englewood. My boyfriend and I go every weekend to a diferent location in FL searching for shark's teeth, and off course we started by Venice, Caspersen, and Englewood, and unfortunately they are not living up to their reputation any more, very few, broken and small teeth we found there on several visits now.
Thank you for sharing, I want your dog, your Jeep and your hat!! LOL
We are heading to Vilano Beach as I type.
See you there
Mara