Look close!

At first they don't look like anything special, but...

look closer at those tiny dewberries starting to form.

By the middle of May, if not before, I'll be serving up dewberry cobbler!

Evening at the Grand Marlin

Twilight slowly faded as I stood on the back deck of the Grand Marlin this evening. It was so beautiful, I hated to leave! What a fabulous restaurant, fabulous view, and most importantly -- fabulous food.

The chef's choice on the dinner menu tonight was Parmesan-crusted triggerfish. It was possibly the best fish I've eaten...ever.

You may visit their website and take a look at the lunch and dinner menus by clicking HERE.

Bogart

From one Bogart to another:

"Here's lookin' at you, kid."

~~ Humphrey Bogart (as Rick Blaine in Casablanca, 1942)

The Intracoastal Waterway

Another beautiful view from our friends' home in Villa Sabine. They have a great view of the Intracoastal Waterway/Santa Rosa Sound and the Bob Sykes bridge, which is beautiful at night as cars come across to the island.

Some of my friends tease that my camera must be surgically attached around my neck, but I missed a great shot last night by not having my telephoto lens with me. If you enlarge the photo above, you may be able to see the osprey which spent the evening perched atop the mast of their sailboat.

Golden moment

"Every moment is a golden one for him who has the vision to recognize it as such."

~~ Henry Miller (1891 - 1980)

Dewberries!

In the past week, 'my' dewberry patch seemed to burst into bloom overnight. I'm so excited! I smell a dewberry cobbler in my future!


As I've mentioned before, dewberries are also called sand blackberries. They are very similar to regular blackberries, but trail along the ground in vines rather than grow upright on canes.

Another difference I have noted when making cobblers, is that dewberries do not seem to give up as much juice in cooking. Consequently you will generally need to add something like orange juice to the recipe.

Beach erosion

I ventured out to the beach this week after my friend Scottie told me how much beach erosion had taken place in the past few months. In addition to the low temps we've had this winter, we've also been subjected to periods of very high wind and surf. Just last Sunday the wind gusts were up to 42 mph here on Pensacola Beach.


Beach erosion such as this is inevitable on a barrier islands. Breaking waves sweep sand from one area of the island to another - eroding in spots and depositing it in other. Basically we live on an oversized sandbar. Sadly, this portion of the beach is where we generally have a loggerhead nest in the summer.

Island trivia: Did you know that our island is moving west by several inches each year. In the mid-1800's the tip of Santa Rosa Island was 500 feet west of the fort. Today the tip of the island is 4,000 ft. west of Ft. Pickens!

You may click HERE to see an engraving of Ft. Pickens which was done by a Mrs. Gilman and published in Harper's Weekly, February 23, 1861.

The Rookery

I think the Rookery at the St. Augustine Alligator Farm Zoological Park is one of the most magical places I've ever been. I was very happy that our visit coincided with the period of time when Great Egrets were courting and sitting on nests.


Walking along the extended boardwalks in the Rookery you are very close to the birds.


Portions of the giant old live oaks were covered in Great Egrets that day.


It seems odd that the Rookery is located in the midst of an alligator farm, and some hatchlings are indeed lost to the giant reptiles below, but the alligators actually protect them from other predators such as raccoons, snakes and opposums.

Building a nest.

Three's a crowd at this nesting site.

Be sure to click on the photos to enlarge them so that you can see more detail of these stunning birds.

First day of spring

At last, spring's cantata begins to swell.

Fairhope Arts and Crafts Festival

Michael Smith (with his 'what are you doing' look as I photographed him at the Gulf Breeze Arts Festival last weekend), is one of our excellent Pensacola photographers. He will be exhibiting at the Fairhope Arts and Crafts Festival again tomorrow, so please stop by his booth, #124 at the intersection of Equality Street and Section Avenue to say hello and look at his work.

You will especially love Michael's seashell collection, which you can preview by clicking HERE.

