I was staying at the Barefoot Beach Resort, which would be behind me and on the left side of Gulf Boulevard in the photo above. I needed to be about 1/4 mile ahead on the right at the Sun Burst Inn. The obvious course of action would be to walk in this direction. Off I went.

The Salt Rock Grill is right next to the Barefoot Beach Resort.

Next to the Salt Rock Grill sits the Town Hall.

As I started walking along Gulf Boulevard, it occurred to me that the Sun Burst Inn is a beachfront property, and that I could be walking in the sand instead of on the pavement. I immediately left the roadway and headed to the beach for the rest of the trek. Why didn't I think of this earlier.

Now that's more like it ! Nothing beats a walk on the beach.

A few minutes later, I arrived at the Sun Burst Inn.

This is an awesome idea ! And it's appropriate for the setting.

People are arriving. The band is warming up. Looks like the festivities are about to begin. Two items conspicuous by their absence were the bride and groom.

Entertainment for the evening was courtesy of Yes Ma'am, a 5 piece string band from New Orleans.

I took some time to wander around the beach before the festivities began. I don't get to walk on the beach very often and take full advantage of the opportunity when it presents itself. I don't even have a desire to get in the water. The calm atmosphere and sound of the waves hitting the shore are good enough for me.

I believe the fenced area above contained a sea turtle nest.

Only a few locals were on the beach this evening.

I saw several people having fun on the Gulf of Mexico in various forms.

The sound of blues music signified the official start of the evening's festivities. Still can't find the bride & groom, though.

Yes Ma'am, a 5-piece string band from New Orleans, provided the entertainment for the evening. And yes, they were awesome !

Love the "drum kit."

Yes Ma'am from New Orleans.

At this point, you do all the typical "party" things like eat, drink, be merry, and take out-of-focus pictures because the camera decides to throw a fit.

The added bonus of this party came in the form of being able to take a stroll on the beach whenever the mood struck.

I found it quite refreshing to take a break from the party atmosphere and just enjoy the sights and sounds of the beach.

The local bird population would fly about and then land in the water at random.

If you look closely at the photo above, it looks like this bird is skimming the water with his beak. I remember watching this and thinking to myself, "I wonder what happens if he gets his beak too close to the sand." Turns out nothing really happens. His head dips suddenly but immediately returns to the position shown above.

This is looking to the south toward Redington Beach.

The beach in this area is packed pretty tight with condos and apartments. Yet never once did I feel crowded.

My Canon SX40HS features a 35x optical zoom lens with 4x digital zoom available after that for a total of 135x. Impressive, yes. But the picture gets more unstable with the addition of digital zoom.

The beach at Indian Shores, Florida, USA.

And the party continues.

Lots of the above mentioned eating, drinking, and being merry.

Indian Shores, Florida.

Indian Shores, Florida.

This is looking north toward Indian Rocks Beach.

Indian Shores, Florida.

More of the above mentioned local bird population flying about.

Now this looks interesting. I would guess that Dad is teaching his daughter the basics of fishing while a Great Blue Heron looks on.

Satisfied that daughter knows what she is doing, Dad walks back to his chair. I don't know if Dad was aware of the Great Blue Heron who appeared to be patiently waiting for someone to catch him some dinner.

"Uhm . . . Dad ? Why is he looking at me like that ?"

Daughter apparently wasn't catching dinner fast enough. So the Heron took off and flew toward my direction. I was lucky enough to snap a couple of good pics of him mid-flight.

Don't know how I captured the above shot, but I did. Even a blind squirrel manages to find a nut once in a while . . .

He flew a little further beyond me and decided to wait here. I suspect he's waiting for someone a little more proficient in dinner catching to show up.

Lots of marine traffic on the water, with some of it being surprisingly close to the shore.