The Fourth on the Beach

We walked down to the beach on the 4th to take in the Fireworks display on the water. Luckily we live a few blocks from the beach, so we just walked down with our chairs and not have to worry about parking. The beach was crowded and groups of people along the beach were firing off their own fireworks, so the air was sulfurous. Nevertheless the actual fireworks show was excellent, PCB shot off fireworks off both of the large piers in town simultaneously.  It was our first year seeing them. One thing we noticed with the beach fireworks are quieter than other ones we have seen. The sounds just goes out over the water, not bouncing off the buildings as much.

Vacation

In mid June we went on vacation with our friends Ben and Amanda in Cape Coral. We had a wonderful time, very relaxing. A lot of time in the pool, relaxing by the pool, playing card games by the pool. A great way to spend a few days away.

We did go on a kayak outing, in the mangroves. Our seasoned guide took us out into the mangroves, telling us about the ecology of the mangroves. It was fascinating.

Practicing our paddling techniques

Outdoor floating classroom

Male crabs showing off their big claws to the females

Black crab

Mangrove tunnel, snake alert on high

Hot Night

We check our weather from weather.gov often and a few weeks ago I had to screen capture the webpage, as the current conditions forecast was rather ridiculous and funny. 163F at night, 129F heat index, but thank goodness only 3% humidity. At least it was a dry heat. :-)

Holmes Creek

In early June, Zachary and I rented a canoe in Vernon from Old Cypress Canoe Rentals to check out Holmes Creek and Cypress Spring. Vernon is about 45 minutes from PCB. Late May/early June was pretty wet for NW Florida, so the creek was quite a bit higher than normal and muddy. Nevertheless we were pretty excited to get in a canoe again, we hadn't been in one since moving to FL. The creek is typically fairly clear under normal weather conditions.

Besides seeing saw palmettos in the undergrowth in the woods, you would think we were on a river in WI.

Padding upstream on a tributary to Holmes Creek, the dark muddy water suddenly went crystal clear. We found Cypress Spring. Beautiful shades of turquoise blues and greens.

The spring itself is quite deep, about 75 feet at its opening. It is only accessible by boat, but it is still quite popular with the locals, boating in to swim, dive and just experience a natural treasure.

Even though these pictures don't show it well, it was surreal to see all the cypress roots crystal clear underwater, along with the plant life and fish.