When I was a kid and my parents drove me and my brother Joel out to the beach, this was always the first view we got of the Gulf. It was so exciting! And it still is. This is where Cortez Road intersects Gulf Drive in Bradenton Beach.
I took a drive out to Bradenton Beach, Longboat Key, and Lido today. I’m working on an update to my Florida Gulf Beach access guidebook. I originally had 1,100 copies printed and my book inventory is now down to about 25 copies. So I’ve got to get cracking!
Just thought I’d like to share some of the photos I took today.
I spent many happy days surfing by this pier at Cortez Beach, just north of Coquina Beach. Both of us are showing our age a bit, but I like to think I'm holding up better than this old concrete pier.
Beer Can Island on Longboat Key, as viewed from the bridge between Anna Maria Island and Longboat Key.
The concrete bridge between Longboat Key and Anna Maria Island was built back in the 1950's. My parents remember when there was no bridge here.
My favorite flower is the Frangipani, aka Plumeria. The scent carries a long distance and is very sweet (almost as sweet as orange blossoms). This is a very heavily blooming white Frangipani tree on Longboat Key. The islands have the most beautiful Frangipani trees. Something about the dry shelly soil they love.
The water was really super-clear on Anna Maria and northern Longboat Key today.
The beach at Beer Can Island on northern Longboat Key today.
Looking across Longboat Pass toward Anna Maria Island, from Beer Can Island. The dead trees are Australian Pines that have fallen victim to continuing beach erosion. They are beautiful, but are almost all gone from this part of the beach.
Looking across Longboat Pass with my telephoto lens, this is a view of Coquina Beach on the south end of Anna Maria Island (Bradenton Beach), FL.
Here's a fairly nice rope swing someone has put up on Beer Can Island.
