Siesta Key

What a great spot! The campground, a county park, is situated on the Gulf. It consists of one road with campers on each side, about 30 of us. The road ends at the beach which stretches as far as you can see in either direction.
We had heard from many people about the legendary fine white sand on the Siesta Key beach, this is no longer the case. As with many beaches, this one has been reclaimed...that is built up using dredging from off-shore. The dredge consists of beach sand and broken shells. This will sift over time, but it hasn't yet. But the beach is now at a greater slope and more protected from erosion and storm damage. It does however, due to the increased slope, kill any hope of body surfing unless you are willing to impale yourself on the beach.
But the water is still that pristine blue...you can almost see through it and at this time of the year it is 75 deg. We spent most of the day on the beach yesterday, barbecued some short ribs back at the camper and then broiught our chairs back to the beach to enjoy the sunset. We were not alone. The sunset is an occasion here with a multitude of people on the beach, the blaring of conch shells...even a heron joined us. I think he works on commission and is part of the chamber of commerce...adding to the ambiance. People were getting within 6 feet of him to take pictures and he didn't flinch.

The sunset was beautiful but behind us some ominous clouds were rolling in. After we went to bed, there was a thunderstorm, the only rain that has fallen during our present trip.