A walk on the Beach

Kelly and I wanted to go canoeing one morning. But we woke up to this.

So we opted for a walk down the beach instead. The previous post talks about our neighborhood jaunt, but here is the beach walk preceding it.


Our first walk on the beach was the night we got to Palm Beach. Claudia set us up in a great hotel right on the beach. As we walked out I saw this sign in the dusk. I wanted to go back and take a pic, but Kelly said, "Tomorrow!" So - here's tomorrow. Good thing we had this warning sign. I would have never known to be cautious on the boardwalk without it.

At the end of the beach we reached a jetty. This inviting concrete path led up to an interesting building. The door was open so I ventured up the path and inside. Kelly had by now figured out I was all about taking pics and asking questions. She came up with me, soon got bored and went back down to talk to a fisherman from New York. You can't tell by this pic, but waves were crashing all over this walk. I had to time my exodus so as not to be overcome by a wall of water!

We had seen this building from the beach and wondered what it was for. See the pipe-looking thing in the water?!

This pipe comes out the other side. Can you spot Kelly down on the pier/walk?

Here's a better shot of the pipe in the water. Now, what were your guesses as to the function of this building? Well, here's the skinny: It pumps sand! In the winter the direction of the water (from the North) pushes sand down the beach. It would cover/fill the jetty, so this building operates, sucking up sand and sending it under the jetty onto an island on the other side! That island (Peanut Island) was created by the creation of the jetty and is 'grown' by the sand that is pumped onto it. Cool!

On the bottom right hand corner you can see the sand being pumped onto Peanut Island.

On my walk back I didn't time my exit so well. The waves got me good!

This hotel set was beautiful in its architecture. They had the nicest lounges and best of all, they provided shovels and rakes for their guests! My kids said they would totally love using these if they were at the beach.

We wondered what the caution tape was for as we approached it. Turns out it for turtle nesting! These turtles had prime land. We couldn't see any other nests in the distance either way! Here are some cautions we were given at the hotel about the turtles. As you read them, think you're on a beach for say -you're honeymoon. These turtles could REALLY cramp your plans. :)

Avoid going to the beach at night. If you must visit, limit your walking and do not use flashlights or flash photography.

Turn off outside pation lights and shield indoor lights from shining directly onto the beach by closing the drapes at night. Lights can disturb adults and hatchlings.

When crossing a dune, please use designated cross overs (those dangerous wooden boardwalks?) and walk ways. Do not climb over the dunes or disturb the vegetation.

Since this is a family blog I'll leave my comments off. :)

I thought this was kinda funny. Why would you want shade - at the beach?! But these are pretty nice.

I call these seaweed jalapenos. No, I didn't taste them. Maybe I could have convinced Kelly too, but she enjoyed her beans and pita too much. Maybe the turtles used these to spice things up a bit before they nested. :P

Check out the coolest looking jelly fish! Though I don't know if they were really jelly fish, as they weren't jelly-like. More like those balloons you can make from a tube of stuff and a little straw - plastic balloons.

Kelly stepped on one of these our first night walk (this was before we knew how destructive those could potentially be to the turtles). It didn't hurt, but was squishy she said.
After my panic attack (see previous post) it was wonderful to get back to our hotel. Again, Claudia really thought of everything. Our hotel was easy to spot because it's the only pink one on the beach. Way to make it easy to find our way Claud!

Oh, and we had the nicest staff. The lady that checked us in was named Harrie. So cool. Another guy looked like Al Roker's brother. Cool. We razzed them lots, and they loved us kooky Colorado sisters. A great stay. A great place.