What a beautiful 4th of July week we had here along the Florida west coast! I feel bad for anyone who cancelled their Florida Gulf coast beach vacation because of fears that tropical storm Debby ruined the beaches. I suspect that all the sensationalized negative press created a lot of unnecessary cancellations.
Saturday, 7/7/12, we drove out to Pass-a-Grille for a swim. The water was as clear and calm as I’ve ever seen it on St. Pete Beach. And, after hovering around 80 degrees for quite a few weeks, the Gulf has finally warmed up a bit to around 85 degrees–probably even warmer by later in the afternoon. By 10:30 am parking was at a premium along Pass-a-Grille as the 4th of July celebration seemed to stretch from June 29th through July 8th. What else can you do when the Holiday falls on a Wednesday?
In the shallows we saw lots of Florida Fighting Conchs.
A lot of the sand that was washed off the beach during tropical storm Debby appears to be sitting on the sand bar and will most likely slowly return to the beach.
Below is the edge of the sandbar and the trough. The trough was about 4 feet deep when this photo was taken.
Lots of paddle boarders out today.
This is the beach crowd down by the Paradise Grille concession (that’s where the food and the bathrooms are).
Standing on the edge of the sandbar looking south.
Here’s a couple walking on the sandbar.
Plenty of sandy beach on Pass-a-Grille after tropical storm Debby.
