Got crabs? The Peace River Seafood Market & Restaurant in Punta Gorda does. Lots of them. Stone crab claws in season along with whole blue crabs that turn from blue to an outrageous shade of orange when they’re steamed.

Waiter Chris Molinet serves a container of blue crabs at Peace River Seafood

Ah, to me a meal in this old cracker house turned restaurant is heaven unfolding. A bucket of steamed blue crabs arrives. Let the serious eating begin.

From the water to your plate, the seafood here is that fresh. After dinner, surrounded by blue crab shells, blissfully full and impressed with a friendly, efficient staff (they keep the crabs coming) – I realized this meal inside an off the beaten path restaurant spoke volumes for the city of Punta Gorda itself – a vibrant, energetic, off the beaten path place that hums with friendly people who care about their community plus, and this is a big plus, Punta Gorda has a full catch of delights from waterfront walks and gallery walks to serious fishing, elegant places to stay and fresh seafood.

Historic Downtown Punta Gorda has this motto: “It’s happening on the Harbor.”

Indeed it is happening on Charlotte Harbor. Devastated by Hurricane Charlie in 2004 that caused $3.2 billion worth of damage in Punta Gorda and Charlotte County, the spirit to rebuild includes the theme of connectivity.

One result: The Punta Gorda Harborwalk is a long walkable/bikable connection. It goes from the west end of Gilchrist Park next to Fishermen’s Village east about 2.3 miles and ends near a medical center.

Punta Gorda Harborwalk

What a great promenade – the Harborwalk has winding wide sidewalks, trees, benches, overlooks. On some parts you can walk your dog, other parts are a no-no. Watch for signs.

Plans are to eventually have a Ring Around the City, about 18 miles of bicycle and pedestrian trains and paths connecting Punta Gorda’s neighborhoods, parks and commercial areas. Super!

While cars whiz by overhead on two bridges (US 41 going north and south) walkers, joggers, and bikers can go under the bridges in style. For those who like a bit of uphill, there are walkways on the bridges. Left your bike at home? Not to fret. There are free canary yellow bicycle loans with three locations on this walkway – Fishermen’s Village, Four Points by Sheraton and Dockmaster’s building at Laishley Park.

Punta Gorda has a free bike loaner program

I stayed at Four Points by Sheraton and literally walked right out the front door, turned left, and there was the bike rack and the Harborwalk. Perfect.

Everyone I passed on my early morning stroll, walkers, joggers and bikers, said “Hello” or “Good morning”. What a great way to start the day. A crabber had a full bucket of crabs. Wading birds worked the shoreline. Dolphins swam in the Harbor.

breakfast at Elena's, Punta Gorda

Later I had breakfast at Elena’s, 615 Cross Street, phone (941) 575-1888, a friendly, family place with funky turquoise and purple booths. Located in the Cross Trails Shopping Center, it came recommended by locals and I can now add my two thumbs up, especially the hash browns.

Punta Gorda is the kind of place where you come across it by accident or design, take a look around, and end up staying for the next 20 years or more.

“I sailed into Charlotte Harbor 20 years ago to see my brother and stayed,” said Charles Peck, a fine artist who turned his talents to murals. He has just finished a mural of the old hotel in downtown Punta Gorda, and has others to his credit.
“We are in a transient society,” Peck said. “These murals create a sense of social continuity.”

Charles Peck, artist, with hotel mural, Punta Gorda

All murals, 22 and counting, have a historic theme and are presented by the Punta Gorda Historic Mural Society that has its office at 715 Monaco Drive, Punta Gorda, phone (941) 575-0785.

Cattle Drive down Marion Avenue mural section, Punta Gorda

In a different vein, for a look at wildlife rescue, visit Peace River Wildlife Center at 3400 West Marion Avenue, phone (941) 637-3830, inside Ponce de Leon Park.

With each new find it became obvious that Punta Gorda can’t be seen and experienced in a day or overnight, give yourself several days to soak up the vibes and the smiles.

