Climbing a lighthouse for more than the view

I earned this T-shirt the old-fashioned way – by actually doing what it says – climbing 203 stairs to the top of Ponce de Leon Inlet Lighthouse. The lighthouse is 175 feet tall and the view from the top looks out over the Atlantic Ocean and Ponce Inlet.

This is a serious piece of construction. Brick walls are eight feet thick at the bottom tapering to two feet thick at the top. In the days long gone when blue uniformed lighthouse keepers keep things going they walked these stairs several times day and night.

What the shirt neglects to mention is that there are also 203 steps going DOWN, making a total of 406 spiraling stairs. Gasp!

No, they don’t give you a shirt. I bought it as a reward.

You see I am afraid of heights and claustrophobic. So what was I doing climbing the tallest lighthouse in Florida? Overcoming fears and knowing the only way to see the great view is to get up there. In the grand view of things, I’d rather be challenged climbing up a lighthouse than hanging off ropes in a ropes course for character building or whatever it is called.

Oh, and there was a video crew from Visit Florida following me wheezing up the spiral stairs. Yes, your Authentic Florida expert at work. The video on Florida lighthouses will be up on their site in a few weeks. Check out Visitflorida.com then click on Authentic.

Every landing there is a window and sometimes a ledge to sit on. While pretending to admire the view, I am actually trying to get breathing back to semi-normal. The windows have transoms that open allowing air inside, a really good idea.

I know doing this deed is not right up there with climbing Mount Everest or biking across the United States, but there is a rush to doing something difficult and succeeding. And when you see kids prancing up the stairs and down again, it becomes a matter of pride not to be bested by the younger set.

This lighthouse has a museum on the grounds that houses Fresnel lenses. To me they are amazing works of art – specially cut pieces of glass meant to magnify a small light (in the beginning given off by kerosene lantern) into a big light that can be seen by mariners 20 miles out to sea.

The Coast Guard deactivated the light in 1970. A Ponce de Leon Inlet Lighthouse Preservation Association started in 1972. They maintain and restore the Lighthouse and grounds. The town of Ponce Inlet bought the lighthouse from the Coast Guard.

When you step inside the white picket fence, everything inside the picket fence dates from 1887 when the lighthouse opened. Museum staff restored the 1933 Rotating Third Order Fresnel lens and had it reinstalled. It gives out the signal from that era, but it is a private aid to navigation not a regular Coast Guard approved beacon.

Of course, all that work means you’ve earned lunch too. Ask the staff where locals do lunch. They have several very good suggestions close by involving inlet views and seafood.
Florida has 33 lighthouses. You can work your way through the Lighthouse Trail. Click on this link to Amazon to see the book about the trail. So far I’ve climbed St. Augustine Lighthouse, Cape Florida Lighthouse at Key Biscayne (with my son Martin) and now Ponce de Leon Inlet Lighthouse. Only a zillion more stairs to go.

Lucy Beebe Tobias is the author of “50 Great Walks in Florida” published by University Press of Florida, February, 2008. You can buy the book (and get it signed by the author) at her Web site. She climbed two lighthouses while researching the book. Lucy also is the Authentic Florida expert for Visit Florida.

Lake City Splashes Color on its Walls

Harvey Campbell had a plan. “I want to take our Lake City officials down to Lake Placid so they can see the murals. ” He hoped to excite his local power makers into splashing color on walls as a way of revitalizing downtown. Harvey had his work cut out for him. These folks don’t usually smile unless they are finding a way to save money, not spend it.

Lake Placid sets the bar high. When you visit you will see why. This small town in Central Florida turned quite a few old walls on brick buildings into living history murals. And people come from all points of the compass to see the murals, spend time and money visiting local shops and doing lunch.

What a concept. Art, culture, commerce, history, nature. Put them all together and sleepy downtowns can wake up, be reborn, even head for a renaissance.

Campbell, executive director of the Columbia County Tourism Development Council, worked his plan. In 2006 he piled officials into vans and headed south to Lake Placid. They loved it. A plan was developed and the plan worked.

