What can I say? It rhymes. I watched rain sleeting off my roof, thank you Lord for every drop, the earth was dry for a long time. I got to wondering about when it stops. What then? It is not a new thought. Generations of people have been collecting water, saving it against that dry day.

A few years back I took a rain barrel course. That barrel sits out back, catching rain rolling off the roof. It is so full the overflow valve has water coming out of it.

Hummm. There’s a message here. Grab rain while it is raining. I went on line and looked at rain barrels. For such an ancient, earthy, simple thing the rain barrels I saw were hideously expensive. Hundreds of dollars. Not happening.

There is a better way closer to home. The Master Gardeners at the Agricultural Center on Old Jacksonville Road have rain barrels for $50. You don’t even have to take a class. You get a used food-grade 60 gallon barrel, already bored with a hole for a spigot and an overflow hole, and a small brown bag with parts.

In Florida, Check IFAS, (the Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences at UF), their Florida Yards & Neighborhoods program, for a free fact sheet on building a rain barrel and call your local Agricultural Extension Office to see if they have barrels. Might want to look at the Yellow Pages to see if there is a barrel supplier nearby.

See the picture of the parts? I haven’t a clue what they are all for. No instructions came with the paper bag. The brochure from the Southwest Florida Water Management District shows how to put in the spigot (screw in halfway, apply PVC cement, finish screwing). Easy. Then even have a page showing how to paint your barrel (could be a fun project for kids). I opted for plain and functional.

I placed mine in the front yard under the roof at the edge near the carport. There is no gutter. The barrel itself is interesting. Once it was filled with olives from Europe. Shipped to the United States for canning, the barrels don’t make the return trip. They are sold to a barrel company. These are hauled to Marion County, Florida from Texas. Increased shipping charges are eating up the slim profit.

You need to elevate the barrel up on concrete or bricks. That spigot is down low. Hard to get a watering can down that low. The top of the rain barrel is solid plastic with a screw lid. I used a jig saw to cut a hole out of the top, then placed a piece of screening across the entire top and tightened down the lid. The screen lets rain in, keeps debris out.

Will mosquitoes breed in a rain barrel? Yes. Joannie has a friend with a horse farm and said they put fish in their water troughs to keep mosquitoes at bay (fish eat the mosquito larvae). Great idea. My rain barrel in the back now has ten small fish (10 for 99 cents) .

It rained this afternoon. My new barrel has water! Ah, conservation. It is contagious. Now in the back yard there is a gutter across the porch. The booklet shows cutting off the gutter pipe, putting in a flexible piece and having water run right down the gutter into a barrel.

Humm. Sounds like I need another rain barrel to catch that gutter runoff. But what do I do with the leftover parts?*

*UPDATE: Turns out the extra parts are for the overflow hole of the top of the barrel. Lori Ball, Staff Assistant II at Marion County Extension Service, read the blog and sent me an e mail. Knowledge is power! Thank you Lori. She also notes that Kathy Patterson, coordinator for the “Florida Yards and Neighbors” suggests buying a cheap hose and attaching it to the overflow. The spigot also has threads to attach a hose to help watering the plants (I hadn’t noticed this). Lots of ways to use your rain barrel.

Lucy Beebe Tobias is the Authentic Florida Expert for VISIT FLORIDA and the author of “50 Great Walks in Florida”, University Press of Florida, February, 2008.

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 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, 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.

There comes a time when the words “the Fountain of Youth” sound pretty attractive. For me, that time is now. So off I go, thinking it will just be a myth, a dream Juan Ponce de Leon chased all over Florida back in the 16th century.

Wrong. There really is a Fountain of Youth. De Leon was sure he had found it near St. Augustine. Today the small spring looks a little hokey all encased in a building full of stage sets, but drinking the water can’t hurt and, who knows, imbibing might help a few wrinkles disappear. De Leon couldn’t get enough of the stuff.

In 1493 de Leon joined Christopher Columbus in his second voyage to the New World. These explorers excelled at saying they were going one place and ended up somewhere else. Obviously they traveled before GPS units were available.

Columbus wanted to find a short passage to India. He ended up finding the New World. De Leon first stayed in the Dominican Republic then conquered Puerto Rico. In 1512 he got a permit (some things never change, like needing permits) from King Ferdinand of Spain to discover Biminy.

Hiring three ships at his own expense he sent out in 1513. Using a really cool instrument called an astrolabe to navigate, the ships went north then turned inland and anchored right up to land on April 2. The next morning they came ashore on what de Leon thought was an island on April 3, 1513.

Because flowers were in bloom, he named it La Florida (the flower). So much for Bimini. De Leon was just north of what would become St. Augustine. He gets the credit for discovering the continental United States. Yes, I know, back in grade school it was all about Pilgrims. Well, guess what, the Spanish were in Florida long before the Pilgrims got their feet wet jumping ship and rock skipping. Ah, the things you learn when you go discovering in Florida.