Note: Many thanks to the Charlotte Harbor Visitor & Convention Bureau for coordinating our trip and to the Four Points by Sheraton Punta Gorda Harborside for providing accommodations.

Jennifer Huber, Tourism Public Relations Manger for the Charlotte Harbor Visitor & Convention Bureau sums it up well:
“There are lots of reasons to be here, very active in the wintertime from November to Easter. People here care about conservation. They care about each other. People have specifically chosen to live here and they bring their values with them.”

Upcoming in Punta Gorda:

Annual Christmas Light Canal Tours, Friday, Dec. 2-Saturday, Dec. 31, call (941) 639-0969.

Annual Peace River Lighted Boat Parade (941) 639-3720, begins at dusk on Sunday, Dec. 11, free. Location: Charlotte Harbor.

Festival of Lights, Fishermen’s Village, through Dec. 31

COMING IN JANUARY SATURDAY MORNING MAGAZINE – “Where the Trees Are . . .”

Who: Lucy Beebe Tobias, Florida writer and Ocala resident
What: Slide show/talk/book signing of “Florida Gardens Gone Wild”
Where: Marion County Public Library, 2720 East Silver Springs Blvd., Ocala, phone (352) 368-4507
When: Sunday, Dec. 11, 2011, at 2 p.m.
Admission: Free. Refreshments will be served
Sponsor: Friends of Ocala Public Library

Ocala writer Lucy Tobias has taken her love affair with the Sunshine State to another level. The prize-winning journalist who took us along as she explored the historic and downright quirky nooks of our state in 50 Great Walks in Florida now has a book for eco gardeners. It’s a combination of both inspirational and practical advice for gardeners.
“Florida Gardens Gone Wild unfolds the story of my down and dirty life with gardening,” says Tobias. “There are moments of infatuation, days of frustration, and light-bulb moments, like discovering natives, and organics and connections with nature. I had no idea so many things were so connected. Along the way I found resources, and places to visit that will surprise even seasoned gardeners.”
Tobias will show slides of gardens, flowers, rain barrels, butterflies and much more. A book signing follows the talk. This book is perfect for Christmas giving.
For this event the book, normally $15.95 will be $12. For every book sold a donation of $2 goes to the Friends of Ocala Public Library.

For more information: Lucy Tobias (352) 816-1251 or use the contact form.

Well, buckle up. Have I got a super road trip just for you.

Fernandina Beach, 23 miles north of Jacksonville, combines the gracefulness of yesterday hand in hand with today’s amenities – upscale shopping, awesome seafood and other culinary delights (including fantastic fudge), great places to stay and a slew of things to do both outdoors and indoors.

Tucked on the north end of Amelia Island, this town is all about water. Fernandina Beach touches the Atlantic Ocean on its east side. The Amelia River laps at its north point (you look across the water and see Georgia) and the place to watch sunsets is along the Intracoastal Waterway on its west side. With water on three sides it is no wonder many start their day inhaling salty air by going fishing or taking a walk.

Start your morning walking the Atlantic side beach at low tide. Bend over and do the shoreline shuffle, a slow walk with eyes pealed for shark’s teeth and whole shells.

Look up once in a while. Perhaps a line of pelicans will swoop by low to the water, alert to any fish below. Or you might see a submarine coming out of Kings Bay and headed into the Atlantic. Shrimp boats may be headed out too.

Ah, shrimp. Here in Fernandina Beach, the little crustacean is the stuff of legends. The modern shrimping industry started right here in the early 20th century, and there is no need to remember that because the Isle of Eight Flags Shrimp Festival, a huge weekend blowout always held the first weekend in May, will do it for you.

Pirates roam the streets and so do visitors. Eight blocks of downtown are closed to traffic so pedestrians have the right of way to view arts and crafts booths, vendors selling, what else? Shrimp, live music, happenings all day long and late into the night.

