Obi, a Welsh Corgi, and I did just that, winding our way down A1A south of St. Augustine, looking for a dog-friendly beach recommended by Brenda Flynn and her Scottish Terrier Pearl.

“It is a well kept secret, not even the locals know it is here,” said Flynn who lives in Ormond Beach. So secret we passed right by the street sign in Palm Coast for the turn because, silly me, I thought that there would be a dog beach sign. Hey, then it wouldn’t be a secret.

The street is named Jungle Hut Road. About half way down you cross a parkway that goes to Ginn Hammock Beach and Hammock Beach Vacation Rentals. Just stay on Jungle Hut until it ends. Surprise! Here is a public entrance to the beach with a paved parking lot, restroom, showers and a dune walkover. Very nice.

Dog signs at Ginn Hammock Beach, Palm Coast Florida

Leashed dogs are welcome. Clean up after your dog. Brenda is a regular here. She tells me low tide is the best time and in the evening, you are likely to see a dog coming down the steps from a waterfront home – carrying his leash in his mouth, his master trotting faithfully behind him.

Obi at the top of the walkover stairs to the beach

Obi, urban dog that he is, quickly decided walking on hot sand was not his thing so naturally I carried him to the dune walkover. It is so nice have a dog small enough to pick up and sit in my lap. The sand by the water was much cooler.

Pearl thought the waves were wonderful and she liked Obi a lot, charging at him in the dog version of “let’s play!” He gave me that shocked look “Mom, the women are chasing me” and ran the other way. He got his feet wet at my encouragement but water wasn’t his thing.

We moved on to the Golden Lion Café in Flagler Beach. Dogs can sit outside the rail. Brenda, Per Hans and I sat at a table right next to the rail.

Lunch with dogs at Golden Lion Cafe, Flager Beach. Photo by Per Hans

The fish taco was excellent, so were the onion rings. How sweet to smell salt air and look across the street to blue sky, white clouds and an ocean still clean, not yet spoiled by the oil spill.

Finding dog friendly beaches and dog parks in Florida is a challenge. Some are, some are not. Best to know ahead of time before venturing out. One good source is Florida Pets. Get on their E-mail list for regular updates on everything from places to play, restaurants that accept dogs and places to stay. Their motto: “They’re part of the family, so take them along!”

Waiting for lunch at Golden Lion Cafe in Flagler Beach. Photo by Per Hans

Another good resource is the Dog Lover’s Companion Guide to Florida by Sally Deneen and Robert McClure. This book is in its fourth edition.

Some towns get two paws up for being dog friendly. Apalachicola comes to mind; here people even bring their dogs to work. Sanford puts out the welcome mat, or at least the water bowls. We found several water bowls at the Farmer’s Market on Saturday.

Dog water bowl at Farmer's Market in Sanford, Florida

Do you know of more dog friendly places? Let me know in the “comment” section and we’ll post the places. Your best four-legged friend will be happy with new places to explore.

Lucy Beebe Tobias is the author ‘of “50 Great Walks in Florida” and a freelance Florida environmental writer.

Perfect ripe juicy blueberries

For my family and friends the taste of blueberries becomes extra sweet because we have a yearly ritual of gathering together to go on an adventure and pick blueberries. Somehow when you pick them yourself it improves the flavor.

To find a blueberry farm near you check out http://www.pickyourown.org This Web site lists all kinds of produce places to go in a number of states. Especially across Central Florida the list of blueberry farms is long. The ones that are organic have the word “organic” highlighted in green. We’ve picked organic blueberries at farms in both Marion and Alachua counties.

Picking blueberries is a prime time family affair and so is growing them. B&G Blueberries off County Road 315 past Silver Springs is a perfect example. “B” stands for Bill Hall and “G” stands for Gail Hall.

