Kayaking Freaks

From the Nose of Our Kayak Don & Janet Beasley Chapter 16: "Paddling Back in Time" Castaway Cay Beach While going through our photos, we stumbled upon a kayaking adventure we had taken in 2009 while on a #Disney Cruise and wanted to share the moment with you. It was a lot of fun, and is a really fun trip for beginners and up.  We began our journey by hiking to the beach where the kayaks were. It was a beautiful hike on Disney's private island, #CastawayCay , and when we arrived at the kayaks we couldn't believe how far we had actually gone by foot. It didn't seem as far as it looked; the ship was an amazing site to see over the water and island. The hike was not only beautiful, but also educational. We learned some neat nuggets about the island and all it had to offer.  Looking Back at the Ship from the Kayak Beach In 1983, while still known as Gorda Cay, the island and its pristine beaches were used to film portions of the 1984 classic...

From the Nose of Our Kayak Don & Janet Beasley Chapter 14: Look Out Panhandle Here We Come! To celebrate our 30 year anniversary we headed for the panhandle of Florida...the Apalachicola area to be exact. We wanted to visit some long time friends plus do some kayaking in yet another area of Florida that was "virgin" to us.  Along the way we stopped for some lunch. Seafood was calling our name...something it always does when we're on the gulf coast. When we came upon the town of Freeport we started looking for a local diner. Sure enough we spotted one that suited our fancy. There were plenty of cars in the parking lot. I have to say that Oyster Po Boy Sandwich was out of this world! The oysters were heaped on in quite the fashion, and the bun was so good and soft, and the tartar sauce - lettuce  - and tomato capped it off. Don enjoyed a plate of fried shrimp that were absolutely to die for. And i n addition to the outstanding food, the service was ever so friendly, ...

From the Nose of Our Kayak Don & Janet Beasley Chapter 12: "It's Not a Crime to Test Paddle a Yak" One day in May 2011 Don and I decided to do something off the cuff. We had been hearing about fiberglass kayaks and wanted to see (and feel) the difference for ourselves. So it was off to the gulf coast of Florida we went.  We decided to make it a day trip and enjoy our time seeing sights we don't normally see both to and from our destination. We love taking the back roads and getting "lost" in the moment of some of the most scenic roads on the planet. We arrived and were elated to find 2 fiberglass kayaks we could test paddle. We can't describe the excitement we had doing a lot of "firsts" on this trip. Our first first was entering a kayak from a dock. We had always entered at the edge of the water, so learning the entry from a dock was really quite cool!  The best way to describe a couple of kayak entry methods, including a dock entry, is to...

From the Nose of Our Kayak Don & Janet Beasley Chapter 11: Kayaking & Dining & History Kayaking amidst the serenity of nature is truly our favorite, but sometimes we like to kayak over history to dinner! In our "backyard" you'll find Little Lake Harris.  The launching sight is about a mile from our house. Little Lake Harris  is a beautiful body of fresh water in the central Florida area that is chock full of alligators, birds, and turtles, and dotted around its pristine shores are a few restaurants. It also offers up some of the best sunsets around.    Little Lake Harris stems from (the much bigger) Lake Harris which spans east and west from State Route 19 all the way over to the Leesburg, Florida area of State Route 27.  The two lakes are divided by a long causeway/bridge on State Route 19 that dead ends into the magnificent Mission Inn.   In the heat of summer here in Florida you can't always get out to kayak dur...