By comparison, the rest of the year in Fernandina Beach seems positively quiet, but not really. There is always a festival or a happening of some kind going on – a writers festival, music festival, food festival, antique car festival – you get the idea. This is a town that likes to party.

A good place to gather information is the Fernandina Beach Chamber of Commerce Visitor Center inside the old Railroad Depot at 1102 Center Street. Lots of free brochures for the taking and we found a friendly face at the desk to answer questions.

If walking in historic districts is your thing, be sure to pick up the free Fernandina Historic District Tour guide. Fifty blocks are on the National Register of Historic Places. The guide has color pictures.

For a guided tour check with the Amelia Island Museum of History.
If you take one of their private tours of historic homes, it is a chance to see the inside of some historic homes. They also offer museum tours at 11 a.m. and 2 p.m. each day, Ghost Tours every Friday starting at 6 p.m. and a Pub Crawl (one ticket takes you to four pubs) every Thursday at 5:30 p.m. Reservations required.

Just across the railroad tracks from the Train Depot is a stop for the Amelia Island Trolley, a different way to see the sights.

Personally I try to plan my visit so that a Saturday is in the equation. Every Saturday from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. is the Fernandina Farmers Market located on 7th Street and Centre Street. Small but full of local farmers, organic produce, outstanding plant vendors, fresh foods including a bakery. Yummy.

Here’s a plan for a Saturday. Throw off the shoes, get sand between the toes, and go for a beach walk. That will work up an appetite. Head downtown, have breakfast at Bright Morning Cafe a great breakfast spot with indoor and outdoor seating. They have something called Southern Comfort – a bowl of grits with poached eggs and cheese on top. Over the top but so truly southern comfort.

Be advised to always check hours and days of operation for any place you want to visit. Bright Morning opens early, 8 a.m. on Saturdays, but most of downtown Fernandina does not rise and shine until 11 a.m. It is not unusual to see tourists wandering around downtown early, looking for places that are open.

After breakfast, take a walk uptown and visit the Farmers Market, it is open all morning. Right across the street is Eileen’s Art & Antique Centre full of fun stuff including artwork by the owner, Eileen Shannon Moore.

If art is calling you do visit the Island Art Association at 18 N. Second Street, downtown. In addition to the co-op gallery a new art education building next door offers all kinds of classes, including walk in adult art classes.

Notice the mosaics on the outside wall. It is a work in progress and future sessions include mosaic “parties” where you can get involved. Ask about the Mosaic Project.

Whew! By now I’d be ready for a good latte at Amelia Island Coffee on Centre Street. If you are feeling electronically deprived, there is free wi fi here.

Fortified by caffeine, I never miss a chance to visit Barnabas New to You at 930 S. 14th Street. It is a car trip from downtown, but not far. It should be on everyone’s trip list. This amazing place is loaded with great high end brands of everything from clothes to furniture to household goods all at prices that will knock your socks off they are so low. And you are helping to fund their charitable work. I easily walk out with a bag full of great finds for under $20 and had fun doing the deed.

Well, you get the drift of how my Saturday in Fernandina is going. I’d like to head to Fort Clinch State Park next, maybe walk or ride a bike and surely take a walk out on the fishing pier. It may be a weekend when they have Civil War reenactments, a real bonus. If so, do take the evening candlelight tour of Fort Clinch.

On our last visit we went to dinner at the Crab Trap downtown at 31 N. Second Street, and had shrimp caught that day! Of course the day is not complete without walking a few blocks over to the waterfront and watching the sunset. You will have lots of company. This is an evening ritual.

What are we waiting for? Start the engines. Fernandina Beach is calling.

Oh, and about that fudge. Fantastic Fudge at the corner of Centre Street and 3rd Street has been making their own fudge for 20 years. And, yes, it is fantastic.

©2011 Lucy Beebe Tobias. All rights reserved.

Ah, the choices we’ll have to make, choosing festivals, not to mention a scramble by groups like Save the Manatee to find enough volunteers for both events.