Here is what Bill said about how it all began:
“I started u-picking Rabbit Eye blueberries in 1983. At that time my two sons Danny and Jason were 12 and 7 and they assisted my mother Margaret Hall keeping the patch open Mon-Friday and Gail, Danny, Jason and I worked it on Saturday. My mother required the boys to pick 10 lbs. per day during the season.
Today their wives and six children are paid helpers on days we U-Pick. This year we spent a lot of time cross training the four older ones. There are six different jobs they do when we are open for u-pick. The six grand kids are ages 8 to 15. I always list them and their parents on the card we send to our customers.”

And here are their names – The Halls, Bill, Gail, Danny, Dorothy, Justin Micah, Rebekah, Ben, Jason, Robin, Savannah and EmmaLee. To get directions call (352) 236-4410 or Email: WDH47@embarqmail.com

Their picking dates in June are June 12, 18, 19, 25,26 and t hen July 3,5,10. Price is $2.50 per pound.

Close to Fort McCoy is the Bay Lake Blueberry Farm owned by Mike & Gail Waldron. This is a certified organic U pick and that means no pesticides! Good for your tummy, good for Mother Earth. The day we were there the Waldron’s daughters were helping customers carry their blueberries to the car and Gail’s mother in law was in charge of the cash register. Truly a family affair. Phone: 352-546-3834. Address: 20525 Highway 315, Ft. McCoy, Fl. and E mail: gwaldron1219@aol.com

In addition to picking blueberries Bay Lake has blueberry plants for sale along with local produce. We like to do this U pick early in the morning, then all go out for breakfast together. It is the food, fellowship and fun thing in action.

Live in Marion County? For more on picking blueberries in Marion County see the blog by Lucy Beebe Tobias and Sandra Friend entitled Ocala Adventures.

Now let’s get down to some specifics. Be an early riser for blueberry picking, so much easier in the cool of the day. Call ahead and find out when they open. Have the address and a map or use a GPS. Many farms are off the beaten path.

When you are there the farm supplies buckets for picking usually with rope so it can go around your waist and you have two hands free. Bring your own buckets in case you need them to put the berries in for the trip home.

filling a bucket with blueberries

Wear closed toed shoes for walking down the rows. A hat highly advised and bring water. Carry cash, this is not a credit card transaction. Most farms will have other things too – blueberry plants for sale, local produce and more.

Weighing in U-pick organic blueberries at Sugar Hill Blueberries in Belleview

This is a great inter-generational adventure. Various sizes of children work well with finding blueberries at different parts of the bushes (that can grow five six feet tall). Little ones pick the bottom, taller ones get the middle and adults find the ones on top.

Go for the fully ripe deep purple berries. Taste one before you start on a bush. If you like the flavor, that bush is for you. Pick them off one at a time. Don’t strip off unripe berries. It doesn’t take long to fill up a gallon bucket.

At home lay out paper towels and spread out the berries. Pick out any unripe ones. DO NOT wash them as they become mushy.

Drying blueberries on paper towels. Do not wash them, this is getting rid of natural moisture.

When any natural moisture has dried, bag them up a cup or two at a time and freeze. Set aside a good amount for yummy eating right now – straight, on cereal, in muffins, pie and even ice cream.

Here is Bill Hall’s favorite recipe for blueberry ice cream (one gallon)
2 pints blueberries
1 cup sugar
1 cup sweetened condensed milk
1 tablespoon vanilla
About ½ gallon whole milk
Take two pints blueberries, place in saucepan and cover with water. Add one cup of sugar and boil for five minutes. Let stand on stove until completely cooled. Strain directly into the churn cylinder. Pour remaining peels and liquid into blender. Blend then pour into churn cylinder. Add condensed milk and one tablespoon vanilla flavoring. Finish filling churn cylinder with whole milk. Sir and churn.

Ah, going to pick blueberries satisfies the prime ingredients for a good time – food, fellowship and fun. Grab your buckets and go!

Lucy Beebe Tobias is an author and writer. Her Web site is: http:www.LucyTobias.com

Building levees causes “unintended consequences” as they like to say in political speak. The “unintended consequences” in this case turn out to be good for you and me.