I've come to know several of our area photographers and bloggers in the past few years and without exception they have all been generous, encouraging and supportive of each other. Living in paradise does that to people!

Jaunts & Journeys with DJ

More of my off-island photographs taken during our trip to central Florida and back can be viewed at Jaunts & Journeys with DJ.

Home again...again!

Ahhh...home again! In case you missed me since Mardi Gras festivities ended, I've traveled from the Southwest to the Southeast -- Dallas, Texas to Rockledge, Florida.

This evening after arriving home and being computerless for a week, I was excited to upload photos from this latest trip and see what I captured. One of the most exciting sidetrips was to observe beautiful Great Egrets at the St. Augustine Alligator Farm Rookery.

I have a lot to catch up on, but I can't wait to share some of my travel photos with you in the coming days.

Something beyond my wishes

What a spectacular day, living my dream!

"Destiny grants us our wishes, but in its own way, in order to give us something beyond our wishes."

~~ Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

Windy and warm

It's a beautiful day on the beach, but as you can see from the palm trees at Tiki Island Golf and Games, it's more than a bit windy on the beach today! Isn't it great to see that beautiful blue sky!

Pensacola Beach Trolley

Members of the Pensacola Beach Chamber of Commerce were invited to ride the colorful beach trolley last week and give their input/suggestions on current routes and increasing ridership.

Did you know there are 20 trolley stops along Via de Luna and 16 along Ft. Pickens Road? There is also one trolley which is dedicated to a core area route. This free (and fun) trolley service will start up again in May. Be on the lookout for more information in the Island Times.

Spring!

This year more than most, we are all looking forward to spring -- and you can feel it in the air. Wait, maybe it's pine pollen blowing across from the mainland you're feeling on days with a northerly breeze. {{{sneeze, cough}}}


Almost overnight it seems, tulip trees, redbud, and Bradford Pears are budding or blooming.



We've been treated to a couple of blue-sky days and warmer weather -- just enough to tease us -- and this weekend we switch back to daylight savings time. Parking nodes are filling up with teenagers and small planes are flying along with advertising banners.

We've had little quality time on the beach for ourselves this winter, but I'm still ready for spring!

One day more

"Lovely, complicated wrappings
Sheath the gift of one-day more;
Breathless, untie the package—
Never lived this day before."

~~ Gloria Gaither

Turtle, Turtle, Watch Out!

I was so excited to receive my hardback copy of Turtle, Turtle, Watch Out! last week. A fellow blogger, Annie Patterson, who lives in Barrow, Alaska, did the beautiful illustrations for the book by April Pulley Sayre which tells of the dangers sea turtles face as they try to survive to adulthood. Throughout the book, young people do their best to help protect the sea turtles, showing how they can at times make a difference to the survival of these threatened and endangered species.

You may recall that a few years ago I managed to capture photos of a rare daytime emergence of loggerhead hatchlings here on Pensacola Beach. Annie was working on her illustrations at that time and I shared my photos to help her with the detail of the tiny hatchlings. What a fun connection our Pensacola Beach hatchlings have to this special book!

If you would like to see more of Annie's beautiful illustrations from the book, check out her post by clicking HERE. You can also follow Annie's blog about life in Barrow, Alaska, her delightful illustrations, and links to her work for sale on Etsy by clicking HERE.

If you are interested in purchasing Turtle, Turtle, Watch Out!, please remember that the edition shown above is the hardback copy. I am not sure what difference there may be in the paperback edition.

A Dark and Stormy Night

Another front came gusting through last night, but luckily it held off long enough for us to enjoy a special party at Paradise.

Despite the blustery weather, we enjoyed a lovely celebration in honor of Matt Drees. It was a combination birthday and going-away party for Matt. He is scheduled to deploy for the third time to Iraq.

Matt's wife, Dawn, and daughter, Maci, were full of hugs and smiles to have him home for a few days. We wish him godspeed and a safe return. We appreciate all the sacrifices he and his family make for our country.

