Weedon Island

Notice how unhappy Providence is.

One of the things I told myself I had to do once I moved back to Florida, was to take advantage of the ocean and bay I overlooked for the decade before moving to North Carolina.  So I took the family out on a canoed ride to Weedon Island Preserve.  We went later in the day and only planned on spending an hour or two on the water.  That was a wise choice.  Not because it went bad, but it gave us enough to want to go back.

At first Pence (our eldest daughter) was scared for her life.  Every move Autumn made resulted in Pence yelling at her that she was going to tip the boat.  As Autumn leaned over the edge to put her hair in the water, Pence was screaming nearly to the point of tears.

After about a half an hour the fear she had was gone.  That made the trip more enjoyable.  After going into a mangrove canopy for a short amount of time we headed back to beat sunset.  This left everyone wanting some more.

Weedon Island is a great place to enjoy Tampa Bay.  The preserve is 3,700 acres of natural lands including mangrove swamps, intertidal flats and pine flat wood uplands. For this trip we took the South Paddling Trail.  It is a 4-mile loop that meanders through mangroves and seagrass flats and between islands of the Preserve. We saw a few birds, which I suspect to be reddish egret, a few mullets flop out of the water,  and the ever so erie sting ray sneak along the bottom of the bay.

It was a great trip and I look forward to going back with the family, and by myself.

Visit Weedon Island Preserve’s online for more information.