Gasparilla Island Weekend

I've been busy this week getting ready for a four-day adventure.  The kids are beyond excited.  We've reserved a small cabin at Cayo Costa State Park, off the coast of Florida, just about two hours south of us. The entire island is part of the Florida State Park system and can only be reached by boat.  I expect there will be very few people there tomorrow and Friday, since only one other cabin has been reserved for those days.

The island has miles of isolated beaches, famous for great shelling and natural beauty. We'll be shore fishing, star gazing, cooking out, swimming, biking, hiking, going on a guided beach walk with the park ranger, bird watching, and of course -  collecting shells.  The kids are super excited about our little adventure. You see, Cayo Costa, also known as Gasparilla Island, has an interesting history...  The island was named after the pirate Jose Gasper, who settled on the island in the 1700s with his pirate friends. They used the island as their cove.  Legend also has it that there is a big shark called Old Henry who roams about at dusk...

The weather forecast looks great... 

We will be out of range for the next few days - no phones, computers, tv...  just a park ranger to connect us with the mainland in case of emergency. 

Go to Outdoor Wednesday to see what others are doing in the great outdoors and come back next week to see the pictures!