Two years go by. The first mural is done and it is fabulous. On Thursday, March 27, 2008 a three-dimensional mural celebrating Ichetucknee Springs was completed with a few final strokes. Artist Keith Goodson stepped up and signed his name to the 86-feet-long mural painted on the side of the Kuykendall Building in downtown Lake City. Goodson worked on the mural for 48 days.

Look at these photos. This mural is drop dead awesome. The springs are so enticing, so crystal clear, you want to dive right in. It gets even better. Columbia County resident and retired County Commissioner James Montgomery donated the $18,000 cost, out of his own money, to have it painted.

Lake City Reporter Publisher Michael Leonard promises to spearhead the effort to raise funds in partnership with the City of Lake City for the next mural. This one will celebrate Lake City’s 150th anniversary coming up next year. In all, five years from now, they’d like some 20 murals downtown. Yep, they have a plan.

Lake City is on a roll and I admire their commitment. I love murals. They are big, bold and brassy. Artists got to play in a huge way on a humongous canvas. Murals celebrate natural and historical Florida. This outdoor art is accessible to all ages. Just walk downtown, no museum admission fee required.

To read more about murals in other Florida places – Palatka, Lake Placid and DeLand, see my mural story on the Visit Florida Web site.

And the next time you headed north on I 75 make a detour to Lake City. Go to Marion Avenue and Northwest Hamilton Street and check out the springs mural. It is a big WOW. Come home inspired. Develop partnerships. Get going. Paint the walls where you live . . .and people who could be your newest best friends will come to your town.

Have a Blueberry Thrill

Need a thrill?

Have a blueberry, or two or three or more. Your body will be thrilled. All berries are antioxidants. A holistic practitioner, Dr. Andrew Weil, says just a half cup of blueberries has the same antioxidant punch as five servings of peas, carrots, apples, squash or broccoli.

Heck, I’d rather eat blueberries than anything on that list. Especially now that blueberry-picking season has arrived. There is nothing quite as wonderful as fresh blueberries you pick with family and friends. Marion County has a number of blueberry farms and some are organic including Bay Lake Blueberry Farm on Highway 315, Ft. McCoy (phone 352-546-3834). Picking season doesn’t last long. Find out what days places are open. Grab those pails and go.

When my boys were little and we lived in Gainesville, we had the blueberry bushes completely covered. No blueberry was safe. Philip, the youngest and the shortest, picked on the lower part of the bush. Martin, middle son, worked the middle. Chris, oldest son, worked higher up and tall Mom got the tops. Yummm. One time Philip tasted so many berries his face was purple. The owner of the blueberry patch suggested weighting him to get a price for the blueberries but fortunately he was just kidding.

The big payoff is going home and making blueberry pie. Personally, I could just eat them straight up anytime but my family prefers pie.

Here is a blueberry recipe from Forest resident Terry Hopkins called “Aunt Kitty’s Favorite”

Blueberry Dessert
2 c. blueberries
Juice of ½ lemon
½ t. cinnamon

Butter an 8×8 inch pan, turn blueberries into pan, dribble lemon juice over them and sprinkle cinnamon over berries.

¾ c. sugar
3 T. butter
1 c. sifted flour
1 t. baking power
¼ t. salt
¼ c. milk

Cream butter and sugar. Add sifted dry ingredients alternatively with milk. Note: there are no eggs in this recipe. Spread butter on top of berries.

1 c. sugar
1 T. cornstarch
Dash of cornstarch
1 c. boiling water

Mix sugar, salt and cornstarch. Turn dry mixture over batter. Then pour 1 c. boiling water over top. Bake at 375 degrees for one hour.

Serve warm, topped with a small serving of vanilla ice cream or whipped cream.

Yum.

If you want to be truly adventuresome, check out Cook’s Illustrated, the issue for July/August 2008 that just came in the mail and their recipe for blueberry pie using grated apple as a thickener. Trust Cooks to come up with something creative.

Bon appetit or better yet, bon blueberry.

Lucy Beebe Tobias is the author of “50 Great Walks in Florida” published by University Press of Florida and the Authentic Florida Expert for VISIT FLORIDA.