Little Talbot State Park

Between work days, sick days, market days, and everything else on our agenda, we always make time for beach days, even if it's a beach "half" day. Late last week, Matt and I ventured out to a new beach, at Little Talbot Island State Park. 

North of the busy beaches like Jax, Nepture, Atlantic, this beach was a little more of a hike. We drove to the north east side of town, at Mayport, where we then took a ferry across the St. John's River. A few miles down the road, we hit this state park. It's a very empty beach, full of wild life preservation, sea turtles, picnic areas, bike trails, and a generally quiet beach. It was beautiful.

For the sea shell collector, this place is worlds away from the tourist beaches we normally frequent. Just walking down the beach, I can feel the shells crushing beneath my feet; they were everywhere! I have a large collection of local shells I've been dying to make into a large wind chime for my "Florida room". If only I had spare time somewhere in my schedule...

This beach reminded me so much of home, Lake Michigan. The bare beaches and vast openness of it all, plus the wildlife and nature walk to get to the beach, was very reminiscent of one of my favorite beaches back home, Bronson Park.

Next on our list: bring bikes! This beach is a 5 mile long island that would be perfect to bring out mountain bikes. Ride 5 miles down on the beach, and 5 miles back along the bike trails. Maybe we will spot some sea turtles if we come early enough in the AM!

Florida wildlife baffles my mind. Coming from the north, we don't have a whole lot of biodiversity or tropical species. As we took pictures on the beach at Little Talbot, we heard all kinds of bird, insects, and sounds we couldn't even decipher! 

Unfortunately, at the tip of the island, it's not safe to go swimming, because the mouth of the St. John's River was so close. The current and undertows are too strong and the shore drops off suddenly. We would have gone swimming (as you can see, my 'shirt' is actually a one-piece bathing suit), but all the other access points on the island this day were filled with hundreds of school children. Screaming, loud, summer camp kinds. Ugh. I swear I'm not a hater of all kids, just the ones that are running around like crazy and making large amounts of noise. I.E. summer camp kids. I like children in small doses. And ones that are well-behaved. Long ago, I had aspirations to be a teacher for about 5 seconds. I now know it is something I could have never done. The older I get, the more thin my patience.

Next time: biking and swimming. And peace and quiet.

We can't wait to explore more beaches in this area. North of Little Talbot Island, is, of course, Big Talbot Island. With tree roots exposed from erosion, it is a beautiful beach they call skeleton tree beaches. And north of that is Amelia Island. A swanky beach destination full of tourists and beautiful beaches. We want to explore every beach in our area before summer is over!

See Matt's video from this trip here.

Lately, I've been battling with a nasty cold. A week and a half, going on two weeks of being sick. I believe it all came from visitors in our house, or being at the market, and lack of rest and sleep, combined with not sticking to my vitamin regimen that Matt is so adamant about. Thinking I was back to normal this past weekend, Matt and I went out for a celebratory dinner on Saturday. My martini with dinner kicked my cold back into full swing on Sunday, and here I am, on Tuesday, not leaving the room without a tissue in hand. Argh! I just want to get back to normal!