Cortez, Florida

It was a bit windy when we awoke on Thursday morning but we still wanted to go out for our morning exercise session. The beach is only a mile away so we decided to cross the bridge and explore the island of Bradenton Beach. While we were crossing the bridge I couldn't help but take this picture to show you how windy it was. I had to hold onto Reta tight so that she wouldn't become a human kite.

While on the bridge we spotted a few dolphins playing around with their food. I tried to shoot a video of the dolphin tossing a fish around. It's interesting to point out that there was a sea gull swooping down trying to steal the fish that was tossed around. That is the full zoom on my camera but hopefully you get the idea.

When we finally hit the beach the wind was even stronger. Now remember, this is the Gulf of Mexico and normally there aren't any waves. Look at the size of those waves! You can surf on them. Surprisingly, there wasn't anybody on the beach.

On our walk back we decided to do the touristy thing and check out some of the local shops. We headed into this store called "Sea Hagg" because the outside just looked to interesting. It had everything that would normally wash up on a beach and then some. It was like walking into an antique yard sale that your eclectic uncle would hold.

While shopping, I found this lovely Sea Hagg that I purchased and took home.
What do you think? Nice, uh?

Even though it was a crappy day I decided to go for a swim. Here I am free diving with some sea life.
The weather forecast for Friday is sunny and 75 so we are planning on an early bike ride followed by a nap on the beach. Here is a picture we took when we first arrived in Cortez this past Tuesday. Nice and sunny.

Have a great GOOD FRIDAY!