Florida Museum Beats Winter Doldrums

Posted by Lucy Tobias on Mar 3rd, 2010 | Comments Off

The Florida Museum of Natural History in Gainesville wants you to see Florida’s natural beauty with fresh eyes. From Feb. 6 through April 25 the Quilters of Alachua County Day Guild have 100 original quilts on display in a juried show. You’ve never viewed Florida quite like this – beauty captured for all seasons in stitches and fabric.

Then you know, or have heard about, about Butterfly Rainforest attraction, an outdoor exhibit attached to the Museum. Wear bright clothing, especially red, and maybe butterflies will land on your clothes as you walk through their environment.

Inside the Museum are fossils galore, shark’s jaws, water stories, tales of Calusa Indians and you can even walk through time from the Eocene, 65 million years ago, to the Pleistocene when humans arrive 14,000 years ago (just yesterday!).

Why go visit the museum now? Say it with me – It is time for a change! We are in withdrawal from the Winter Olympics – what? No more curling? Plus, we are weary of winter, a cold season that has stayed on in Florida like an overripe house guest without the decency to leave.

Take charge, leave the house, go someplace with the thermostat set at 72 and a little on the wild side. I recommend the Florida Museum of Natural History. Admission is free and it is family friendly, making this museum my kind of place.

Just inside the entrance is a mastodon in the Central Gallery. Huge is an understatement. His tusks are thick, curved and look very fierce. Just his bones are on display but still, I’m very glad he is yesterday’s news and not coming soon to my neighborhood. His presence does however set the tone for a walk into the past as you go through the exhibits.

How easy it is to forget there was a Florida before Interstate 75. And what a vibrant, diverse heritage we have. The exhibits are clustered in permanent spaces.

Like sharks teeth? click to see a short video on shark jaws at Florida Museum

The exhibits put you in a different time and place. Watch water flow through a hardwood hammock and a limestone cave, see shark jaws so big you’ll reconsider going swimming, experience Indian village life and finally, my personal favorite, the Hall of Florida Fossils: Evolution of Life and Land. Who knew our history went back 65 million years? I did not. It was, and still is, fascinating news to me.

Museum hours are Monday – Saturday, 10-5 and Sunday 1-5. Address: University of Florida Cultural Plaza, SW 34th Street & Hull Road, Gainesville, phone (352) 846-2000. Closed Thanksgiving & Christmas. Website: http://www.flmnh.ufl.edu

A word about exhibits – the Museum is free. Special temporary exhibits, like the quilt show, charge admission, as does Butterfly Rainforest. The quilt show entitled “Quilting Natural Florida II” costs $6 adults, $5 Florida residents, $4.50 seniors and Florida college students and free for youth 17 and under and museum members.

Butterfly Rainforest prices are $9.50 adults, $8 Florida residents, $7 ages 62 and up, $5 ages 3-12. Last admission is 4:30 p.m.

Every Saturday and Sunday Butterfly Rainforest sells butterfly-friendly plants, 10 plants each week plus an unannounced species. A list of what is on sale is under Plant Sales For example, the weekend of March 13-14 has Blanketflower, Blue eyed grass, Dianthus, Fetterbush, Impatiens, Passionflower, Lavender Lady, Plumbago, red, Sage, tropical, Sunshine Mimosa and Turkey Tangle Fogfruit.

March Museum events:
March 8, 10-11 Discover Hour for ages 2-8
March 20, 10-3 Can you dig it?
March 22, 10-11 Discovery Hour for ages 2-8
March 25, 7-9 p.m. Scott Sampson “Dinosaur Odyssey” Lecture & book signing.
March 27, 11-4 From “Vague” to Vision Quilt Workshop

Finally, I’d be remiss not to mention the big temptation just inside the front door – the Museum gift shop. Take a deep breath. Resist. Do the Museum first. The gift shop will still do its siren call to you on your way out.