Slip away

"Too many times we stand aside and let the water slip away.
To what we put off 'til tomorrow has now become today.
So don't you sit upon the shore and say you're satisfied.
Choose to chance the rapids and dare to dance the tides."

~~ Garth Brooks, The River

Afternoon at Ft. Pickens

It was such a gorgeous day that my husband and I decided to take another hike, but this time at Ft. Pickens. It had been several weeks since we had driven down to the west end of the island.


We hiked the path from the old fort to Campground B & C which crosses several canals.


Hmmm...you know there has to be some 'gators in there somewhere. They've been spotted before.


You may not be able to see it in this photo, even if you enlarge it, but there are several turtles sunning themselves on the second log in the background.

There were a lot of visitors at Ft. Pickens today, so I guess everyone had the same idea to get out and enjoy this weather while it lasted. Unfortunately we have another round of rain and colder temps heading our way this week. At least today gave us a taste of spring.

Sunday hike

At last the weather is the way it is supposed to be this time of year! It is an incredibly beautiful day on the island - temps should get near 60, the water is calm and the sky is blue. Ahhhhh, paradise!

Mystic Krewe of Nereids receive trophy

As some of you know, I stay busy right after Mardi Gras compiling albums of photographs I took during the season, so I haven't been posting on my blog.

Below, however, is a forty-two second video clip I wanted to share with you of the Mystic Krewe of Nereids winning the Grand Marshals trophy after the Krewe of Wrecks Parade on Pensacola Beach. The ladies were totally shocked to receive the award, which made the occasion even more wonderful to watch.

Krewe of Wrecks Mardi Gras pre-Parade

At last, parade day for the Krewe of Wrecks! Here are some of the photos from the Krewe of Wrecks Mardi Gras Parade on Pensacola Beach.


The Mystic Krewe of Nereids are known for their fabulous costumes and the ones this year were spectacular. This all-lady mermaid krewe (except for their king, of course) creates their own gowns. They even handstitched crowns to coordinate this year. It was impressive to watch it all come together. What a great group of ladies.


There are so many krewes represented on the day of the parade that it has almost become a tradition to do a pre-parade promenade down the line.

Some people are just Animals!

Mayoki in their colorful costumes.

I see the cat women are back on the prowl this year!

Daisy Dukes out and about.

Some people will use any excuse to get a few extra beads. Wonder if it worked!

Thirty years! Amazing.

Little Sophie is quite happy with her beads, too!

Krewe of Wrecks royalty for 2010 - King Lloyd Hess and Queen Shelley Waters Johnson head the royal court!

Love the new jester!

The Krewe of Junkanoo are boarding the float as parade time nears.

The Krewe of Flight.

Take a long look at this krewe because you will rarely see them standing still. The Krewe of de Feet was founded by Glenn Windham in 1989 and is comprised of joggers and walkers!

Krewe du Ya-yas! Mardi Gras is known for parties and fun times, but many of our local krewes work hard to support various causes. The Krewe du Ya-yas throw their time and fundraising skills behind the crusade against breast cancer. You may learn more about their krewe by clicking HERE.

Oooh, I'd love to have wings!

H2O once again offered crawfish to revellers!

"Howdy, neighbors!" Neighbors (left to right): Bet Ellis, Wes Singleton, Elaine Singleton, Joe Ellis, and their friend Tom Fitzgerald found a prime spot at the parade. We live next door to Wes and Elaine and across the street from Joe and Bet, so we see each other all the time (in warm weather), but it's still so much fun to run into friends and neighbors at the parade.

One extra note to my blog followers, in the 30 years the Krewe of Wrecks has been parading, it has never rained on them. That's not to say it hasn't rained on parade day, but each and every year to date, the sky has cleared by afternoon for the parade to go forward. This year once again (though we had heavy rain, high wind, and even a bit of sleet in the two days prior) the sky cleared, temps jumped into the upper 50's, and we had another beautiful day for our parade.