Caspersen Beach Park adds beautiful boardwalk … and restrooms?

http://ticketsarasota.com/2012-05-10/section/recreation/caspersen-beach-park-adds-beautiful-boardwalk-and-restrooms/

- Sarasota Herald Tribune

Spring at South Lido

 

Spring is nesting season at South Lido.  Portions of the back beach are roped off

 Castles and multitudes of tourists appear at New Pass beach

Various vehicles park along the beach.

Manatee River @ Bradenton Downtown

 

Manatee Statue at Marina

Yachts at Bradenton Marina

Protest on bridge over Manatee River

Sarasota Sailing Squadron

 Sarasota Sailing Squadron is located on Sarasota Bay at New Pass (north of downtown Lido Key).  It is dedicated to the promotion of recreational sailing, racing, cruising, sailing instruction, boating safety and youth sailing instruction.   See http://sarasotasailingsquadron.org/

Bahia Honda - Florida Keys

 7-mile bridge from Bahia State Park

 

Spans of the old bridge were removed when the new bridge was built. 

That old bridge was scary to drive over.

 The Bahia Honda State Park is a great place to camp and kayak. 

There is a marina if you wish to boat in.  Marathon is 17 miles north for beer.
Key West is way south for more beer.

(Photos by John Sarkozy who was probably camping down there. 
Marinell lived in Marathon when she was a kid. That was like camping out all the time.)

Below is the lovely jungle of native plants on the Bahia Honda hill.

Manatee County:Leftis Key

Leffis Key is Mabatee County's "island preserve," located just off of the southern end of Anna Maria Island. Access is via a short bridge from Coquina Beach Bayside .

http://www.mymanatee.org/home/government/departments/natural-resources/resource-management/leffis-key.html

Tourist Season on South Lido

Surf fishing on South Lido

Sand perch are one on the more common catches along beaches and inlets in Sarasota County.  At  least, this is the fish I have seen most often at the end of a line on in a pail .  The perch has an interesting "tooth" structure which can be seen better in an earlier blog post.

Service Park Picnic Pavillions

 

Service Park is on north Casperson Beach south of Venice, FL.

Some habitat restoration work is being done there.

 

 

Photos by John Sarkozy

Venice Pier

 http://www.guideu.net/place/guideu/venice-pier

Apalachicola, Florida

 

 

   Today, Apalachicola is a small, lovely, tourist town 

on the shores of Apalachicola Bay and the Apalachicola River on Florida's Panhandle.

Many Gulf of Mexico shrimp boats bring their catches here.

 

 Photos by John Sarkozy

Eating on the Bay: Drydock Restaurant on Long Boat Key

 

Legacy trail leads to bike and swim at Caspersen Beach

http://www.ticketsarasota.com/2011-12-09/section/recreation/legacy-trail-leads-to-bike-and-swim-at-caspersen-beach/
- Sarasota Herald Tribune

St. Marks National Wildlife Refuge

http://www.fws.gov/saintmarks/

The rich and beautiful marshes of the St Marks National Wildlife Refuge,in the Florida Panhandle

Photos by John Sarkozy

Service Park: on the Gulf south of Venice, FL

 

Service Club Park, south of  Venice,  has a coastal oak/scrub and pine forest found nowhere else on the west coast below Pinellas County.  This park is next to the old Loran coast guard station which shares the same habitats plus isolated wetlands.

Note: LORAN (LOng RAnge Navigation) is a terrestrial radio navigation system using low frequency transmitters in multiple deployment  to determine the location  and speed of the receiver. -- Wikipedia.com

Photos by John Sarkozy

Family Days at Bay Preserve in Osprey

 Chuck Idleberger and John Sarkozy from the Southeast American Littoral Society helped out at the Bay Preserve  fundraiser. Chuck led invited kids in seining activities.

 Wildflower Arrangement

Tampa Bay, Sunshine State Parkway Rest Stop

We always stop at the rest area on the north end of the Sunshine State Parkway to stretch our legs.  There are picnic tables, restrooms, bay views and a couple of memorials to those who have died in shipwrecks on the Bay..  Those exotic Australian Pines provide welcome shade and large rocks have been brought in to prevent shore erosion. 

Casperson Beach Scenes

Casperson Beach: New Buildings still in progress

 Gulfside Pavillion

 Bayside Pavillion  (Restrooms?)

 

Beachside Pavillon