One of our favorite things to do when we're in Florida is to take our little power boat over to Cayo Costa, one of the barrier islands in Charlotte Harbor. It's a state park, largely uninhabited, and accessible only by boat. We like it because the long, beautiful beach on the gulf side is usually almost deserted and has great shelling. I've often longed to anchor offshore, walk the beach till sunset, spend the night, and walk it again the next morning, which wasn't do-able in our little 21’ Hurricane.
It was so fitting then, that wind conditions and timing made the gulf side of Cayo Costa the best place for us to anchor tonight, the last night of our trip.
We anchored at around 3:30 and were headed in to shore in the dinghy when we noticed there were dolphins all around us - several pods with too many dolphins to count. We've never seen so many at one time before! We cut the engine and sat there watching them, certain that God had sent them to welcome us home. As we pulled the dinghy up on shore, the first thing I saw on the beach was a sand dollar, my favorite shell. I walked and combed the beach until sunset, when Wayne had to almost drag me away, as always.
We watched the sun disappear into the Gulf of Mexico, the last sunset of our trip, and sat in the cockpit drinking champagne and eating brie and crackers. We toasted our last night - unbelievable! - of an awesome journey.
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