The best sunset is the one you see

You don’t have to go to Florida to see a sunset. The magic of a sunset is that it happens wherever you are. Just look west. When? At sunset. You can see a sunset this evening, and tomorrow, and every day of your life. And every sunset that you see will be magnificent.

If you have been following this blog, you know that we jamb a lot of activities into our trips. We plan something for the morning, the afternoon and the evening. Our trip to Florida was different. We went to spend time with family and friends. We had a great time. We still managed to do lots of activities:

• Visit the Dali museum (last week’s blog)
• Visit Edison’s summer home (upcoming blog)
• Take art lessons (no blog and definitely no photos)

Watching the sunset was my favourite activity in Florida.

Watching the sunset is a thing in Florida. Tourists and locals head over to the nearest beach to catch the technicolour show. And they watch in comfort. They carry beach chairs and coolers.

Sunflowers do not like the sunset

I took this photo at the Botanical Garden in Naples. (future post).

Florida’s official nickname is The Sunshine State.

Time to head over to the beach for sunset

We spent a week on Miramar Beach, near Destin, on the Florida panhandle.

The white sand beaches are absolutely stunning. The sand is so white, it looks like snow. We saw white sand dunes on our drive from the airport. They looked like snow banks. Since we had just fled winter in Toronto, we did not want a snowbank mirage.

The sand on Miramar Beach is so fine that it squeaks when you walk on it.

Miramar Beach is on the Emerald Coast of Florida

The water is deep emerald green.
I just love an ocean swim but I did not venture into the water at Miramar Beach. There is a flagpole on the beach that describes the ocean.

For the first few days, the flag was red, High Hazard.

There were two flags flying for our final couple of days: yellow and purple. I  might have been brave enough to swim with a yellow flag but I did not want to encounter Dangerous Marine Life

We did long pre-sunset walks on beautiful Miramar Beach

The sandpipers are getting ready for sunset

The Whale’s Tail is a favourite beach bar for sunset watchers

Sunset at Miramar Beach

We had fabulous weather in Florida. Sunny and warm. However, a little fog bank seemed to appear just at sunset. I only saw one sunset at Miramar Beach. It was spectacular.

I have a hundred photos of this sunset. Every photo looks like black-velvet gas-station art. And I love every photo. They remind me of a wonderful week with family.

Some day, I will try a Bob Ross-style painting of this sunset.

Bob Ross would like these happy little clouds.

The sandpipers are heading home for the evening

A beautiful sunset makes you feel happy

But I was sad to leave Miramar Beach after a wonderful week with family. My sister had rented a ground-floor condo with a huge outdoor patio. After sunset, we congregated on the patio for huge family dinners. We took lots of photos at those dinners. We are smiling and laughing in every one. We were happy to be together.

When I look at the photos of the sunset on Miramar Beach, I think of the great week we had with family.

This is the sunset in Naples, Florida

After our week in Miramar, Norman and I drove south to Naples to visit cousins. We had two wonderful family dinners in Naples.

We loved Naples and we loved the sunset. For our second evening in Naples, we packed chairs and a cooler and went to the beach with my cousin.

This photo reminds me of the lyrics in Rod Stewart’s Rhythm of My Heart

Where the ocean meets the sky

I’ll be sailing

It is a long drive from the panhandle to Naples. We rented a car in Destin and paid a drop-off fee of $200 so that we could drop off the car at any airport in Florida.

This couple is walking in unison at sunset in Naples

I did not see the green flash at sunset

On very rare occasions, you might get lucky and see a green flash at sunset. I saw magnificent reds and yellows, but no green flash.

For those who like prisms and science, here is the explanation for the green flash:

A green flash is a phenomenon in which part of the sun suddenly and briefly changes color. It usually lasts only a second or two — which is why it is referred a flash — as the sun changes from red or orange at sunset.

 

The green flash is viewable because refraction bends the light of the sun. The atmosphere acts as a weak prism, which separates light into various colors.

 

When the sun starts to dip below the horizon, the colors of the spectrum disappear one at a time, starting with those with the longest wavelengths to those with the shortest.

 

It is a primarily a green flash because more green light gets through and therefore is more clearly seen. Sometimes, when the air is especially clear, enough of the blue or violet light rays make it through the atmosphere, causing a blue flash to be visible.

This is the sunset on Sanibel Island

After a wonderful time in Naples, we drove to Sanibel Island to meet up with friends from our Singapore days. Over thirty years ago, we lived in Singapore for two years. We had a fabulous experience and made life-long friends.

It was pure coincidence that friends from our Singapore days planned to be in Florida at the same time. We made arrangements to book into the same resort. We were delighted to share a sunset toast to lifelong friendship.

It was a very calm sunset on Sanibel Island

It is very peaceful to watch a sunset

This is the sunset at North Redington Beach

After Sanibel, we drove to North Redington Beach to spend a couple of days with my brother and sister-in-law. We had a great time.

It was cloudy at sunset but that did not stop us from enjoying a sunset drink at the tiki bar.

You can see a sunset today, wherever you are

Sunset is free. All you have to do is go outside and look west.

Do you have a story about your favourite sunset? Share it here by posting a comment.