Afterwards, should you not want to go home to dead plants and more freezing weather, just go next door to the Harn Museum of Art. Admission is free. Open Tuesday through Friday from 11-5, Saturday 10-5 and Sunday, 1-5. Closed Mondays and state holidays. In the basement is a delightful lunch spot, the Camellia Court Café open from 11-3.

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NOTE: We are grateful to you, our subscribers, for following Saturday Morning Magazine and in appreciation we have a gift for you – a free booklet on getting started walking in Florida. Here is the link. Enjoy

Give a Day, Get a Day, Clean Up a Forest & More

Posted by Lucy Tobias on Jan 28th, 2010 | Comments Off

In the chill of early morning a line of cars blinked their left turn signals to get into Lake George Ranger District parking lot. Orange cones directed cars into two lanes.

I rolled down my window and pulled up to a woman dressed in the fashionable two-toned forest green uniform favored by Ocala National Forest personnel.

She leaned in and said: “Welcome to Disney World.”

I started laughing. It is 7:15 a.m. on Saturday, Jan. 23, 2010. Mickey Mouse is nowhere in sight. We are in Ocala National Forest, two hours north of Disney.
She groaned and squeezed her eyes shut.

“I didn’t mean to say that,” she gasped, then handed me the form to fill out for picking up trash at the Ocala National Forest Clean-Up Day. On the form is a box to check if you are registered as a Disney volunteer. No wonder Disney was on her mind.

You see Disney has this really cool program that started January 1, 2010. They want to inspire one million people in a program called Give a Day, Get a Day. You give a day for community service and in return you get a free day at either Disney property – Florida or California.

The list of possibilities is long and diverse and included this cleanup day.

After checking in at Lake George, cars were directed to staging areas. I ended up at the Fore Lake Division with 407 other people. There were 10 divisions in all. Heather Frebe, pubic information officer for Ocala National Forest, said an estimated 2000 people came to clean up on Saturday morning, with 1322 people checking the Disney box. (you had to be preregistered with Disney to qualify the event).

“We started out at 4 a.m. this morning,” said John Romig of Jacksonville, armed with his black garbage bag and walking the sides of a forest road with his wife Nicki, daughter Reagan and son Mitch. It is a good two-hour drive from Jacksonville to the forest.

The Romigs came well prepared with packages yellow latex kitchen gloves purchased from the dollar store. They gave me a pair and I was grateful. These gloves are a must for picking up trash.

“It is fun picking up trash,” said daughter Reagan then she gave me a look and made a pronouncement with a teenager’s grown-up wisdom: “Picking up trash is picking up trash.”

So true. And pick it up we did, at least two bags each. – beer cans were everywhere along with soda bottles, water bottles and the occasional finds of really big dump sites – sofas, household trash – time to call in the pickup trucks and serious muscle to haul that trash away.

“My daughter signed the whole family up, six of us,” said Lois Gibbons of Ocala. She was searching dirt road areas along with her husband Richard. It was the couple’s first time at a forest clean up.

“This is a beautiful place. It is land God gave us, we need to take care of it,” Lois said but she didn’t see much hope of changing behaviors that lead to throwing cans out car windows. “It is young people driving off the paved tracks throwing cans.”

Her husband asked if I know the difference between a good old boy and a redneck. Ummmm, no.
“A good old boy throws his cans in the back of his pickup truck,” said Richard. “A redneck throws them out the window.”

Now you know.

And the Disney angle? Huge. Being out in the forest in the sunshine, picking up trash, would be a Disney day for me, for the Romigs and the Gibbons and so many others. Who knew picking up trash could lead to such fun and such a savings?

“We couldn’t all afford to go to Disney as a family without doing this,” Gibbons said. “My daughter worked a night shift at Munroe and she is coming out for this today.”

It is one ticket per customer no matter how many times you volunteer. The program continues until one million tickets are distributed or until December 15, 2010. To search for an activity on the Disney site, type in your zip code and look at the all or narrow the categories down to say, animals and the environment, arts and culture, children and community. Personally I loved getting outdoors and doing something positive.

What are you waiting for? Sign up to give a day. This is, as management gurus like to say, a win-win situation.

