Beaches and Beachy Friends

 Bob Forrest and licensed for reuse under this Creative Commons Licence.

Surfing around the web, I often come across images that capture my attention and this one did just that. So peaceful and secluded, I had to learn more about the location. Before I tell you where the Pier House is located I want to interject that while most of you know that my family has been in America since the early 1600s, my children (on their father's side) are 2nd-generation Americans. Their Grandfather Inglis landed on Ellis Island in 1930, at the age of nine, from Scotland. Both of my children have always wanted to visit the country of their "other" ancestors and after seeing photos of some of the beaches there, I am inclined to join them.

Yes, you guessed right, this lovely location is in Scotland. Located on the peninsula of Kintyre in western Scotland, the town of Skipness is where this photo was taken. According to to the Kintyre website, "Kintyre is on the extreme west coast of Scotland, joined to the mainland by a narrow isthmus at Tarbert and has all the characteristics of island living without the hassle and expense of ferry crossings (though you can come by ferry as well.) The peninsula is about forty miles long and contains within it everything which makes Scotland such an attractive holiday destination. Here you will find the hills, lochs, rivers, forests, seascapes, sandy beaches, history and archaeology and the sea food which have made Scotland so famous, but with the addition of those ‘little extras’ which make us almost unique; the palm trees showing the effect of the Gulf Stream, the low rainfall (less than 40% of the rest of the west of Scotland), the most expensive eagles in the world, the absence of cars(our one traffic warden is the last example of an endangered species)."

My interest peaked, I googled Kintyre beaches and came across this photo of a kayaker passing by the Skipness Castle, built in the 13th century.

The lucky photographer runs the blog, Kayak Across the Water — Observations on sea kayaking (among other things) from Argyll, Scotland, where I spent a good hour reading about his adventures. I have a feeling my blogging friend over at The Florida Blogger will enjoy this site, as well as the rest of you who love beautiful, remote beaches.

Looking at this next photo from another Kintyre website, made me want to pack my bags…

Clachan Beach

If you want to see more, just click on the photo to the left and it will take you to an interactive map of Kintyre with more photos and information on the area.

Scotland will have to wait for now, but I am packing my bags and heading to the beach. I'm going back to Tampa Bay for an extended vacation to visit family and friends. After spending some quality time with my daughter and granddaughter, I'll be heading further south to go night shelling with my bff Karen of The Essential Beachcomber. Karen and I have been shelling together the last dozen years or so and we are hard-core! We will be hitting the beach at 4:00am, yes, I said 4:00am! We're going at an extreme low tide, armed with buckets and headlights and you can bet we'll both be blogging about it.

While there, we are also going to be meeting up with some our favorite beach bloggers, so stay tuned to find out who they are and what we'll be doing. I guarantee we're going to have a whole lot of fun; relaxing, shelling and meeting new friends!





Aloha for now, see you soon! Today I leave you with a quote from Scottish Novelist, Sir James Matthew Barrie, best known as the creator of Peter Pan:

“Those who bring sunshine to the lives of others

cannot keep it from themselves.”