A guide at the Fountain of Youth told us the Spaniards met Timucuan Indians. Their Indian town called Seloy was right here. The Indians stood over seven feet tall. Good thing they were friendly. The Spaniards averaged about four feet eleven inches. And there was this fountain, a natural spring. The water tasted bitter (sulfur water) but heck, maybe the Indians were tall and lived long because they drank the water. It couldn’t hurt. De Leon loaded up caskets of water to take back to Puerto Rico.

After five days hanging out with Indians and drinking the water, he sailed around the tip of Florida, discovered the Gulf Stream and landed on the West Coast of Florida. Returning again to the West Coast in 1521 he tried to land and start a colony. The Calusa Indians didn’t appreciate the newcomers and fought many battles. De Leon died on from a poisoned arrow wound. He was almost 61 years old, ancient by the standards of the day. Most Spaniards were only living until the age of 30 to 40. Maybe it was the water.

Surprisingly, proof that the Spanish landed on April 3, 1513 lay covered up and ignored for generations. In 1904 a private landowner wanted a palm tree removed to improve the view. The gardener found a pattern of stones buried near the tree. Typically, when Spanish explorers set foot on new soil, they claimed it by making a cross. The long arm has the number of stones corresponding to the century. This cross has 15 stones. The short arm has 13 stones. So the year was 1513. Unpretentious and unadorned, the stones of the cross lie on the ground next to the fountain.

Also found at the site was a salt container. These were used to hold documents and a parchment found inside attested to the fact de Leon was here.

The property is in private hands but operates as an attraction. You can walk the grounds and get the guided tour of the fountain, a big indoor globe that rotates (you just have to see it to believe it) and a planetarium, the oldest planetarium in America. This is where they explain how navigators used that astrolabe. The stars played a major part in discovering the New World.

One building has Indian history and the grounds are open for walking. I like the huge clay jars the Spanish used to put under eves to catch water. The day I was there a group of students from a nearby charter school arrived with sketchbooks and found much to draw.

It is pretty amazing to walk out towards the water and see the area where the small ships (they were 84 feet long) came into shore. The shoreline has changed but this is the spot. And so Florida was discovered. It already had a thriving Indian culture. More cultures would follow.

It is said these are the words Juan Ponce de Leon uttered when he stepped ashore:
“Thanks be to thee, O Lord, who hast permitted me to see something new.”
Amen.

©2008 Lucy Beebe Tobias is a freelance writer, photographer and artist in Ocala, Florida. Her book “50 Great Walks in Florida”, February, 2008, is available now at www.Lucyworks.com

How sweet it is to have this new site. It is a work in progress. Before long, this will be where my blog is posted and upcoming events for my book “50 Great Walks in Florida” and, most exciting, future events including walks in the fall and winter.

Meanwhile, visit www.saturdaymorningswithlucy.com to read weekly blogs and check out www.Lucyworks.com for all things Florida book and more.

walk in peace

lucy

This year the whole growing veggies thing started when the price of gas shot up like a geyser. I’d better grow close to home, I thought and promptly started sowing seeds and seedlings in containers and in the ground.

Of course, the big planter that you saw when this adventure started (see spring blog below) got seeds and seedlings that have grown and overflowed as you can see from the recent photo.

That yellow flower? It is a squash blossom. Quite lovely. When the morning sun rises, the flower opens. As the heat of the day progresses, it closes up tight. Squash flowers are good to eat. Pick them fresh and open and add at the last minute to scrambled eggs for a sweet delicate flavor. The small white flowers you see are from the arugula gone to seed. I read this week that arugula blossoms are good to eat. Perhaps with the new tomato!

Between gas prices rising and the recession (yes, it is here) growing food in your yard and going to local farmer’s markets is starting to look VERY attractive.

I love farmer’s markets, especially ones with organic food. Why put pesticides in your tummy?

In Ocala a farmers market has started at Circle Square on SR 200 every Thursday from 8 a.m. to noon. Wahoo! Something nearby. We went the first day they opened and I came home with . . . .an olive tree. Yes, I know. It is not produce. But someday there will be olives.

If you want to know where the Florida Community Farmer’s Markets are, go to the Florida Agriculture site and look up your county. Some markets are expanded and have farmers and craftspeople and cooked food and . . .well, they are just an adventure. Stroll slowly and be enthralled. You may find something homemade or homegrown with your name on it.

I was in Tallahassee last weekend, staying high up in a hotel overlooking the chain of parks. On Friday night the park below was springtime green with big oak trees. The next morning, as if by magic, the same park still had the trees but you could hardly see the green grass. Tents had sprung up everywhere, an instant city. Craftspeople, farmers, food vendors and even a horse and carriage showed up to give people rides around the parks the old fashioned way. One of the crafts was a lady making beautiful baskets out of pine needles.

