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…
Rain Barrels are a win-win for the Environment
As I sit here looking out the studio window, big, billowing white clouds are scudding out of the west, moving fast heading east to the Atlantic Ocean. Yesterday bands of rain came through town. Every 30 minutes or so another…
Visit Sarasota if you want to be invigorated
Want to be invigorated? Then my advice is – visit Sarasota soon. Why? For starters, here are five why’s: Be stimulated = Sarasota boasts a playbill loaded with award-winning arts and culture venues. These events don’t take a breather for…
Be Languid at Warm Mineral Springs
Summer sizzles. Getting wet and cooling down sounds like a great plan. Your options: Float down the Rainbow River in an inner tube with your buns cooling off at a constant 72 degrees, dip into a lake, find a pool,…
Sea Turtles lay eggs in summer months
As she labored, stars sparkled like diamonds embedded in the midnight sky. The sea breeze carried exotic aromas – seaweed, fish and ocean salt overlaid with faint suggestions of faraway places. A female loggerhead turtle dropped white, golf ball-sized eggs…
Florida State Parks – Visit all of them!
When visiting faraway places ask yourself – what will I be unhappy about if I don’t get to see/experience it while I’m here? The same question works for being in Florida, even if you live here. What would I miss…
West Indian manatees – see them in Florida
“Mary Margaret Manatee lived in a river that ran to the sea.” Thus begins a children’s picture book for ages 4 through 10 that I’ve written. Naturally, I had to go hang out with manatees for research. Where to go?…
Garden Festivals in Florida – Rejoice!
Smell the air – fresh, invigorating with a hint of spring flowers and a touch of rain. Ah, in Florida it is the magic time of year, when new growth springs out of plants that looked dead over the winter.…
Watch the Sunset in Cedar Key with your Canine
“Is he friendly?” That is the question, even if the gender is she instead of he. We’re talking dogs, out for a stroll in a new place. Along comes another dog. Naturally both are leashed. Before contact is made one…
Walk Leaf-strewn Trails in a Florida Forest
My dogs like walking the Sand Hill Trail at Silver Springs State Park in Ocala. Often we’re the first ones walking the leaf-strewn path and that means our chances of seeing wildlife are pretty good. A fact of life –…
Peace River Seafood & More in Punta Gorda
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. Ah,…
Naples Street Concierge there for you
IN FOCUS – Florida Feature Story by Lucy Beebe Tobias Susan Becker is a Street Concierge in Naples, Florida. Say what? Naples may be the only place in the country to have Street Concierges, located at the Third Street Concierge,…
Olde Englewood Village Plus Charlotte Harbor
Come to the second annual Authors Book Fair! Admission is free. Parking is free. Saturday, Oct. 15 from 11-3 at the Deltona Regional Library. It is an event so full of energy and creativity you will come away inspired and…
Knott House Museum and more history
History walks and talks at the Knott House Museum on Park Avenue in downtown Tallahassee. Knott House Museum has ties to the Civil War Built in 1843 by a free black builder named George Proctor the house in 1865 served…
Fernandina Beach Sings a Beach Song
Are you fed up with summer simmer and showers? Ready to break out of the house? Well, buckle up. Have I got a super road trip just for you. Fernandina Beach, 23 miles north of Jacksonville, combines the gracefulness of…
Florida Photographers Ready for Their Close Up
Florida photographers are ready for their close up. From documenting the culture of Florida’s last stand to capturing eternal moments in the Everglades you can see their work showcased in exhibits and their own galleries. Plus, and this comes as…
Greek Cooking & More in Tarpon Springs
We ate our way through Tarpon Springs from one end of the Sponge Docks to the other. Seriously, how could we resist? After all when the Greeks are cooking, you know the drill – just show up and enjoy. A…
Florida Rivers & Lakes are Calling You
A perfect trifecta – The sun is shining, the water is clear and the fish are feeling suicidal. That’s how it was fishing on the Ocklawaha River last week. Twenty assorted brim ended up in the boat cooler and later…
Apalachicola is a Time Travel Trip
Time travel. It is out there somewhere – the ability to step through a door and, whoosh, go back in time. Time travel is possible in Florida. Seriously. It takes a bit of driving instead of a magic door but…
Florida Butterfly Gardening is Addictive
They flap. They glide. They flutter. What can it be? Butterflies. Their beauty makes us gasp. Here is another gasp – full immersion native butterfly gardening turns your yard into a butterfly world. Admission is free every day. Butterflies on…
Funky Florida, Cedar Key at the End of the Road
This small Florida town calls itself a city. Pretentious? Heck, when you live at the end of the road and are a throwback to a slower time then you can be whatever you want to be. The City of Cedar…
Manatee Festivals, Oh My!
Holy guacamole! Can you believe it? Two manatee festivals take place on the same weekend this month! What were they thinking? (That would be the festival planners, not the manatees; they are just trying to stay warm). Ah, the choices…
Florida birding festivals take flight
Somewhere in a drawer or under a pile of file folders you can, with a little luck, locate your wish list of adventures in Florida you haven’t done yet. Oh, I know you have one. Yep, I’ve got one of…
DeLand Lives up to its Founder’s Dream
Here are your quiz questions for today – who wanted to build the Athens of Florida and what city is it? Tick tock. Tick tock. Time is up. Got your answer? The correct answer is: Henry DeLand, the baking soda…
History Reenactments Fire Away on Weekends
The past refuses to lie down and be quiet. Instead it sits up with a volley of gunfire, the rustle of petticoats and language not heard in these here parts for 150 years or more. History Reenactments bring Florida’s past…