Ready or not, here they are: Saturday January 22 and 23, Saturday and Sunday from 10-3 p.m. is the Orange City Blue Spring Manatee Festival at Valentine Park on West French Avenue off Highway 17-92. This is a fundraiser for the Orange City community including Friends of Blue Spring State Park, scholarships and non-profit groups.

Admission: $8 adult ($10 if you bring your dog), $2 children ages 4-10, under the age of three admitted free. Lots of family friendly things including arts and crafts, presentations by Central Florida Zoo, SPCA Adopt-A-Pet, sand sculpting, food and entertainment.

Sharp-eyed readers, that would be you, have noticed the manatee festival is not held where the manatees are – namely Blue Spring State Park. But they’ve got that covered with a free shuttle bus to Blue Spring State Park to see the manatees.

Note gray log shapes near water's edge - all are manatees at Blue Spring State Park

On a recent visit we took to the state park over 200 manatees, including a number of baby manatees, lounged in water tinted emerald green and dappled with shadow shapes from trees leaning over the water’s edge.

The other festival is January 22-23, Saturday and Sunday, from 9-5 on Saturday and 9-4 on Sunday, when downtown Crystal River has its 24th annual Florida Manatee Festival. A donation of $3 per person is requested, children 12 and under admitted free.

The two-cay event includes an art show, a beer and wine garden with a live band, a manatee education area with continuous movies, children’s activities on the creative playground behind City Hall and boat rides (additional cost) in Kings Bay to see manatees.

Nearby manatee sanctuaries include Three Sisters Springs at Kings Bay in Crystal River   and other manatee sanctuaries set aside in Kings Bay plus Ellie Schiller Homosassa Springs Wildlife State Park.

Why have manatee festivals in January? Because winter months are when manatees come into warmer waters like Kings Bay and Blue Springs and you can see them gathered in groups.

Manatee statue at Homosassa Springs Wildlife State Park

Be sure to check out the Save the Manatee Club booth at either festival or visit their Web site or call them at 1-800-432-5646. This non- profit group has been champions for manatees since 1981 when the group was started by singer/songwriter Jimmy Buffett and former U.S. Senator Bob Graham (when he was governor of Florida).

We could take life lessons from these gentle giants who wish harm to no one. Their curiosity leads them to come right up to us, trusting souls that they are.

Manatees are Florida’s official state marine mammals and they are endangered. They’ve been around for millions of years. Gentleness has worked in their favor until now. Human activity – like running boats at full speed and colliding with manatees – could be the death of them.

They don’t need us. We need them. Everything is connected and West Indian manatees, gentle gray blimps in our waterways, are living proof of that. The Save the Manatee Club web site has many resources for students, teachers and everyday folks including a great program called Adopt-A-Manatee.

Feeding a manatee at Homosassa Springs Wildlife State Park

Never seen a manatee? Well, welcome to 2011. New year, time to learn new things. Go to a manatee festival or visit a state park with manatees or take a kayak tour in Crystal River to see manatees. Take your children and grandchildren.

By the way the kayak ecotour is a good way to see manatees with a hands off approach (no swimming with them which is stressful to the manatees). The Save the Manatee club is doing kayak tours. Another good choice for a kayak tour of manatees is going with Lars Andersen of Adventure Outpost.

Lucy Beebe Tobias of Ocala writes, blogs and videos Authentic Florida.

GET DOWN AND DIRTY WITH FLORIDA GARDENING

Like to get down and dirty in the garden? So do I, and I look forward to getting “Florida Gardening” loaded with everything you wanted to know about gardening in this tropical paradise. And yes, sometimes I write for them. An article coming out soon on putting rain barrels in your yard.

Yep, I’ve got one of those lists too. Pulled it out of a pile of papers on the desk the other day.

At the top of the list – attend the Space Coast Birding & Wildlife Festival. Every year I want to go, but something comes up. This year I’m determined to get there.