The Downtown Market Place happens every Saturday from March through November.

Fernandina Beach has a Farmer’s Market on Saturdays in the historic district. This is a lovely stroll anytime and the market makes it even more special. Funny thing about local markets – you meet people growing plants, raising food, making jams who turn out to live not so far from you and usually know someone you know. It’s called connections. We need them. Buying locally means using less gas and supporting your home community.

While all of that works for me, it may also be what can happen organically when the distribution system breaks down. Did you know that any given grocery store has about two days worth of goods? I didn’t until I read my son Martin’s review in his blog DeepGreenCrystals of the book “World Made By Hand: A Novel” by James Howard Kunstler who thinks the post industrial world will arrive as a slow steady slide. Martin gave it five stars. Yes, this is a pessimistic subject but it doesn’t hurt to ask the question “What if?” Well, what if there were no grocery stores? We’d be back to the way people did business – farmer’s markets, co-operatives, barter and trade, neighbors helping neighbors.

Maybe if we did more of that right now, the slow slide will be put off for a very long time. In fact, growing vegetables and using farmer’s market could be a whole new world for us and squash blossoms are definitely part of the equation. So are ripe tomatoes fresh from the garden. Yum.

Lucy Beebe Tobias is a freelance writer, artist and photographer in Ocala, Florida. Her book “50 Great Walks in Florida” is part of the Wild Florida series published by University Press of Florida

Born in Ocala National Forest on Oct. 11, 1994, her boxer mother was supposed to be bred to another boxer but met a Golden Retriever instead. She is survived by two sisters who live in Ocklawaha with Erika Ritter. The whereabouts of her four brothers, all adopted, are not known.

Her forever family in Ocala includes Mom Lucy, a stepsister Annie, five years younger, and her feline pack currently consisting of Amy, Tito and Grace. A story about her aging and illness can be found in an earlier bog below. See “Saturdays Past” on the right in 2005 for a sweet tale from her youth – about the day Suzi danced with butterflies.

This photo of Suzi in her younger days was taken by Alan Youngblood of the Star Banner. Suzi was dressed in pearls and a flower for a feature story on dressing up your dog. Alan had her complete attention because he was most generous with the dog biscuits.

Suzi loved to swim and run. She and her mom did many 5k races together. Suzi could have won first place if she had a better human runner. She looked forward to going to the beach but lakes, rivers and wading pools were fine too.

Her mission in life was to keep Mom close at all times, and that meant going from room to room which got much harder towards the end. With the exception of the last two weeks of her life, Suzi never had an unhappy day in her life, something many people cannot say for their time here on earth.

She has crossed the Rainbow Bridge and can now be ageless. She will be eternally happy running free, off lead, forever.

In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the Humane Society of Marion County, P.O. Box 1542, Ocala, Fl. 34478-1542.

I confess my step gets a little extra skip in it when I see an independent bookstore blooming in a funky building. Independent bookstores also fit in well with supporting local businesses and I’m trying to do just that.

Inkwood Books resides in a pale yellow1920′s bungalow with aqua trim located near Hyde Park in Tampa. Right across the street a two-story building is going up – this will be Publix Supermarket’s first organic supermarket. Hum, organic food on one side, books on the other . . .

Walking in the door on Tuesday morning, I was greeted with smiles and “Welcome”. Right ahead of me were a couple, regulars, and they were greeted by name.

I turn left into what may have once been the parlor. Bookshelves fill the walls from floor to ceiling. A large table has books displayed and, what’s this? A small plate of chocolate chip cookies sits on the table. It is not a prop. These are real. Next to the plate stands a gentlemen with silver hair thumbing through a book and munching on a cookie.

I wander on, past fiction, non-fiction, through another room, perhaps the old dining room. I soak up colors, book covers and the wonderful smell of new books. Also I’ve got an eye out for the Floridana section to see if they carry my travel guide 50 Great Walks in Florida, published by University Press of Florida, February, 2008, part of their Wild Florida series. Yes, it is part of my new life to visit bookstores and check the shelves. This is not a chore for me!

Ahead of me is a small round table with a sign saying, “Celebrate Spring”. The books are artfully arranged on top and, I’m not making this up, 50 Great Walks in Florida is on the table. Honest! I took a picture or you wouldn’t believe me. (book is upper middle on the left next to the roses).

Then I meet Leslie Reiner, her arms full of books ready to be shelved. Leslie and her sister Carla Jimenez are co-owners for the past 17 years of Inkwood Books at 216 South Armenia Avenue in Tampa.

