St. Michael's Cemetery

Every year I like to take advantage of tours in our historic St. Michael's Cemetery, located in the downtown area of Pensacola.  Last Saturday, April 9th, St. Michael's hosted a very special Free Day with sixty individual stations set up throughout the cemetery  for demonstrations of remote sensing; masonry, brick, metal fence, stone conservation; talks about prominent historical people buried in St. Michael's and epidemics through the centuries; Iconology and meanings; and even information about a botanical survey of St. Michael's Cemetery which mapped out over 450 species of wild grass and wildflowers. 

St. Michael's Cemetery was recently awarded a grant of over $100,000 from IMPACT 100 (please click on the highlighted link to learn more about this incredible group of local women), which is helping to fund many repairs/restoration of this historic landmark which covers 8 acres.

Below are some of the photos I took last Saturday:

This oval-shaped berm area was consecrated by St. Michael's Roman Catholic Church for the burial of local priests and pastors.

One of the most prominent markers in the cemetery is that of Daniel Sullivan (1833-1884), a local lumber baron who was born in Ireland.

Beautiful detail is seen on many headstones, markers and mausoleums.

 This is one of my favorite sculptures in St. Michael's.

Members of various historical and genealogical societies dressed in costumes that day and presented talks about historical residents of the city, now buried at St. Michael's.

Photos may be enlarged by clicking on them.  This sign tells a bit more about the St. Michael's Cemetery Comprehensive Botanical Survey.

Sad little headstones of beloved children.

Through the decades, a large live oak enveloped a headstone.

Dr. Eugenio Sierra worked as a surgeon in the Spanish royal hospital in 1785, but by the mid-1790's had became a prominent doctor in Pensacola.  His is a fascinating story you may read by clicking on the link.

Dr. Sierra was known to have purchased a guillotine in New Orleans and brought it to Pensacola to use for amputations!

This marker is one of the few original wooden markers from St. Michael's Cemetery which remain.  It is generally kept in a museum but was brought to the site for display on this day.  Local woodcarvers took the original markers and recreated them using cypress.  The photo below is the finished reproduction of this marker. 

As you can see, the gray of the cypress wood almost matches stone markers nearby.

The unique 'table' of stone is the marker for two young wives who died during a yellow fever epidemic in Pensacola. 













I hope you will take time to visit St. Michael's Cemetery.  It holds so many stories and secrets which span its more than 200 year history.   

You can print off a map and take a self-guided tour.  In fact, if you have a smart phone (iPhone, Droid, etc.) you may be very interested in trying the Next Exit History app which, as they say, can literally put history in your hands with its database of over 35,000 historical sites.  Check out more about this new software app by clicking HERE.

The Bottlebrush Tree

You can see why I love the Bottlebrush tree in my yard.  My mother gave it to me as a birthday present about 3 years ago and I'm so surprised at how well it has done out here on the beach.

Wildflowers

“Men do change, and change comes like a little wind that ruffles the curtains at dawn, and it comes like the stealthy perfume of wildflowers hidden in the grass."

~~ John Steinbeck (1902 – 1968)

Pittosporum tobira

The pittosporum in my yard are blooming and it smells incredible...to me!  This shrub is an excellent choice for island landscaping.  It can grow well over six feet tall or be kept pruned back for a more compact appearance.

Sometimes called Japanese Mock Orange, the scent resembles that of sweet orange.  Some people find the fragrance too heavy.  Me, on the other hand, I could stand in the yard and take deep breaths of it all day long!

Tiny invaders

Ah ha, I caught them redhanded!  Once again this year it is small House Finches that are guzzling all the hummingbird food in my feeders! 

The Pelican

"Nature’s prime favourites were the Pelicans; High-fed, long-lived, and sociable and free."

~~ James Montgomery (1771 - 1854)



A Day at Bellingrath Gardens

It had been a while since my husband and I visited Bellingrath Gardens in Theodore, Alabama.  Yesterday we had the opportunity to take our friends, Jim and Lila Cox, with us for day trip to visit the gardens, then to Dauphin Island for lunch, cross Mobile Bay on the ferry and back home to Pensacola Beach.

We just missed the peak blooming period for their azaleas and we've promised ourselves to make it over again a bit earlier next year.  If you'd like to find out what is in bloom at any time throughout the year, just click HERE.   And to learn more about Walter & Bessie Bellingrath, the home, the river cruise on the Southern Belle, and the incredible gardens, just click on any of the highlighted links.

No Fly Zone

This seagull decided to stay in the No Fly Zone during the Mobile Bay Ferry ride from Dauphin Island to Ft. Morgan this afternoon.

It's not easy being green!

Upon checking the status of my tiny lemons this morning, I discovered something else was checking them out also!

This little fellow is a Green Anole (Anolis carolinensis) which is the only anole native to Florida.  You can tell it is a male by the presence of the pink dewlap he's displaying in the photo below.

Although I'm not a fan of reptiles (sea turtles exempted, of course!), I am happy to see this little fellow in my yard.  The population of green anoles is being seriously depleted by the invasion of non-native Cuban brown anoles (Anolis sagrei) which are larger, compete for food, and, sadly, kill our daintier Green anoles.

Beachin' day

What a gorgeous day on Pensacola Beach and hardly a person in sight on this end of the island!  Pack those bags and hit the road to paradise!

Central Daylight Beach Time

My garden sundial says it's time to head to the beach!  By the way, the surf is said to be building throughout the day and possibly up to 9' waves tomorrow. Sounds like a perfect video op to me!

A surprise ending

There will be no accompanying audio song with my video clip today.  I think the ending is quite adequate.  Sometimes life offers us a surprise ending!