And volunteering makes a difference. Forest officials say the six hour cleanup netted 46 tons of trash in the Marion County area and 30 tons of trash in the Lake County area. Yes, it was worth it.

Lucy Beebe Tobias is your expert for finding authentic Florida. She is a former New York Times Regional Group reporter and columnist and the author of “50 Great Walks in Florida”, University Press of Florida. Her Website is: www.Lucytobias.com

Take a Boat Ride in History’s Wake

Posted by Lucy Tobias on Dec 30th, 2009 | Comments Off

Breakfast at the Old Spanish Sugar Mill Restaurant inside DeLeon Springs State Park is an event. The tables have built in griddles. Our waitress showed us the button to turn on the griddle (gee, that was the hard part, it was on a table leg, we never would have found it).

As the griddle warmed, she brought coffee, big pitchers of home-milled pancake batters and the sides we’d chosen – blueberries and eggs. We began pouring batter, laughing, enjoying the moment, watching for the telltale bubbles that mean it is time to flip those pancakes.

Our table faced the windows. We looked out at DeLeon Springs headspring with its walled off swimming area and a waterfall spilling over boulders into Spring Garden Lake. This tranquil scene, with 19 million gallons of water a day coming from an underground cavern, empties its crystal clear water into Spring Garden Creek, then onto Lake Woodruff National Wildlife Refuge, the St. Johns River and eventually this water flows into the Atlantic Ocean. What a journey! And it begins here.

Across the way sat M.V Acuera, a 28-seat pontoon boat with a canvas roof cover. On the sides it says Fountain of Youth ECO/History Tours. Our plan: first, enjoy breakfast, and then take a boat trip. It worked but not quite the way we’d envisioned.

Tours leave at 10 a.m., 11 a.m., noon and 1 p.m. Tickets are $12. The narrated boat ride lasts 50 minutes, going down Spring Garden Creek and into Lake Woodruff National Wildlife Refuge. Reservations can be made at Sugar Mill or call the boat tour (386)-837-5537. To know more, visit the eco-tour’s Website.

BUT, and it is a big “but”, there must be a minimum of eight passengers for a tour to leave the dock. We were just two people ready for the 11 a.m. Apparently no one else wanted to leave the griddles.

So off we went to nearby DeLand, walking around downtown, visiting galleries, shops and museums. Captain Frank assured us he had 12 signed up for the 1 p.m. We returned (your park entrance receipt gets you back in all day) and boarded the M/V Acuera.

Captain Frank tells us Native Americans used to visit the springs 6,000 years ago. That was long before pancakes. In the early 1800’s Major Joseph Woodruff and his wife Jan bought 2,000 acres, grew sugar cane and indigo.

“He was the first to bring slaves to Florida,” Frank says.

There on the right – an anhinga and a great blue heron. On the left, snowy egrets and moor hens. An osprey sits high in a tree.

It is late fall, some color on the trees, most are bare.
“Come earlier in the fall for a brilliant change of color in the fall bright sunshine,” says Frank.

We see white ibis, lots of them, they were the sacred bird of Egypt.

Colonel Orlando Rees bought it in 1831 and made the earthen dam to power a sugar mill. Naturalist John James Audubon visited Rees in 1832 and Rees took him on a boat trip along the waterways, just like we are doing now. This is a great way to see birds. As we smoothly glide along, bird sighting are frequent. We also ask about plants.

Captain Frank points out smooth beggar tick – an unusual name – for yellow flowers blossoming by the water’s edge.

“This is old Florida, the way it looked for centuries, this is what the Spanish saw, what the Indians saw,” Frank says.

In the reeds an immature lack-crowned night heron and a female cormorant. We see an immature little blue heron – they are born white then turn blue in one to two years.

Alligators, big ones, sun themselves on the banks. Capt. Frank says they have 3,000 pounds of pressure in their jaws. We take his word for it.

A tri-colored heron is spotted in the shallows. Overhead a red-shouldered hawk flies by. A cooter turtle suns itself on a log.

