Sunday, February 23rd was a gorgeous day indeed. Clear blue sky, temps in the high 70’s and low humidity. Although I had a million things to do, I couldn’t let the day go by without a walk on our lovely beach.
As soon as I reached the water’s edge, I set the timer on my phone for 30 minutes, as I usually do on days when my schedule is full. 30 minutes out + 30 minutes back = one full hour of exercise. I picked up my pace and set out to cover as much ground as possible within the first half of my journey.
Shortly before I reached the Tigertail Trees, my alarm started to ring. But wait – what?!? I silenced the alarm and kept moving forward.
I noticed that something was missing. The bright orange fence and ominous warning signs that had cut off beach access beyond the first few Tigertail Trees were GONE. Yayyyyyy!!!!!!
Well…as you probably have guessed, my best laid plans went right out the window from there. So much for time management tactics - no work would be done for the rest of the day. There was no turning back…onward and upward to explore the entire length of beautiful Tigertail Beach!
The first thing I noticed was the care the construction crew had taken to save the best Tigertail Trees that remained standing after the hurricanes of 2024. They even took measures to support two leaning trees to spare them from further damage. And even better, they took out the jagged stumps of trees that were lost in the storm, making the shoreline smooth and safe for walking. Great job, guys…thanks for a job well done!
As I joined the dozens of walkers heading north of the former barrier, I saw lots of people hanging shells on the newly reachable trees, some complete with their thoughtful wishes. The Tigertail Trees are back and will be better than ever!
On my walk toward Sand Dollar Island – which has been rejoined to Tigertail Beach by the restoration project – I admired ibises and egrets wading along the shoreline, boats sailing the calm crystal waters and dozens of beachgoers enjoying the lovely afternoon. I even found a lucky sand dollar along the way to the newly extended north end of the beach. When I reached the tip of Sand Dollar Island, I paused to savor the view of a place I had missed for months. At long last, 100% of awesome Tigertail Beach is back.
MELISSA WATERS is the author of The Tigertail Trees and An Authentic Adventures of a Marco Island Burrowing Owl.
Learn more about Melissa’s awesome Marco Island Adventures at anauthenticadventure.com.
Comments