My time in SoWal was great

**BeachBum79** · 08-09-2005, 08:39 PM

Hi,

I have been lurking on this board for a while now. After Dennis, my family wondered if we would be able to visit SoWal for the fourth year in a row. Although our vacation plans were minor compared to the damage to people's homes, we were so glad to find this site! It provided a lot of great info and convinced us not to cancel our plans. We stayed at Gulf Place in Santa Rosa the week of 7/23. I wanted to share a couple of my pics I took during my week there.

The first week of the trip we walked down to Ed Walline park for beach access and scampered up and down this hill of sand:

On Wednesday, one of the beach walkovers for Gulf Place was repaired:

There were plenty of other "creative" ways to access the beach:

The sunrise was beautiful on Tuesday:

Some houses were still borded up:

Some had sand hills in front of them:

Some were falling over the edge:

The outside 2-story porch wall on the house on the far right fell off about mid-week. I think it was from the large trucks full of sand rumbling by:

The water was clear and green by Wednesday:

Such clear water that we snorkled for all these shells:

Can't wait for next year!!!

**pk305** · 08-09-2005, 09:02 PM

Thanks Beach Bum for the great report! Very encouraging for all of us!
I'd like to add that several of groups our friends (who do not normally vacation on 30-A) recently spent their family vacations along 30-A. All the groups have told us they now LOVE 30-A & that they can't wait to spend more time here!! I was so pleased that the beach situation resulting from Dennis did not bum them out at all nor did it keep them away!!

**seagrovelover** · 08-09-2005, 09:06 PM

So glad you had a good vacation Beach Bum....I guess it's true, even though the beaches aren't "perfect" it truly is always a PERFECT place to relax and enjoy a vacation!!!

**OnMackBayou** · 08-09-2005, 09:29 PM

What strikes me is how beautiful everything is, except for the things man has tried to do to make it better.

**Smiling JOe** · 08-09-2005, 09:52 PM

Originally Posted by OnMackBayou

What strikes me is how beautiful everything is, except for the things man has tried to do to make it better.

AMEN! Truely beautiful. While I enjoy the emerald green waters, the water I see now is every bit as beautiful, perhaps more so.

**Ocean Lover** · 08-09-2005, 10:28 PM

Thanks for sharing your pictures! Can't wait to do a little snorkeling myself. I love looking for shells.

**BeachDreamer** · 08-10-2005, 01:20 AM

Great review BeachBum, thanks! I love the shells, can't wait to go snorkeling myself!

**Miss Kitty** · 08-10-2005, 06:04 AM

Many thanks BB....how far out did you find the beautiful shells? Reading your post was the next best thing to being there!

**kurt** · 08-10-2005, 08:19 AM

**luvthebeach** · 08-10-2005, 11:41 AM

[QUOTE=BeachBum79]Hi,

I have been lurking on this board for a while now. After Dennis, my family wondered if we would be able to visit SoWal for the fourth year in a row. Although our vacation plans were minor compared to the damage to people's homes, we were so glad to find this site! It provided a lot of great info and convinced us not to cancel our plans. We stayed at Gulf Place in Santa Rosa the week of 7/23. I wanted to share a couple of my pics I took during my week there.

Wow...thanks for the great photos! And I'm jealous of those shells you found....awesome

**BeachBum79** · 08-10-2005, 12:15 PM

Originally Posted by Sueshore

Many thanks BB....how far out did you find the beautiful shells? Reading your post was the next best thing to being there!

Most of the shells were only 10-25 ft. from the shore. All of them were found between the beach and the first sandbar while we were there.

My brother and I wore masks to look for things on the bottom. We did find some debris that we carried up onto the beach and added to the pile of stuff there. We saw lots of fish, tiny crabs, and even some large crabs. The big crabs were about the size of a saucer or small plate (the main part of their body). They were usually hanging out near the front side of the sandbar or near large pieces of cement that were washed out by Dennis.

The shells were not too hard to spot. Usually part of it would be sticking out of the sand. Just be sure to have a stick or something to uncover the shell and poke it to make sure there are no creatures inside! I brought some home and soaked them in soapy water for a few hours to get rid of the "fishy" smell. Now they are on my coffee table to enjoy year round!