Consider the levee – lots of dirt piled at least six feet high and oh, say eight feet wide or more. The top of the level is flat.
There it is, the “unintended consequence” – turns out that flat, high surface is a great place to walk or ride bikes or watch birds.

Birders love levees because the sight lines are so great. Winter birds come to hang out in the waters impounded by levees. Birders use levees as their own elevated viewing platform, at least six feet about the water.

In the wintertime at St. Marks National Wildlife Refuge south of Tallahassee, drive down Lighthouse Road and see all the birding scopes set up on tripods along the levees.

St. Marks levee

St. Marks is a classic levee story. Walk down the Mounds Trail (chapter 7 in my book “50 Great Walks in Florida”) and find Marker No. 2. It is on a tree, about five feet up, showing how high the water rose on Sept. 13, 1843. The Hurricane of 1843 wiped out the nearby towns of St. Marks River, Magnolia, Rock Haven and Port Leon. Today the refuge has a LOT of levees.

A specially designated levee trail starts at the end of Lighthouse Road. It is one-half mile long, with free leaflets at the start. Travel the trail on foot, on bike or by horseback.

Walkers like me like levees because I don’t like surprises, say wildlife crossing the road or a snake sunning itself. I prefer my wildlife viewing from a distance and distance (good sight lines) is exactly what you have on levees.

Levee at Sunnyhill. Note sandill cranes in middle

At Sunnyhill Restoration Area, St. Johns River Water Management District, located in southeast Marion County, sandhill cranes may join you on your levee walk. That happened to me. Their attitude was “What took you so long? We’ve been expecting you.” And so we walked together. Sandhill cranes like this area and tend to stay year round. Ch. 28 in 50 Great Walks is titled “Walking with Friends” about the Sunnyhill Restoration Area.

Sandhill cranes at Sunnyhill

There is one down side to levees – no shade. The tops are mowed. No trees grow here.

That said, now you know to bring a hat with a wide brim and carry lots of water for your levee walk.

Another good place for levee walking is Arthur R. Loxahatchee National Wildlife Refuge in Boynton Beach. This area is also a gateway for the Great Florida Birding Trail.

The big daddy of levee walks in Florida is the Lake Okeechobee Scenic Trail with the unfortunate acronym of LOST. Some 113 miles of LOST encircle Lake Okeechobee with gaps where the walker has to come down from the levee, and then get back up at a later point.

This levee is along the 35-foot high Herbert Hoover Dike. Surfaces are crushed gravel, some paved asphalt.
Once a year the Loxahatchee Chapter of the Florida Trail Association hosts the Big O Hike, a week of going around the lake. This year’s dates are Nov. 20-28, 2010.

Springtime is the perfect time for walking levees – cool, sunlit days with lots of breezes and no bugs or humidity. See you on the levee.

©2010 Lucy Beebe Tobias, all rights reserved

April 24-25 from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. is the Forgotten Coast Lighthouse Challenge. Visit Cape San Blas Lighthouse, Cape St. George Light, Crooked River Lighthouse and St. Mark’s Lighthouse. Tickets are $10 per person (over the age of 10) or $25 per family up to five people. All the lighthouses have tickets available. Receive a souvenir at each location and a special something if you climb or visit all four lighthouses.

Crooked River Lighthouse, Forgotten Coast

Can’t remember where the Forgotten Coast is? Easy. Drop straight down south from Tallahassee until you run into the Gulf of Mexico. The coastline from Mexico Beach to Carrabelle is Florida’s Forgotten Coast.

St. Marks Lighthouse, Forgotten Coast

Lighthouses are welcome sights for mariners, beacons in the night and day that make the difference between traveling safely or meeting an untimely demise. Did you know every lighthouse has its own color code pattern? By day a mariner can see the colors, look on his chart and know that location. The St. Augustine Lighthouse for example is painted in curving black and white stripes.

