We have spent 4 nights instead of the 2 we planned here at Caladesi  State Park.  The dockage is inexpensive and covers electric and water.   There are no showers but on Sunday we used the shower on the boat.  It worked well; Dave was pleased with his installation.

 There is a concession stand open 10 through 5.  We ate all our meals on the boat so can’t comment on the quality.  My call was the beach and the shelling.  The sand is fine and up on the dunes almost pure white, referred to as sugar sand.

The first day we walked up the beach a mile and a half and the second day 2 miles up to the inlet and then back.  (Up here the dune is roped off for nesting of the water birds.)  In all we found 27 sand dollars and various other shells.  The first day we met Patty on the beach, a shell artist and a volunteer here at the park.  She invited Dave and I to their catamaran for cocktails on Friday night.  Her husband, Ted, built the boat and they have done the Gulf and the Caribbean.  Ted recently converted the boat to just power.  Patty shared her shell crafts (lots of jewelry) and gave me some supplies and lots of hints on working with the shells.  They are volunteers here at the park, dockage and electric, half off at the concession stand and transportation to the mainland for supplies.  All that in return for 20 hours each a week. 

One afternoon the most folks in the marina watched as several large dolphin trained their young to herd fish in to the corner and then feed.  It was quite a show.

The second day I met and friend of Patty’s, Mary and she shared her whimsical animals with us. Mary winters in Clearwater and walks the beach with her husband several times a week.  The inlet between Clearwater and Caladesi Island has filled in and been left as nature planned for the immediate future.

The weather has not been the warmest with a wind from the North.  Despite that it has been a most enjoyable time.  Today we took what nature walk that took us about 2 hours.  Dave spent the afternoon watch in the NASCAR Race and I went back to the beach for more shelling.  It took me several hours to wash, bleach and dry the shells.  They are packed in containers given me at the concession stand and then into one of Dave’s  5 gallon buckets.  Hopefully they will make it home safely.   I have big plans for them.

Weekends the park is popular with the locals for day trips or overnight.  A restored 1974 Chris Craft Catalina Sport fisher was here and another interesting boat was a 1971 Sea Camper.  Some boaters just tie up and bring out their chairs and drinks and sit in the dockway.  Others arrive by ferry for the day or several hours on the beach, playground and picnic areas.