Sunset at Sombrero Beach

On Monday, February 4, we went with Jane to Sombrero Beach, on Marathon Key.  Sombrero Beach is a beautiful white crescent of a beach with clean, new facilities, and a gently sloped seabed.  Part of the beach is a rock outcrop that had once been a coral bed.  This provides such structure for sea life, that within 25 feet off the beach, it was possible to snorkel and see all sorts of marine animals.  Here's a photo of the outcrop, with one isolated white coral stone standing watch:

We purchased snorkel gear, and all three of us snorkeled around the point.  Jane scored the "win" for greatest number and variety of sea life observed.  She saw an octopus, parrot fish, Florida spiny lobster and a variety of colorful fish.  Kathy and David saw a variety of fish, but no octopus or lobster.

Here are Jane and Kathy out on the point waiting for sunset:

 And here's David taking the easy way to watch the sunset:

We were there all day.  Sometime in mid-late afternoon, a pelican flew down onto the beach.  He simply stood there for nearly half an hour.  He didn't seem to be begging for food because a few people tried to offer him food and he refused.  Several people moved slowly to within just a foot or two of him to take his photograph, and he didn't even flinch.  He just stood there looking around.  We finally decided he was curious about the human wildlife and was observing us as much as we were observing him.  Here's a photo of the people reacting to this calm observer:

Sunset finally arrived, and it did not disappoint.  This is a photo of the whole beach as the sun began to sink.  What had been perhaps 100 people had shrunk to not more than half a dozen.  The breeze was light, the air mild, the light soft:

Then the real sunset took hold:

 As we watched the sunset, a sailboat passed in the distance, caught in this telephoto shot:

 This was the most beautiful beach we've found so far in the Florida Keys, and the day was beautiful.  We're not sure we'll have a better day.  We were glad that Jane got this day before she had to leave for home.