St. Augustine Lighthouse

These tall structures, with spiraling stairs that make a gym Stairmaster look tame, are just plain cool. Climbing them is a challenge. Puff, take a break at landings, keep going, make it to the top and see an amazing 360 view.

Climbing Ponce de Leon Lighthouse stairs

Here is a link to a Visit Florida video I did on climbing Ponce de Leon Lighthouse, Florida’s tallest lighthouse with 203 steps (one way). Make it back down and you are ready to buy the t-shirt!

The lights that pierce the darkness are creations of beauty. The Ponce de Leon Lighthouse has a museum with lighthouse keeper lore and examples of these Fresnel lights.

Fresnel lens

Many lighthouses are still active but now they are automated. The lighthouse keepers and their families are gone. When you visit a lighthouse gift shop look for a map you can buy called “Florida Lighthouses Illustrated Map & Guide. It is also available online at Bella Terra Maps. Price is $6.95 folded and $12.95 laminated. Keep this as a guide to your lighthouse adventures.

With three sides of Florida surrounded by water we have an abundance of lighthouses. There is even one inland. Mt. Dora has a working lighthouse. Built in 1988 standing 35 feet tall the blue pulsing light guides boaters on Lake Dora after dark.

The Florida Lighthouse Association helps preserve the historic lighthouses along Florida’s 1200-mile coastline and keep the magic of these tall towers alive. There is a state license plate available for purchase to help generate funds for restoring our lighthouses.

This group is gearing up for a change of ownership at one lighthouse. On April 21 at a 1 p.m. ceremony the Sanibel Lighthouse will pass hands from the Bureau of Land Management into ownership by the City of Sanibel.

Whether answering the lighthouse challenge or going to the lighthouse nearest you – Combine visiting lighthouses with sampling local seafood and you have the perfect recipe for a day trip.

©2010 Lucy Beebe Tobias, all rights reserved.

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

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).

essentials for trash picup

“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

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.

Barbara Fitos flipping 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.

sugar mill and waterfall

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.

osprey 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.

River views

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.

These areas pulse with dense green foliage not unlike well, wild Florida.

Narrow paths make passing through possible. Seemingly random growth turns out to have specific lures for wildlife – a red bay, for example, has tiny flowers that bees love and the tree is a good shelter for birds.

“I wanted to see birds, snakes, owls, butterflies,” says the Delray Beach resident. And he does. In addition he wanted to conserve water. That too is happening.

A back fence has completely disappeared, hidden under flourishing firebush.

“This is a huge butterfly attractor,” Jeff comments. “Firebush is the number one native plant. This is the first plant to start with.”

I’m startled and surprised by what it means to go native. It means forget neat and manicured. This was once a conventional yard with grass underfoot and fence to mark the property line. Now it vibrates with exuberance and yes, a touch of chaos, all for a good cause – there is only so much space and so many natives to plant and so little time.

You see our wildlife is in trouble.

“So many landscapes are loaded with exotics,” notes Jeff. “They are beautiful but they are dead zones for wildlife. They have color and texture but where are the bees, the birds, the lizards?”

Dead zones? Beauty that kills here in Florida? Sounds like a science fiction novel but no, this is the real deal.

“The bird population and butterflies are not finding the food they need – the migrating birds need to feed in Florida to migrate to South America. If they can’t find the right food, they don’t make it.”

In my back yard, a haven with water fountains and bird feeders, or so I thought, the bird numbers have been dwindling in recent years. I was hoping they got a better offer and are happy somewhere else. Now I wonder if they made it from one year to the next.

Going native turns out to be a call to action – do you want to save native wildlife? Then turn your dead zone into a native buffet and you can do it one plant at a time. Before visiting Jeff I thought my side yard would become a fruit orchard. Now it is going native.

I planted firebush along the fence line. You go, you native you. Do your thing. The butterflies will love you.

