“So, what you like about living in Venice?” I asked my dinner companion. “Everything.” Wow. That is not something you hear every day. But are we in the same zip code? My dinner companion was not talking about THAT Venice,…
Go for a Good Time in Punta Gorda
Got bikes? Nod yes. Now open up your day timer and pencil in your next ride. You are going for a good time in Punta Gorda. Some eighteen miles of pathways make a ring around the city, linking downtown areas…
Winter Park Puts a Smile in Your Step
Want to put a smile in your step? Spend a Saturday in Winter Park. Yep. Saturday. Why? Because it is Farmer’s Market Day. Every Saturday an encampment of tents fan out in a tight cluster around the old train station…
Birds and Birders Flock to Florida
The guide sang out “LBB at 2 o’clock.” Birders with binoculars swung them up tight to their eyeballs and looked off the right. But no, not me, I am standing there clueless. This was my first bird walk. I have…
Water Tours Offer Unique View of Florida
“That house on the right sold for seven million last year,” says Harold Bubil, Real Estate Editor of the Sarasota Herald Tribune. All eyes swivel starboard. We look at the elevated waterfront home with patio, pool and a dock. Impressive.…
Flower Power Blooms in Florida
Wait for it. Coming. Coming. Zing! The calendar page turns and voila, March arrives today – yeah! Flower power in Florida starts in January and goes through April, This is much different than “up North” but then Florida is tropical.…
Florida History Makes a Great Walk in DeLand
The year was 1876. Henry Addison DeLand took a vacation from his baking soda business in New York to visit his sister and brother-in-law, O.P Terry. They lived in South Carolina. Perhaps it happened over several glasses of wine before…
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…
Hogtown Creek Greenway walk in Gainesville
Chapter 5 in “10 Florida Great Walks Around Gainesville & Ocala” Hogtown Creek Greenway Quick Question: In the middle of what city can you find a dreamy forest pathway that follows creek beds? Answer: Gainesville, Florida. Honest! There is more…
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…
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…
50 Great Walks in Florida is now an e book!
BREAKING NEWS University Press of Florida has just announced that Lucy’s award-winning print book 50 Great Walks in Florida is now available as a Kindle e book on Amazon. Did you know that once you click the “Buy” button you…
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…
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…
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…
Dog’s Day Out : Things to do with your dog in February
Saturday, Feb. 18 10 a.m. The Annual Mardi Gras on Mainstreet, pups and their two-legged friends parade through downtown DeLand dressed in costume. Saturday, Feb. 18 from 9-noon, Pups at the Point – dogs welcome on the third Saturday of…
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…
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…
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 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…
Dog Friendly beaches in Florida
Dog days of summer are here. There is only one cure – grab your leash and water bowl and head for the beach! Obi, a Welsh Corgi, and I did just that, winding our way down A1A south of St.…