We Are Key West Bound!

We are planning a trip to Key West! We are going in October, which is low season in the keys, so it is not turning out to be too expensive. We chose Key West because it looked like no other place we had been to. We are going to swim with dolphins, snorkel, and laze on the beach! One of the things I am looking most forward to is the Sunset Celebration that happens every night at Mallory Square. Two hours before sunset vendors and street performers set up for an unique and festive send off for the sun. There are conch fritter vendors, artists, magicians, tight rope walkers, and a number of other colorful characters at this outdoor party that ends with applause as the sun sinks below the water. How cool is that? Don't worry, I will take lots of pictures!

Featured Beach-Cocoa Beach Florida

Every once in awhile on here I will feature a beach that I have been to or want to go to in the future. I will tell what I love about it and what there is to do on that particular beach. The first beach I am going to feature is Cocoa Beach Florida. It is located on the Space Coast near Cape Canaveral. This is our "home beach", the one we keep coming back to, because it is a great surfing beach. If you've ever wanted to surf, this is the beach to start out at! there are a number of surf schools here, the best of which is Space Coast Surf Company. The waves are great for beginners and even small ones are surf-able with a long board.
This is also a great beach because of the Cocoa Beach Pier. It was built in 1962 and stretches 800 ft over the Atlantic Ocean. It is home to 5 bars, 4 restaurants, shops and an ice cream parlor with an arcade (which makes a great sub sandwich, go figure)! This makes Cocoa Beach a very active beach, which adds to the atmosphere.
If you are not a surfer, shopper, or hungry for some great seafood, there is sand volleyball, boogie boarding, sandcastle making, shelling, or just plain lazing on the beach!
So take a little trip to Cocoa Beach. A little sun, sand, and surf never hurt anyone!

Save the Manatee Club

When i was 12 years old I visited Florida for the first time. My parents, my 5 year old sister, and I loved it. My favorite memory of that trip happened in a seafood restaurant right on an inter coastal waterway, but it had nothing to do with the food (although that was good to)! The waitress was very nice and asked me what i wanted to be when I grew up (mind you I looked like i was 10) and i said "a marine biologist!". She seemed excited by that and said "come with me". she took me out onto one of the docks outside and handed me a handful of lettuce. She said "they will be here any minute". A few seconds later i saw bubbles and 2 wiskery noses poking out of the water. I had no idea what i was seeing, but i knew whatever they were I loved them. She said "It is a momma manatee and her baby, they come here everyday". I bent down to feed them the lettuce as they poked their heads out of the water. I was amazed at how gentle and trusting they were. After that experience I drove my parents crazy talking about them. Now I am a member of the Save the Manatee Club, and give 5% of all my sales in my Etsy shop to this worthy cause. Find out more about these amazing animals at www.savethemanatee.org!

My New Etsy Shop!

This blog will be about my new adventure, and you are invited to come along for the ride! I had been making handmade jewelry, hats, etc for awhile and realized they all had the same type of style. It seems my love of the beach comes through very clear in my creations. So, I decided i needed a way to incorporate all the random crafts I do into a shop. So now i have a new shop on Etsy called SunsetSurf. I even bought the domain name sunsetsurfshop.com! I will be selling my surfer hats, beach-inspired jewelry, tropical flavored lip balm, and a few other things. I am so excited! Here a pic of the first item in my shop! They are Palm Leaf Earrings.