Part of our time away in Naples was spent on the boat trip whose ultimate destination was Marco Island. Marco Island is list as a barrier island in the gulf of Mexico. It hosts many resort hotels, beautiful beaches and some incredible shelling, if you are into that.

I will confess that when we booked this tour, I was not expecting to go there. I expected to spend time trolling the islands. That said the beach is beautiful, and there were many beautiful treasures found on the beach. Richard had a great time picking up shells, which he brought home to put on our deck area.

Marco Island has always struck me as the upmarket area of the west Coast of Florida. This quartet reinforced my idea.

However, Marco Island is also well known for the beautiful white beaches filled with shells, and this was where our boat trip made a stop. We were able to walk along the beaches and pick up shells to take home. I am not a big fan of removing things from nature, but Richard enjoyed picking up a few shells, as did the others who had joined us on the boat ride.

Due to the state of Richard’s health, he has now had to invest in long-sleeved shirts that protect him from the UV rays. While his melanoma are all stage 4 we do not want something else triggering at skin level.

The beaches are vast and for the most part they were empty and we were able to just relax and enjoy ourselves. Below are some of the beautiful treasures we found along the shore line.

I believe that these are Sandpiper wading in the water looking for food. They were in abundance and they blended into the surroundings so well.

The shells were gorgeous and I enjoyed seeing them lying in the sand. Hopefully some critter will come along and make it’s home in them.

Every so often it looks like a coconut washed ashore as well.

The beach was peaceful, calming, and enjoyable. I am sure that if we were out that was again I would like to walk along those beaches again and enjoy the solitude that you can experience when there are so few of you walking around.

As I have mentioned before, Richard and I have chosen to start checking off the bucket list. Why? He has been diagnosed with melanomas. We don’t know what tomorrow may bring. For this trip, we were under a covered awning and Richard wore a hat and a UV50 shirt, and had sunscreen on all over.

If you are a sunseeker like we have been, please consider using sunscreen that provides a significant cover, watch out for odd looking moles, and educate yourself. Australia, Florida, California are listed as the top 3 places for melanoma. I am going to add South Africa to that listed because where we grew up the climate is exactly the same. See a dermatologist and get yourself checked out. Melanoma is one of the deadliest forms of cancer and we are dealing with this right now.

Thank you for joining me for another 30 Minutes in the Life. This is a circle blog. It’s a small circle this month. Please follow the link to see what my very talented friend Janet Crouch Photography, has to share this month. Watch out for the dolphins on the 30th.

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