And here is a close-up I took later. The question is...where's the fresh-faced owner?

The view from Portofino

It was a breezy, cool, gray morning, but the sun is finally peeping out this afternoon.  Too bad I didn't wait until afternoon to visit my friend's condo at Portofino!!

Gray, windy day

It's a gray, cool, windy day on the beach with gusts well over 20 mph.  High winds which coat the landscape with salt spray are not good for my little lemon tree.  See the teeny, tiny lemons which are beginning to form.  Hopefully the wind will die down later in the day and I can shower off the salt before too much damage is done.

By the way, the scent from my little tree is incredible right now.  I cannot imagine how divine it would be to walk near a whole grove of them in bloom.

Inside Landshark Landing

Not too far to go for a Cheeseburger in Paradise!

There's always one in the group!

The 'other' Island Style.

Daydreamin'

Landshark Landing

Margaritaville Beach Hotel is one of our newest Pensacola Beach Chamber of Commerce members and last night they hosted our quarterly Business After Hours event at Landshark Landing. This fairly new property which opened last summer is another fun place to put on your list to visit this summer.   The food was great and the atmosphere was delightful.

Even though it was starting to drizzle rain, I was able to get a couple snippets of video of the super-cool outside area to share with you. 


At the beginning of the first video above you can see the Pensacola Beach Fishing Pier in the background. 


I took the second video to show you how the firepit looks when lit (and you can imagine how it looks after dark!) and also did a close-up of the tiki bench where you can chill out with friends while you dig your toes in that sugar white sand.... Gosh, do I sound like a Chamber of Commerce commercial????

Down a lazy river

Our Pensacola Beach Chamber of Commerce meeting this morning was held at the newly opened Holiday Inn Resort on Via de Luna Drive.  Afterward, I stepped out on the balcony of the conference room to take a quick video of the resort's most exciting feature, 'Lazy River'! 

This is a great new property on the beach and will be a beautiful place to stay this summer, especially as the landscaping fills out, the cascading waterfall and beach music are turned on, and the palapa-style Tiki Bar is open.

Mellow Monday morning

It was hazy in the Gulf and hazy to the north, but I had a lovely clear shot down the beach this morning!

I was happy to see the Dune Buffer signs, even if they are handwritten.  Our dunes are slowly rebuilding, but foot traffic can quickly break them down again.

The round earth rolls

Sometimes, when things get overwhelming, just stop and watch the "round earth roll". Stop thinking about where you need to be, what you should be doing, what slipped through the cracks this day. Just take a breath, let your shoulders relax, and immerse yourself in the moment.

"The grand show is eternal. It is always sunrise somewhere; the dew is never dried all at once; a shower is forever falling; vapor is ever rising. Eternal sunrise, eternal dawn and gloaming, on sea and continents and islands, each in its turn, as the round earth rolls."

~~ John Muir  (1838 - 1914)

Walking the beach

Photos taken at midday are not the best, but I wanted to share shots from my walk with other volunteers around the end of the island today.  We crossed over the seawall and continued west, walking parallel to the Naval Air Station, the Lighthouse, and Fort Barrancas.


Looking west from the tip of Santa Rosa Island across Pensacola Pass toward Perdido Key. 

Although you can't see it from these photos, the Gulf of Mexico was beautiful hues of sapphire and turquoise today.  A few cobia boats are starting to venture out and will be in full force in April. 

I drive past this small lake/pond near the old fort during my turtle patrols, but I did not know until our guided walk with Ranger Becky Breeding Mims today that it is freshwater. (It becomes brackish for a time after hurricanes or tropical storms that cause a storm surge or breach.) Ranger Becky has also been on a exploratory dive of the pond where she learned that it is at least 30 feet deep, the point at which it became to murky to continue. She also told us that Park visitors are allowed to fish in the pond...as long as they invite her to dinner!

The beach is looking fabulous and I was able to see firsthand many improvements made at Ft. Pickens during the winter months.  It's so exciting to look forward to a brand new sea turtle patrol season!!

Postscript:  After this publishing this post, I received an e-mail from a friend of mine, Mr. Morrie Drees.  He has lived here for many years and is always generous with his knowledge of the area.  This is an interesting tidbit he shared about the lakes and ponds of Ft. Pickens: 

"... when I was a flight instructor at Sherman Field. we had a land mark where we checked in for landing called three lakes. There were 3 fresh water lakes east of FT Pickens where we would report over for landing on runway 24 at Sherman. They were very visible from the air and were a good landmark. I believe over time the hurricanes buried them."

I have been trying to find out if the three lakes he mentioned are still there, but have not yet heard back from the park biologist.

Off to Ft. Pickens!

I'm heading to Ft. Pickens for our Gulf Islands National Seashore Volunteer Outing today.  Volunteers from not only our area, but also the Mississippi District will spend the day on special guided tours around Ft. Pickens, and enjoy a picnic and awards presentation.

I love my sea turtle patrols, but is also very interesting to meet and visit with volunteers who provide service in other areas (such as the forts and welcome centers) and districts.  Some have been volunteering for up to two decades and received their 1,000+ hour awards and certificates!  They are incredibly generous with their time and are very knowledgeable about our National Seashore, its history, and wildlife.

What a fabulous, beautiful day for fun and friends and picnicking at Ft. Pickens!

  

Which way to paradise?

Which way should I go today?



Lemons!!!

At least they will be lemons eventually!

 

The 'Super Moon'

What a beautiful moon tonight. I drove east into the Santa Rosa area of Gulf Islands National Seashore to find a more quiet place to photograph the event which NASA referred to as a "super 'perigee' moon".

It was simply splendid!!