We visited so many interesting places during our Florida adventure you'd think it would be difficult to choose a favorite. It wasn't. Hands down our favorite Florida destination was Manasota Key. Located in Englewood, FL this narrow strip of land separates the Gulf of Mexico and Lemon Bay. Manasota Key was a peninsula that was transformed into a barrier island by the Intracoastal Waterway. It's 11 miles long with a total area of 3.1 square miles, roughly 640 acres. A short walk between the bay & the ocean makes it easy to catch a sunrise or sunset. We planned to spend one week on Manasota Key but loved it so much we stayed for two. We combed the beaches in front of our resorts daily but one particular spot on Manasota Key kept drawing us back, Stump Pass Beach State Park. If you're driving to Stump Pass parking is $3 per car for the day. (Plan to arrive early during peak season.) Stump Pass Beach State Park is open daily from 8 am until sundown. Visitors can enjoy the beach, fishing, birdwatching, hiking, kayaking or paddle boarding on the Gulf of Mexico and Lemon Bay. Stump Pass Beach State Park is a remarkable place, beautiful and so diverse. Five distinct natural communities can be found at Stump Pass. A mile-long nature trail leads visitors through all 5 areas. See if you can spot them in the slideshow below. Beautiful, isn't it? Well, believe it or not, it gets better. Walking the nature trail at Stump Pass is like visiting an informal botanical garden. It's full of Florida natives, complete with plant identification markers! A little off topic but still plant related, I didn't realize Scheffleras bloomed and produced berries. In our neck of the woods Schefflera is a house plant. The Schefflera below is part of the landscaping at the condo we rented. It's not native to this area but it sure is beautiful. I love the look of the multi-colored berries against the variegated foliage.
Interesting facts: Gopher land tortoise spend a great deal of time underground. Their dens can extend up to 50' into the ground. These burrows protect the tortoise from heat, sunstroke & bush fires. It's common for gopher tortoise to share their dens with snakes. In fact, 100 different species of animals are known to take shelter in gopher tortoise dens. During bush fire events, the gopher tortoise's burrows are essential for the survival of the ecosystem.
We hung out on the point for a long time looking for shark's teeth & pretty shells. We took a break from beach combing to watch the birds. That's when we spotted a pair of dolphin in the bay. We were so excited! It was the first time either of us had seen dolphin in the wild. It was fun to watch them pester the fisherman for handouts. We decided to hike the beach back to our condo instead of taking the trail. Of course we did, that's a mile long opportunity to look for more shark's teeth! Along the way we happened upon saplings & sticks decorated with seashells. It made me smile. Guess we're not the only ones who think this place is special. I snapped the photo below on our walk back to the condo. It's now a large canvas that hangs in our home like a vision board. A daily reminder to keep up the hustle so we can return to this wonderful place next winter. Our final few posts will highlight the treasures we found while out beach combing Stump Pass Beach and Manasota Key. Marine & wildlife, fossils, seashells and one incredible night of ocean fluorescence. See you soon!
0 Comments
It was windy & chilly the day we visited Venice Beach but we didn't care. The sky was blue, the sun was shining & it was still a long shot warmer than our home in Northern Michigan! We walked the beach looking for shells & shark's teeth but didn't find any on Venice Beach. Recent beach reclamation projects undertaken throughout Florida have temporarily changed the beaches. They're beautiful but the added sand covers the shark's teeth. That's what we were after! We spent a lot of time on the Venice Fishing Pier watching the fishermen, birds & the waves. But, after striking out on shark's teeth, we decided to check out another beach just down the way. Jason walked the shoreline while Cousin Aaron & I followed in the wagon. I think we'd all agree, we liked Casperson Beach even more. It was rocky, beautiful and the beach combing was better! Casperson Beach The bird watching is fantastic in Florida. So many varieties you just don't see in Michigan. These little guys (below) are Sanderlings and they are hysterical to watch. They chase the waves to pick for food in the sand, then the waves chase them. Back & forth they go as fast as their little legs can carry them. Sanderlings are migratory birds that spend August-April wintering in Florida before returning to their breeding grounds in the Arctic. We were hooked on beach combing and quickly turning into beach bums but we did take some time off the beaches to explore downtown Venice too. As you can see from our postcard below, Venice is a beautiful area. Visit if you can!
After breakfast, we popped into Sea Pleasures & Treasures gift shop in search of postcards for Uncle Ed but it was the shop's extensive fossil display that caught our attention. The rarest fossils are on display but the shop offers plenty of fossilized shells, bone, shark's teeth & corals for sale too. Sea Pleasures & Treasures is located at 255 W. Venice Avenue in Downtown Venice. The shop doesn't have a website so we'll give them a shout out to spread the word. It's worth a visit to check out their incredible display!
Venice & Casperson beaches were beautiful but we had better luck finding shark's teeth, fossils, shells & coral outside our front door on the the beaches of Manasota Key. We were determined to find the best spot on the Gulf for beach combing. So we decided to check out the beaches on Sanibel & Captiva Islands. Stay tuned for our next adventure!
We happened upon Indian Mound Park by accident. We were out exploring on our way to "Old Englewood" when we spotted a small county park sign. Pillywiggins are curious by nature so we hung a left to follow the arrow. The park sits on beautiful Lemon Bay. It has a nice boat launch, a canoe/kayak launch and a large parking lot for boat trailers. Visitors can enjoy fishing, a hiking trail or use the park's pavilion, restrooms, picnic tables & BBQ grills. What makes this park so unique? Indian Mound Park is also a historical archeological site. Indian Mound Park, also known as Paulsen Point or the Paulsen Point Midden, was occupied by native people called The Manasota Culture from roughly 500 BCE to 900 AD. In the 1960's, before the park was created, an archeological excavation was undertaken by Ripley B. Bullen. It was determined that Paulsen Point was inhabited during four Florida cultural periods from 1,000 BC to 1,400 AD beginning with the Orange Period and the first appearance of ceramics and extending into the Safety Harbor Culture (900 AD to the 1700's).
No burial mounds were found at Paulsen Point although lower levels of the midden do contain human bone; remains of the earliest inhabitants. At least 13 burials were uncovered here but it's possible there were others. (There are reports this site was looted prior to the archeological excavation.) Paulsen Point Midden is the byproduct of longterm human use. It is not considered a ceremonial site.
The 1960's excavations revealed early inhabitants of Paulsen Point enjoyed a varied diet of seafood, shellfish and land mammals such as deer. This area also supports a wide variety of edible plants, berries & fruits. It doesn't take long to explore Indian Mound Park but what we learned in that short amount of time was very interesting. It's worth checking out. We didn't find anything else like it during our stay but we later learned Paulsen Point is 1 of 8 archeological sites on Florida's public land. Indian Mound Park is located at 210 Winsor Avenue in Englewood. The park is open daily from 6 am until midnight. Cherokee Street Park, part of Charlotte Harbor Aquatic Preserves, is less than 1/2 mile away from Indian Mound. Yep, we turned off for another sign as we continued up Winsor Avenue toward Old Englewood. We spent a few minutes scanning Lemon Bay for manatee. We didn't spot any manatee but we were digging the informational signage posted in the parks. Another sign we were happy to see - Cherokee Street is a dog-friendly park! Good to know if you're traveling with pets. We had wandered off course a bit but we were still only a few blocks away from our intended destination. Stay tuned! Our next blog post features local art, a one-of-a-kind statue garden & the funky salvage shop we found in Old Englewood.
|
Categories
All
Archives
May 2024
|