At the Beach in St. Petersburg

After spending several hours at Kathy's Korner Nursery yesterday, we went to the beach in St. Petersburg. Leslie just had to prove to us that there were indeed, beautiful beaches in Florida -- not just rocks and coral!

This is a gorgeous white sand beach. Some of our party just sat in the sand and watched the birds --

While Bill and I shed our sandals and roamed the beach, waded in the surf, and took pictures --

At the water's edge, there were hundreds of little shells, most pretty worn by the wave action, but many intact --

 This little Snowy Plover was very busy at the water's edge --

He's so pretty with his black legs, eyes and beak --

There were lots of Laughing Gulls, but they were mostly dozing, standing on one foot --

Then there were the party kids. There was a band of Willets running up and down the beach --

Then one would dash out into the retreating wave and find?--

They were fun to watch, as occasionally a wave would catch them and then they would really scurry -

But as the wave retreated, they'd again go hunting --

This is what the sky looked like when we decided it was time to walk across the street to the Hurricane Restaurant to eat outside on their patio --

By six PM, it looked like this! Bill walked back across the street to the beach to get this shot --

Can you see why watching sunsets is a favorite activity on the Gulf Coast?

With the low clouds on the horizon, there was no "green flash" as the sun hit the water this time --

I thought these Robellini Palms (see I did learn something yesterday) silhouetted against the evening sky were the perfect end to a wonderful day --

Kathy's Korner Nursery

Ever since we met our RVing friend Leslie, she has talked about her aunt's nursery in Florida. Today we met them in St. Petersburg and got to visit Kathy's Korner Nursery. It is a spectacular sight as you drive up as the entire front is covered with huge pots of Bougainvilleas. To me, this is the flower that symbolizes the south. I was captivated the first time I saw them in California and Mexico where they spill down adobe walls and look wonderful. I only discovered recently that the colorful "flowers" are actually leaves (similar to that of poinsettias). The real flower is that tiny white speck in the middle of the display.

I never knew they came in so many gorgeous colors! This is the front of the nursery from across the street showing the colorful display.

I have lots more pictures of the plants at the nursery, but I'll share them another day. The one thing I didn't get is a picture of Kathy -- she is VERY camera shy!