Why should kids have all the fun? Sometimes I want to be a kid again. I see you nodding yes – your inner child wants to play too! And so, it came to pass that an opportunity to do just…
A Slow Savor of St. Augustine
St. Augustine has interactive history. Go ahead and drink the water! Hope springs eternal and this is after all the Fountain of Youth Archaeological Park in St. Augustine. I’m sipping water from a spring found by Spanish explorer Ponce de…
It’s a Summer to Remember in West Volusia County
With great pleasure I present West Volusia Tourism as my guest blog for June, 2021. Their motto: Old Florida. New Vibe. Let’s go soon . . . It’s a Summer to Remember in West Volusia County By David Swanberg, Marketing…
World Labyrinth Day is Today
Today, May 1, 2021, is World Labyrinth Day. The motto for the day is “Walk as one at one.” Wherever you are walk a labyrinth at 1 p.m. your time. Join people all around the world as footsteps journey in…
Pass-A-Grille Offers Beach Vibes & Memories
Pass-A-Grille Beach, part of St. Pete Beach in Florida, boasts the world’s shortest Main Street. Come shop till you drop in just two blocks. I saw it with my own eyes. Two blocks of chic shops and restaurants bordered by…
Birding is a Simple Pleasure Done Everywhere
Please welcome Lorrie Muldowney, this month’s guest blogger. When we go on walks she identifies the birds we see – and here in the March 2021 Saturday Morning Magazine blog she introduces you to her love of birding.Photographs of owl,…
Sanibel and Captiva Islands Have a Serene Side
Sanibel and Captiva islands. Ah, say those words with me again. Sanibel and Captiva islands. What images come to mind? Sun. Sand. Shells. Got it. The unwritten rules of travel writing require me to put sun, sand and shells high…
Florida Museum Opens the Slow Lane
Florida Museum wants you to know how to find survival in slowness. Really slow. Like oh, say moving through a high forest canopy at a whopping 40 yards in a day. That is slow. But it works for the five…
Alan Youngblood Captures the Moment
Alan Youngblood and I started working at the same time for the New York Times Regional Group at the Ocala Star Banner, Alan a photographer and me a feature writer. I am in awe of his knowledge as a gear…
Shark’s Teeth and Serendipity
Sharks teeth and serendipity go together. Pick a Florida beach, any beach and show up at low tide. You are in the right place at the right time. Walk barefooted where the surf meets the sand. Adopt the shark’s teeth…
Alafia River State Park has Epic Bike Trails
Epic.Now there is a word you do not hear very often.But you hear it often at Alafia River State Park, a reclaimed phosphate mine with some of the most challenging elevation changes in the state of Florida. The park is…
St. Pete Pier is an Awesome New Experience
The St. Pete Pier is all new and absolutely amazing. Twenty-six acres in downtown St. Petersburg, Florida, called the Pier District, transformed seamlessly into A park experience, A playground experience, A garden experience, A dining experience, A beach experience, A…
Looking for Labyrinths
By now a daily walk may be a regular part of your pandemic routine. If not then early morning before the heat kicks in is a good time to start. Walking gets you outside, provides a bit of cardiovascular exercise…
Butterfly Gardens Open in Florida
You have to love butterflies. They don’t practice social distancing. Males and females chase each other around shamelessly. Young swallowtail caterpillars chew leaves while lined up in a row, side by side, touching even. Such is life in a butterfly…
Sculptures & Gardens Make a Satisfying Walk
by Lucy Tobias, copyright©2020 Sculptures and Gardens – an unusual combination. I inhaled deeply and got ready to ask this question: “What do you want garden visitors to take away with them?” My pen was poised and my reporter…
Use Feet or Fingers to walk a Labyrinth Today
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…
Look Forward to Visiting Demonstration Gardens
Demonstration gardens are inspiring places to visit – there are so many ways to garden in this vibrant, quirky place called Florida. The gates to public gardens are closed for now … but they will open again. Here is a…
Be Inspired by Edison & Ford Winter Estates in Fort Myers
The Edison & Ford Winter Estates in Fort Myers highlight the friendship between two American visionaries and their families. It is said the garden gate between their two houses was never locked. Coming here for a visit offers you much…
Valentine’s Day Means Chocolates are a Must
Valentine’s Day and chocolates go together like cats and catnip. Irresistible. Want to be tempted? Let’s go to a chocolate shop that makes every piece by hand in small batches and without preservatives. Bill Brown is the founder and chief…
Are You A Real Floridian?
Are you a Real Floridian? Only one way to know – look at this checklist and see if you’ve notched these five adventures. Not done some of them yet? Then get started and be on your way to earning your…
Book Review: Florida’s Changing Waters
A photograph of a manatee struggling to breathe in the Indian River Lagoon during the toxic algae bloom of Summer 2016 sits at the start of Lynne Buchanan’s book of photographs entitled Florida’s Changing Waters: a Beautiful World in Peril.…
Linda Blondheim is a Natural Florida Artist with a Story
The Saturday Morning Magazine tradition of having a guest blog for the month of December continues – meet Natural Florida Artist Linda Blondheim, a five – star Plein Air painter who lives outside Gainesville. I’ve admired her work for years,…
Key West Butterfly and Nature Conservatory Beckons
I’m just inside the door at the Key West Butterfly and Nature Conservatory at 1316 Duval Street, Key West, my feet rooted to walkway, looking around at astounding beauty – plants, trays of cut up fruit for butterflies, birds singing,…
DeLand Delivers Good Vibrations
Pop quiz: Name the first municipality in the state of Florida to become a Monarch City USA. Tick tock. Tick tock. Got it yet? Hint: Check out the photograph below. And the answer is DeLand, Florida. Yeah for DeLand! This…
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…