We are floating in the Refuge now, some 20,000 acres of preserved land and water.

In the 1800s no highways existed. “The only roads were waterways, product was shipped by water, the only way to get to market,” says Captain Frank. He waves his hand outward. “It is 126 miles by water to Jacksonville. Steamboats came in the late 1820s, that is what really settled Florida from the center out, steam boat traffic, towns developed along the rivers and people came.”

And we come today to float in history’s wake, catch a glimpse of immature yellow crowned night herons and watch a kingfisher fly by. There are moments when you just have to say: “it doesn’t get any better than this.”

Short, narrated boat trips are a great way to see authentic Florida. We loved doing breakfast and a boat trip at DeLeon Springs and we’ll be back with family and friends.

Here are more possibilities:

A boat tour on the Wakulla River at Edward Ball Wakulla Springs State Park located southwest of Tallahassee. Upcoming tours include a photo tour on the Wakulla River on Saturday, Feb. 6 and a Valentine’s Cruise & Dinner on Saturday, Feb. 13.

A tour boat at Jonathan Dickinson State Park in Hobe Sound goes up the Loxahatchee River to Trapper Nelson’s homestead and a ranger-guided tour of the homestead.

A little more adventuresome – From Fort Myers, it is a three-hour (or more) catamaran ride to Key West on the Key West Boat Shuttle. Spend the day or two, return by boat.

Since seeing birds is such a big part of a river boat trip, I recommend a good field guide, particularly the Sibley Guide to Birds.

Pretty amazing that he illustrated every bird. I like the different views. A bird will fly overhead and all you see is the underside. Well, Sibley have those undersides.

©2009 Lucy Beebe Tobias, author of “50 Great Walks in Florida”.. All rights reserved.

Let’s Do Lunch & Then Munch

Posted by Lucy Tobias on Nov 6th, 2009 | Comments Off

Let’s do lunch – this phrase forks up to a whole new level of food at The Bistro tucked inside Marion Technical Institute, 1614 SE Ft. King Street, Ocala. The Bistro, a hands on experience in cooking and serving to the public, is part of the training for future chefs at the Culinary Institute, one of several technical programs at the Institute.

You can do lunch from 11:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. most days, Monday through Friday. Call (352-671-4765) to make sure they are open (school holidays and all that). Come through the front entrance and they’ll direct you to The Bistro.

Menu choices the day we went included soup, salad, sandwiches, a hot entrée special, grilled sandwiches and chicken done different ways plus two cakes that looked wickedly rich (we resisted). Prices ranged from $2.75 for soup and salad to $5.00 for chicken fingers to go (yes, you can get to go).

This is a dynamic learning situation and we, The Bistro customers, are like a final exam. Does this soup taste good? Did the rolls rise enough? Taste and see. Yes and more yes.

Perhaps lunch is waiting for you – cooked by chefs in the making. Check the phone book for a technical institute near you then see if they serve lunch. I can recommend The Bistro here in Ocala – good food served by students whose jaunty chef’s hats are on the rise – future culinary stars perhaps with their own television shows. And we can say, ah, we knew them when . . .

Continue your munching with a walk through food festivals, ah, the free samples, and the great aromas. Here are some possibilities in November . . .

The Orlando Food and Wine Festival, downtown Orlando on Nov. 14 and 15 – along Robinson Street along Lake Eola from Rosalind to Eola Drive. Enjoy you repast on the north side of Lake Eola park. Hours are 12 to 9 on Saturday and 12-6 on Sunday. Advance tickets on Website. Weekend pass is $15; one-day pass is $10.

The 35th Annual Homosassa Arts, Crafts & Seafood Festival, Saturday Nov. 14 from 8-5 and Sunday, Nov. 15 from 8-4:30. Entry donation is $2, children under the age of 12 admitted free. Pets are not allowed. Any festival that is near the water is going to have good seafood – think shrimp.

