Today, Saturday May 2, 2020 is World Labyrinth Day. All around this blue green orb we call Earth walkers are stepping onto an ancient path, observing social distancing or staying home and using a finger labyrinth – journeying by foot…
Walking Labyrinths in Tallahassee – discover quiet time
Walking labyrinths in Tallahassee – yes it can be done in this North Florida city so often centered on state government and higher education. Years ago, when Jillian Volpe White and Erica Wiborg – faculty members at Florida State…
Sponge Docks, Greek Food and More in Tarpon Springs
Your travel checklist for Tarpon Springs: 1. Score a parking place at the Sponge Docks. Check. 2. Take a boat ride with an old-fashioned sponge diver demonstration or a nature cruise that includes visiting Anclote Island. Check. 3. Eat way…
Have Dog, Will Travel
Jennifer A. Huber is Saturday Morning Magazine’s guest blogger for December, 2018. Welcome, Jennifer! We love how adopting a dog lead you to new adventures. Both the story and photos are by Jennifer A. Huber/ SoloTravelGirl.com A traveling pet parent…
Sarasota Celery Fields Attracts Butterflies
At the Celery Fields Marc Minno stands in the grass behind the Sarasota Audubon Nature Center. He speaks in a casual, low-keyed voice belieing the fact that Minno, a Live Oak resident, is one of Florida’s top butterfly gardening…
Lake Eola Park hosts Farmers Market
Every Sunday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Lake Eola Park in downtown Orlando becomes the place to be. Tents of all sizes line both sides of the park’s winding sidewalks for the weekly Orlando Farmers Market. Music, ethnic food,…
St. Augustine Walks & Talks History Daily
After a long hard day of tacking into the wind, where do sailors go? Often they navigate to the nearest wine bar. So too in St. Augustine after a hard day of enduring long lines for visiting the Castillo de…
Visiting Florida Butterfly Gardens Could Be Sinful
Florida Butterfly Gardens. Now is the time to visit. Why? Butterflies are solar powered. Their prime tie is when it is 80 degrees and above. Turns out April through September is perfect butterfly weather in Florida. But I have to…
Flamingos Come Home to Roost
Flamingos are flamboyant, funky and famous. Who knew they are now considered Florida natives? Hunters and poachers did in the population in the 19th century. From then on, captive flocks, a tourist attraction around the state, settled in as THE…
Winter Park Walk can be a Treasure Hunt
Like treasure hunts? Then a walk on Park Avenue in Winter Park is your kind of adventure. For starters, stepping into the Spice and Tea Exchange is an aromatic treat. Try to find your favorite spice smell – there are…
Labyrinths are Mindful Walks in Florida
Update 1/27/2019 Lucy Tobias’ book Circle the Center Labyrinths in Florida is now available. Get your copy at this link: https://gumroad.com/l/CircleTheCenter Labyrinths. What a nice surprise to find them in Florida. Egan’s Creek Park, for example, has been transformed with…
Jack Kerouac Slept & Wrote in College Park, Florida
Jack Kerouac slept here. Believe it! For a short while, during a piece of 1957-58 Jack Kerouac and his mother lived in a two-room apartment at the back of a bungalow in College Park, a laidback neighborhood in northwest Orlando.…
Go Greek for a day (or two) in Tarpon Springs
“Once a week, go Greek.” Look for this motto on shirts worn by the wait staff at Mr. Souvlaki’s restaurant on Pinellas Avenue in Tarpon Springs. Be quick to take a peek because the waiters are moving pretty fast, threading…
Florida Manatees head for warmer waters
Florida manatees don’t do cold. Can you blame them? All the temperature has to do is dip down in the 40s and I break out a fleece jacket, socks, big wool scarf and knit hat. Florida manatees forego the fleece…
Dade City Celebrates with a Kumquat Festival
Got kumquats? Dade City does. Thousands of kumquats will gather together in downtown Dade City on Saturday, January 30 from 9 to 5. The occasion? The annual Kumquat Festival I confess it is not easy to love a kumquat. A…
Florida Coloring Books Are Yours for Free
‘Tis the season for free Florida coloring books and free Florida parks. Put them together with children on school break looking for things to do and – oh my, road trips coming up! Combine seeing the real thing with these…
Manatees and a Children’s Book
In another life I was a “go to” newspaper reporter writing about Florida environmental issues including Florida manatees. Every year, count on it, editors wanted a story when manatee mortality figures were released – the whys, who or what shared…
Sholom Park has Peaceful Paths
This is chapter 6 from the e book “10 Florida Great Walks Around Gainesville and Ocala” by Lucy Beebe Tobias 6. Sholom Park, Ocala Imagine world leaders sitting down and listening with respect to what each one is saying. Imagine…
Bed & Breakfasts Keep Florida History
I’m always surprised at how quickly things can change with just one turn. For me it was a right-hand turn off busy Highway 17/92 in Orange City near DeLand. That turn put me onto French Avenue. The frantic traffic, carried…
Pensacola – Dig Into the Past or Soar with Angels
In the faded photograph, my dad leans his long frame against the airplane, one arm resting on the open cockpit. A long white silk scarf is wound once around his neck with the ends hanging down all the way to…
BOOK REVIEW: Paynes Prairie
LUCY’S BOOK REVIEW* Paynes Prairie: A History of the Great Savanna by Lars Andersen I’m convinced his mother qualified for sainthood. Seriously. Lillian Andersen used to drive her son Lars to Paynes Prairie so he could spend the day exploring,…
Gentle Manatees Swim in Florida Waters
Manatees were here before mastodons stomped down Florida grasses. Before Indians inhabited prime seaside real estate. Even before Ponce de Leon got himself killed wandering around Florida looking for the Fountain of Youth. Manatees pre-date Disney and interstates Yes, way…
Gainesville is Good to Go for All Seasons
Depending on the season Gainesville rearranges its face. The face during football season is painted orange and blue of course. GO GATORS. Every semester Gainesville changes its feel and look as the city ebbs and surges with the academic calendar…
Living History Reenactors are Time Travelers
Shadows pinched the sunlight into slim shapes on the trail. A breeze lifted tree branches. The birds were silent. Suddenly a war cry and the sound of thundering hoofs split the air. My back tingled with fear. I did not…
Downtown historic Melbourne has food and fun
It is not my fault. Someone has to bite the calories, taste the Grimaldi handmade chocolates then report to you. That would be me. I bravely walk into their store on Waverly Place in Melbourne. The vats for making chocolate…