Scrub jays are easy to photograph because they are so friendly and curious. They come right to you. Photo by David McRee

And what a festival it is. The 2011 dates are January 26-31. It all takes place in and around Titusville and the Space Coast with tours, field trips, talks and exhibits. Festival registration fee is $10. Many field trips and talks require pre-registration and a payment of a fee. Other activities are free. Brevard Community College North Campus is the ground zero location for classes and exhibits.

Binocular display and for sale in Exhibit Hall. Photo by David McRee

Here is what David McRee (aka Beach Hunter) the official blogger for the festival has to say:
“The Space Coast Birding Festival is one of the largest birding festivals in the country and has more activities than any other birding festival. What is unique about this festival, I’m told, is that there are multiple classes and field trips going on at the same time in different locations. (I don’t have experience with other birding festivals so I rely on other birders to tell me that this is unique to the Space Coast festival).”
“The festival expects well over 4,000 people to attend during the 6-day event and more than 1,200 will register to participate in activities. There will be nearly 350 activities when you include all the exhibits, art competition, field trips, classroom presentations and keynotes.”

Field trip in Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge. Photo by David McRee.

David is right about the wealth of activities. Without thinking I went to the Web site and clicked on the tab to download this year’s brochure. My printer would not quit. I thought it was in some kind of endless loop. Nope, the brochure prints out to a whopping 46 plus-pages long. I’d suggest looking at it online before committing that many trees to destruction.

So many choices – this festival is a buffet table for anyone into or wanting to get involved in birding. Last year people came from 37 states and 9 foreign countries. And it pays to be an early bird (pun intended) for registration. The keynote speaker and many field trips fill up fast. When spaces are gone, they are gone.

Here is a free idea – At the Exhibit Center for this festival Ace Hardware of Titusville will have free supplies of hangers and birdseed for you and your children, or grandchildren, to make your own bird feeder. You supply the plastic bottle. It is recycling, a family project and how great it is to attract birds to your backyard.

Here are some social network festival links:
Twitter: @scbwf
YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/spacecoastbirdfest
Facebook: http:www.facebook.com/spacecoastbirdingandwildlifefestival

Giving credit where credit is due – David McRee took all the photographs with this story. Thanks David!

Birding in Florida is such a delight and this festival, or any birding festival is a great way to get connected, get started and get psyched. It is easy to be a birder – a pair of binoculars and good walking shoes and you are on your way. Oh yes, a field book is nice but every birding walk I’ve been on has people with backpacks full of books and willing to share.

The Great Florida Birding Trail is an obvious starting point – all their section brochures are free. I’m sure they’ll have a booth at this festival.

The extra-added attraction attached to Florida birding is the cool season – right now and the next couple of months – is our best weather plus wading birds are literally snowbirds and come south in winter to take advantage of marshes and wetlands.

Hummm, now I have to pick a day to go to the Space Coast Festival and the activities. Aggggggh! Help!

Meanwhile, here are some holiday happenings in areas covered by my book
“50 Great Walks in Florida”

St. Augustine (chapter 22) – Nights of Lights in the nation’s oldest city, every night through January 31, lots of special activities including nighttime tours of ancient buildings, check out this Web site.

Pensacola (chapter 4) – annual Christmas Parade, Dec. 11 starts at 5:15 p.m. downtown, some 50,000 people attend. Bands from every high school in Escambia County, Blue angels Flight team. Preceded by a 1-mile Christmas dash at 5 p.m. sponsored by the Pensacola Runner Association.

Key West (chapter 50) – Harbor Walk of Lights through Dec. 31, the walk is lit with festive dressing, part of Key West “Bight Before Christmas” presented by Key West Bight Preservation Association.

Lucy Beebe Tobias is a writer and photographer based in Ocala and the author of “50 Great Walks in Florida”. Web site: http://www.LucyTobias.com She served as Authentic Florida Expert for VISIT FLORIDA.