Seagulls Love String Cheese... and Siesta Key

Just yesterday we visited Siesta Key, Florida for the day. We are slowly realizing that just because we live in Florida doesn't mean that we get to visit the beach every weekend. Or any weekend for that matter. My husband and I rarely have a weekend off together, so we jump at the chance to do something fun on a day off together. This week it happened to be a Thursday, which is actually great since the beaches are less busy on week days. I really hope that the beaches here don't become one of those things we take for granted, because they are far too gorgeous to go unnoticed. We had a wonderful time at Siesta Key this week.

You won't find softer white sand much better than at Siesta Key! The sand feels incredibly inviting under your feet, and the gorgeous views of sparkling blue waters don't hurt either. Did I mention that Siesta Beach has free parking? So far, Siesta Key has the only beaches I know of with free parking. (Minus the parking at Honeymoon Island, but there is a park entrance fee so they cancel each other out there.) Free is always good in my book. Since we spent money on gas driving to Siesta Key, the free parking was more than welcome. If you're looking for a picture-perfect Florida beach, then you have made a great choice if you visit Siesta Key!

We had cloudy weather for our afternoon at the beach, but it was a welcome interruption to the extremely hot and sunny days we've been having for months now. It felt almost like the temperatures dropped into the 80s for the day. At first, the water at Siesta Beach almost felt cool to our skin. We may be turning into wimps after living in Florida for only 3 months. I guess everything is relative. Eighty degree temperatures do start feeling chilly though once 90 degrees and hotter becomes the norm. Hopefully we don't freeze our butts off this weather once the temperatures drop into the 60s! We will have earned it after this hot and humid summer.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - -

In order to save money and make our day at the beach affordable, we packed a cooler full of sandwiches, water, and snacks. We typically try and take food with us on our beach days, and this trip was no exception. Our late lunch/dinner consisted of turkey sandwiches, chips, granola bars, and string cheese. Did you know that seagulls love string cheese? At least it seemed that way, because they mostly left us alone until I opened my string cheese and was immediately swarmed by seagulls. No joke. They must love string cheese almost as much as I do. Not that I would swarm someone with string cheese, but it's almost like that. Maybe next time we'll leave the string cheese at home. Or I may end up fighting a seagull over some cheese. Could be interesting.

Did I seriously call that one seagull in the video pretty? I must have ate too much string cheese or something. Gosh. Some people call them rats with wings, but I don't think they're so bad unless they try and eat my cheese, then we have a problem. I admit that I did sneak a few crumbs of my sandwich crust to one seagull that was missing a foot. I felt sorry for it. If you were missing one foot, I'd sneak you some food at the beach too. I know you shouldn't feed the birds, but once in a while you just have to break the rules.

I will never ever tire of collecting shells and other sea creatures. Lately I've had my cross hairs set on finding the elusive sand dollar, but all I found this time were a bunch of crushed pieces. All of the pieces combined could have made a whole sand dollar though. I hope to find a whole one soon. Something about the sand dollar seems so special and interesting. Until then, I will be hoarding my fair share of conch shells and lightning whelks.

Our day at Siesta Key ended with a lovely sunset over the Gulf of Mexico. This beach is definitely on our list of favorites, so we will go back again. Next time you visit the beach, do beware of seagulls when opening your string cheese.