As most of the northeastern United States is in the middle of experiencing the Blizzard of 2026, I am home from school on a snow day, and reminiscing about my recent trip to Florida.
On Saturday, February 14, we touched down at Tampa International Airport around noon in sunny skies and the temperature was 77 degrees. Coming from what has been a frigid and snowy winter in New England, it felt like arriving in paradise. After grabbing the rental car, we made our way to the Gulf Coast for our stay in Madeira Beach. Our journey had begun very early that morning – we had to fly to Chicago for our connection – and we were hungry! First stop, Sea Dog Brewing, Treasure Island.
That’s a Sea Dog Blueberry Wheat beer – delicious and refreshing along with my bacon and havarti burger and a view of the intracoastal waterway:
Next was a stop at the local Publix grocery store for some snacks and such, then on to check in at Barefoot Beach Club.
The view from the room was not too shabby!
Gulf Coast sunsets are spectacular, and the first night did not disappoint.
The morning dawned with a more subtle beauty that was meant for a beach walk.
About half a mile to the south is John’s Pass, a busy shopping and restaurant area. From the beach you can see the drawbridge that allows taller boats out of the pass, created by a hurricane back in 1848, into the Gulf of Mexico.
Can you see who is waiting for me at the edge of the water?
My friends have started calling the great blue heron a “Karen’s Heron” since they magically appear in the places where I am most happy!
Like a lot of the country, Florida has also experienced some unusually cold weather (for them anyway) this winter. The wind on this particular day, a bit later in the morning, had become unrelenting. Although the temperature was warm enough (mid-70’s), the wind made it unpleasant for lounging on the beach. We retreated for the soothing water of the hot tub at the hotel instead.
As you can see in this photo I took later that afternoon, the wind was so strong it pretty much flattened the beach!
Clearly other folks had decided too that it was not a good beach day.
I’ve been busy reviewing and editing my photos today. I haven’t decided how many Florida posts there will be just yet. The wind did continue for the week, but luckily it wasn’t quite as strong as this day. I’ll end this post here, so as not to overwhelm with too many of the photos I am excited about sharing. My 100-400mm f8 lens performed nicely for me in the bright sunshine, so I’ll definitely have more to share this week.
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