When I asked Leslie what she likes best about having an independent bookstore she says immediately “The people.” It is so obvious customers are like family (pass the cookies please). Not only do they know what books customers want, the owners themselves, since it is an independent bookstore, get to put their personal stamp on things.

“We get to choose things that are meaningful to us,” Leslie says, “Not like the big box stores where corporate headquarters tell you what books to carry.”

Inkwood has close relations with local schools including St. John Greek Orthodox Day School, where I was earlier in the day, having been asked by their Friends of the Library to speak to parents about 50 Great Walks (see marquee sign, Liz Prokosch took the the picture).

We met for the talk/slide show in the school library, an upbeat place that has a flat-bottomed jon boat brightly painted and outfitted with big pillows. The perfect place for reading. I often wonder why kids have all the fun. Can’t adults have a jon boat to read in too?

At Inkwood I signed copies of my book and Leslie inserted a card saying “Signed by the author”. We were both smiling.

I bought Mirage by Cynthia Barnett, a grim but beautifully written book on Florida and the vanishing water crisis. On the way out more people were coming in. They were greeted by name. Ah, my kind of place. Here are several more independent bookstores in Florida that are like nectar to a butterfly for me:

Books Inc. and Book Lovers Café in Gainesville has floor to ceiling old and new books in a former residence at 505 NW 13th Street, Gainesville. I really like browsing through the cookbook section, conveniently located next to the Café.

Phil and Anne Haisley started Books Inc. in their home in Indiana, and then brought the store with them to Gainesville. The addition of a vegetarian café, utilizing the home’s kitchen, led to the store’s motto: “Come for the books. Stay for the food.”

Dale Julien has Downtown Books in an old storefront at 67 Commerce Street in Apalachicola. A display of current best sellers caught my eye and I ended up with The Memory Keepers Daughter by Kim Edwards. A book you cannot put down. I should know, I was up until 3 a.m. reading, aggggg…..

The latest issue of Writers Digest has Literary Hot Spots – not surprisingly, independent bookstores take the lead. Like Elliott Bay Book Company in Seattle and Books & Books in Coral Gables. The hot spots are online too.

The independent bookstores that speak to me could easily have the motto: “Come for the books. Stay for the ambiance.” Now if they have coffee, I may never leave.

Lucy Beebe Tobias is a writer, photographer and artist in Ocala, Florida. She is the Authentic Florida Expert for Visit Florida.

Guess what? Serendipity – the dog spa is right across the street from Mystic Bean! And so I ordered a latte and had a chance to talk with Michael Sasich, owner of Mystic Bean along with his wife Carol.

“We are a micro brewery. We buy coffee from farmers all over the world,” says Michael.
When you walk in the door, to the right is a glass wall and behind that is the roasting operation. You can buy coffee beans there or from their Web site.

To the left, one whole wall, floor to ceiling, has roasted coffee beans in bright packages. Some are organic, many have a label that says “Stewardship Coffee” but you won’t find the “Fair Trade” label.

Until talking with Michael, I thought “Fair Trade” was the responsible choice, cutting out middlemen and paying coffee and tea growers a living wage.

“Fair Trade and Transfair sold out,” Michael asserts. “They make farmers join cooperatives and the cooperatives get the money and are owned by the likes of Nestle, Starbucks . . . “

Hummm. Food for thought. Mystic Bean has joined the group that endorses Stewardship Coffee.

Here is an excerpt from an article by Mark Thomsen in Sustainability Investment News:
“To be designated a Stewardship coffee, the farms must restrict the use of synthetic fertilizers and pesticides, control erosion, conserve biodiversity in the natural environment, and minimize the consumption of natural resources in processing. The farms must also ensure workers get fair compensation, access to food, water and shelter, medical care, training, a minimal exposure to chemicals, and education for their children.”

Michael and Carol came from Seattle more than a decade ago and have had several coffee companies in St. Augustine, taking a break for a few years to go sailing. Mystic Bean, their new location, has been open for one year.

Coffee is a passion for this couple. Their way of doing business is a mission.

“We see this as a vehicle to helping people in the Third World with their economy, children and families. It helps build schools and clinics. It is our way of giving back,” says Michael.

Mystic Bean Coffee Company is at 470 SR 207, St. Augustine, phone (904) 669-7610. They have food too – homemade cookies, cakes, sandwiches, pizza, and oh yes, free wi fi. My kind of place.

Let’s see, Annie had a bath and a blueberry facial at the dog spa. She had a great time and would like to go back. I’m ready, as long as we can stop at Mystic Bean. There is even a table outside where I can sit with Annie.

Lucy Beebe Tobias is a freelance writer, photographer and artist in Ocala, Florida. She is the Authentic Florida Expert for Visit Florida and the author of “50 Great Walks in Florida.”