This weekend, Nov. 7-8 is the 21st annual Ruskin Seafood Festival at a waterfront park right on Tampa Bay. Saturday hours are 10-5, Sunday 10-4. Island music, strolling entertainment, arts and crafts and lots of seafood – lobster, oysters, clams, mullet, shrimp, need I say more?

Finally, a do-it-yourself suggestion – every Friday at Cocoa Village from 11:30 to 1 is a brown bag lunch while listening to live jazz. You bring your lunch and they have some benches but bring your own lawn chair to be sure of a seat. Different musicians show up each week. Cocoa Village is in downtown Cocoa located 20 minutes from Kennedy Space Center.

Did you know that there are lunch suggestions in every chapter of my book “50 Great Walks in Florida”? And for the night walks, there are dinner suggestions, all listed under Trip Essentials. And yes, myself and friends tried each selection. Enjoy!

Coming next month in Saturday Morning magazine = Flower Power

©2009 Lucy Beebe Tobias. All rights reserved.

Night Moves

Posted by Lucy Tobias on Jul 30th, 2009 | Comments Off

We stood around the canoe launch site at Haulover Canal on Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge. Our guide held up a two-bladed paddle and explained techniques. Dig this way, the kayak goes that way. You know the drill.

She joked about those kayaks with two people paddling had to sign a waiver they’d still be speaking to one another at the end. Laughter. No, seriously, once she had to separate a couple. Whoa. I wondered if one of them had to swim back. She didn’t say.

The sun went down. We were waiting on a last group to arrive for Florida’s Original Bioluminescent Kayak Tour (whew – long title!) but still, I felt she was lingering, eying the sunset while we were practically pawing the ground, ready to go. She had a reason and I’d soon find out why.

Leaving someone behind to wait for the latecomers, we snuggled our buns into kayaks, managed not to bump into one another and paddled over to Manatee Lagoon. Sure enough, cries and shouts were heard when manatee snouts appeared as the big, gentle mammals came up for air.

Then we activated luminescent tubes on lanyards. We hung them backwards so the light dangled on our backs. Ours were bluish; the guide had a green glowing light. When in doubt, follow the green light – the guides know where they are going.

Almost single file now we paddle out of Manatee Lagoon, a long line of blue lights, and we end up in Mosquito Lagoon. It lives up to its name. Even with yucky toxic bug repellent sprayed all over me I’d reach down and throw water on my face to get rid of mosquitoes.

We shelved our paddles and drifted. Deep night had arrived without a whisper, like a cat creeping silently. This is why our guide lingered at the launch. The tour is all about night moves. And the dark night was full of surprises.

She instructed us to push a paddle through the water and watch what happened. A beautiful silvery blue light appeared. Thousands, maybe millions, of single cell organisms in the water light up when agitated at night. They only do this in warm summer months of June, July and August and only in two places in the world – here and in Costa Rica.

I dipped my hand in the water and waved it back and forth. The fantastic light show followed me. No sc fi movie could duplicate this – it felt otherworldly and magical.

A mullet darted in the shallows, its trail streaked with silvery blue light. Nobody knows why the bioluminescence occurs. But does it matter? I often think there is too much information. Sometimes it is just a great blessing to be there, in fact you HAVE to be here for this experience – photos won’t work.

Rain had dominated the daylight hours. Thick clouds stayed in the night sky. And then they parted. I saw a shooting star. The clear sky looked like the inside of a big bowl painted midnight blue and speckled with stars twinkling, putting on their own light show. Look up. Look down. Wow. A big WOW.

A Day Away Kayak Tours in Titusville does the two to two and a half hour bioluminescent kayak tours in summer months. The skill level is beginner. Next tour is August 8 at 7:30 p.m. Cost is $32 adult, $32 young adult and $24 child. Phone (321) 268-2655.

Other night moves coming up – when the weather cools, say October, do a moonlight walk on a Clearwater Beach with Linda Taylor of It’s Our Nature This moonlight walk is Chapter 32 in “50 Great Walks with Lucy”, University Press of Florida, 2009.

Enjoy.