RESOURCES

• Jeff recommends several native plant nurseries in his area including Pan’s Garden in Palm Beach, Meadow Beauty Nursery and Indian Trails Native Nursery, both in Lake Worth.

• “A Gardener’s Guide to Florida’s Native Plants” (paperback) by Rufino Osorio, here is the Amazon link and it is in our bookstore on my Website.

• Jeff, who is also a Master Gardener, has turned his native passion into a consulting business. Visit his Website to know more.

• Master Gardeners, an outreach program by IFAS University of Florida, may have an office near you. They can be immensely helpful, especially with micro irrigation and drought resistant plant suggestions.

• Florida Native Plant Society has chapters throughout the state.

• Here is the link for University of Florida IFAS Extension section on native plants. IFAS means the Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences.

• Native plant nurseries will only flourish if people vote with their wallets and buy native. Here is a listing of native plant sources from Florida Gardener.

While milkweed is not a native it is the necessary larval plant for monarch butterflies. Learn more at the Live Monarch Foundation.

©2009 Lucy Beebe Tobias, all rights reserved.

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.

And the weather is trying to turn towards fall. Cooler days suggest that outdoor adventures are once again going to be fun.

So make yourself a cup of coffee or tea, pick up a Florida travel book, sit on the porch and dream a little. Here are some of my favorite books on Florida destinations and adventures:

50 Great Walks in Florida, Lucy Beebe Tobias, University Press of Florida, 2008. No surprise here. This is a great resource. People always ask which one is my favorite walk. The truth is each one is different and I’d do them all again in a heartbeat. For fall my choices would include Chapter 14 “Stained Glass and Four Freedoms”, a walk in Madison and then, as a Bonus Point, be sure to visit O’Tooles Herb Farm outside Madison.

Take a bird walk at Ellie Schiller Homosassa Springs State Wildlife Park (Ch. 19). The next one is Oct. 24 from 8 to 9:30 a.m.

Walk with Audubon at Corkscrew Swamp Sanctuary in Naples (Ch. 40). Cooler weather means less bugs. And sift through the sand at Blowing Rocks Preserve, The Nature Conservancy, Hobe Sound (Ch. 41). Walking on the beach in the cool of a fall morning is a delight.

Paddlers Guide to the Sunshine State by Sandy Huff. While some of us walk the walk, Sandy paddles the waterways. She took three years to paddle then compile 200 trips on 91 waterways. This is a tremendous resource. I love the first section where she gives tips on gear, clothing, cooking and camping. And her advice on wildlife is simple – Don’t feed them. Right on. Never encourage an alligator.

Payne’s Prairie: The Great Savanna: A History and Guide by Lars Andersen. Do you like good stories? Lars is one of the best storytellers I know. He presents Florida history almost as a love story and it is no secret that Lars loves Payne’s Prairie.

We went on a Payne’s Prairie canoe trip with him when the prairie was flooded. As we floated over boardwalks submerged underwater Lars told stories of Timucua, Creeks, Calusa and Seminole Indians who once lived here. We looked around expecting to see them at any moment. He makes the prairie come alive. I treasure this book.

The Dog Lover’s Companion to Florida: The Inside Scoop on Where to Take Your Dog by Sally Deneen and Robert McClure. My dogs love this book and it certainly opened my eyes on where I can go, and not go, with them. Maggie Dog took the authors with her all over Florida (after all, she didn’t drive). This book is updated regularly and perhaps even the fact it exists has made our canine companions more acceptable.

Road Biking in Florida by Rick Sapp. I’ll be the first to admit that road biking scares me. All that traffic. Alternatives like the Rails to Trails bike paths get my attention. And yet, the road is calling and there are some great rides out there plus cyclists who are working hard to find routes and make them safe.

Sapp divides routes into rambles, cruises, challenges and classics. Here in Marion County, where I live, a local bike shop takes a ramble through rolling horse country twice a week. One day I’ll be rambling with them and then looking for new challenges. This book is a good guide.