Fort Desoto and Saddle Creek Park (Feb 3-4)

 On Tuesday we drove to Fort Desoto Beach in Tierra Verde, on a barrier island about a half hour southwest of St. Petersburg.  But along the way, we stopped at Mazzaro’s Italian Market in St. Pete for lunch.  What a crazy place Mazzaro’s is! It was packed with patrons grocery shopping or getting prepared food.  The sandwiches and coffees we got were excellent, and of course we couldn’t get away without some store-made groceries like babka, fresh pasta and fresh pesto.  Thanks to RW and JW for the recommendation.  

 We got to Fort Desoto Beach about 10 minutes after high tide and there was still a wide expanse of beach.  It was fairly hard-packed and great for walking.  We could have ridden our bikes on the beach as well.  Considering the size of the parking lot at the south beach, this must be a very popular place in season.  There were only a few others on the beach when we were there - just the way we like it - and nobody braved the water.  After the beach we checked out a RV camping area that’s designated for pets.  I like that the sites had lots of trees and each had a picnic table. (Sorry, I can’t figure out how to get rid of the center justification for this paragraph.  It doesn’t work like Word.)

On Wednesday we went out for breakfast, washed sheets, and walked the nature trail at nearby Saddle Creek Park.  We saw two more bird species: blue-grey gnatcatcher and black-bellied whistling duck, and heard but did not see limpkins.  We also saw a couple more armadillos. The walk was just an out and back 2.4 miles total.  The path was wide and flat, and not paved.  The walk would have been more pleasant if the shooting range wasn’t so busy.