Farsighted Fly Girl

When I first arrived on Sanibel Island, I was sitting at a Tiki Bar, waiting for my room to be ready when a couple asked me if I was from Alaska. I had on a light sweater, a scarf and jeans. I explained that their theory was pretty close (I live in Chiberia). The temps were in the low 70's and I wasn't hot at all but that's not the point. Sanibel is all about the beach, the sun and wearing tropical clothes, regardless of the weather. It's like a rule. So I explored Sanibel and Captiva beaches, nature reserves and bike paths as one of the only people in pants, lol. I loved delving into these natural spots, and they were always mostly deserted. Cayo Costa  shown above, was my favorite beach. It was filled with piles of shells and a beautiful shoreline that I walked for two hours straight.  Sanibel's beaches were scattered with striking sand sculptures like this mermaid. On the Sanibel Heritage Trail,  this sign warning of an alligator caught my eye, as w...

For years, I've wanted to explore the unusual barrier islands of Sanibel and Captiva, located off the southwest coast of Florida.  Most islands have a north-south orientation but on Sanibel and Captiva, the layout is east-west, creating glorious sandy beaches and layers of shells. I'm excited to kick off my 2019 travels by exploring these under-the radar islands. I'll be biking the Sanibel Heritage Trail, hopping on a shelling cruise to Cayo Costa island, accessible only by boat, and hiking through the J.N,Ding Darling Wildlife Refuge.  ,where I hope to spot a few manatees. A stop by the Bailey-Matthews National Shell Museum , the only museum dedicated to shells in the U.S., is also a Sanibel requirement so hopefully I won't come home with pounds of shells to add to my collection!  Please follow along with my posts as I discover these intriguing islands.

Strolling the boardwalk in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida, I spotted this scene and quickly snapped it. The parrot never moved or fluttered, he looked perfectly content perched on the bike and riding along the beach. Since I love parrots, biking and beaches, it turned out to be one of my favorite impromptu travel photos. What's your favorite unexpected travel pic?

Along the Gulf of Mexico, off the coast of Florida, St. George Island unfurls with long stretches of pearly sand and serene landscapes. I visited this hidden, 22-mile barrier island expecting the unspoiled beauty but I also discovered a very distinctive, old school lifestyle that includes oyster harvesting.  Oysters can only be harvested manually in St. George so the surrounding Apalachicola Bay is dotted with small boats like the one above. These oyster boats haven't changed much since they were developed 100 years ago.  The wooden structure measures 20-23 feet and are equipped with  a small cubicle to protect against the sun, a culling board to separate the oysters and long, 12-feet tongs used to rake the shellfish from the oyster beds onto the boats. Oyster harvesting is often a family business, I spotted many husband and wife teams out on the water, patiently culling oysters, piling them into 60 pound sacks that go for approximately $25 each...

I've seen a lot of strange sights during my travels and the phone booth/police station that I visited on my recent trip to St. George Island, Florida, counts as one of them. Clearly, the little town of Carrabelle right outside of St. George, which consists of a few streets and this police station, does not experience much crime. Before the phone booth, the police phone was a simple call box bolted to a building. That call box served as the police headquarters until they were plagued by tourists making unauthorized long distance calls. So in 1963, they erected a phone booth under a chinaberry tree. This booth and bench currently provides the local police with all they need to regulate crime. I am not making this up. The phone booth has been featured in Ripley's Believe It Or Not and the Today Show. I squeezed into the booth and it is a tight fit. I don't think Carabelle police eat many doughnuts or other stereotypically fatty foods popular with the police. S...

Amelia Island may be famous for its shrimp but I spotted a form of the pink delicacies that I was not expecting at all. I was strolling down the sunny, cobblestone streets on a historical tour when my guide stopped and plu cked a curving, pink branch from the flowering bush above.  " Wh at does that look like to you?" My guide asked, showing me the blossoms close up.  It looks like a shrimp!  Hence the name shrimp plant.  They grow all over the island and my guide insisted that they will grow just about anywhere. Well, not in Chicago, I informed him.  Not enough sun. Two weeks ago, guess what I spied for sale in front of my local grocery store? It was a vividly blooming, potted shrimp plant. In Chicago. I've never seen them here before and don't know how long they'll last but it just goes to show that sometimes things don't always make sense but it doesn't mean they can't happen.  

I love horses. One of my favorite activities wherever I travel is to go horseback riding. There's nothing like exploring a place on horseback, grabbing a totally different perspective. Sometimes, the horses don't always love me back. I've ridden bossy horses that refuse to move. Hungry horses that insist on snacking on nearby bushes instead of gallop ing and nervous horses that spook  if I dare to hold their reins a tad too tight. So when arrangements for my horseback ride on Amelia Island were planned, I requested a friendly, gentle horse.  Those qualities can be relative but with Debbie Manser , owner of Amelia Island Horseback Riding, I was well taken care of. She paired me with Honey, shown above. I've never met an animal that personified their name quite so perfectly as sweet-natured Honey. We rode along a luminous stretch of American Beach just as the sun was about to set. Debbie guided Honey along the shore and even in the water's edge. Honey trotted sl...

I've seen a lot of things during my travels but I've never seen a fountain like this.  It stands in a sunny corner of historic Fernandina Beach and it looks like a creative art installation. I stared at it for a long time, trying to discover exactly what its for. Washing dishes?  Splash ing nearby plants?  Look closely.  There's a tiny fountain at the bottom, a huge fountain at the right and a normal sized fountain on the left.  What in the world do you do with all of them?  Turns out that this is the  Duryee Fo untain , built in  the 1870s, by the wife of an army officer.  She loved animals, perhaps a little bit more than humans so she commissioned this fountain to give water to horses, cats and dogs and humans! Now what did you think it was for?

Amelia Island is a magical place. Not just because of the sun-drenched cobble stone streets, the Victorian architecture or its long stretch of pristine beaches.  Its the people, as warm as the Florida weather that makes it irresistible.    Apparently, I'm not the only one attracted to this little island.  Pirates loved to hide out on Amelia Island during the 17th and 18th centuries. Throughout the Fernandina Beach historic district, you'll find homages to these characters like the waterfront statue above. And this life-like specimen that guards a local shop. Palm trees also line every street and strip of land, just so you remember you're on an island.  These are my favorite, called pineapple palms because of the texture of the bark. Palm trees often supply the only shade  on a sunny street, making them practical as well as pretty. Apparently, Amelia Island beaches are studded with millions-year-old sharks teeth. I only found pretty shells but...

Amelia Island's main town of Fernandina Beach is lined with sprawling Victorian houses, palm trees, cobblestone streets and, shrimp.  That's right.  Amelia Island is famous for creating the modern shrimping industry in 1900 and its annual Shrimp Festival attracts thousands to the tiny isle.  So yes, shrimp makes up a significant part of Amelia Island's identity.  Throughout Fernandina, whimsical shrimp sculptures dot the lush landscape.  The structures help raise funds for Mica's Place, a local domestic violence intervention center.  I loved spotting these silly creatures wherever I journeyed on the island, they each display a particular personality.  The mosaic shrimp above is called Cool, Coastal, Captivating Cutie and she lounges in the park in the Fernandina Historic D istrict . This is Rock Shrimp and he's my favorite.  It helps that he hangs out right by the local ice cream and fudge s...

Located on northeast Florida's Amelia Island, American Beach is a dreamy stretch of 200 acres that was established as a beach resort for African Americans in 1933, during the Jim Crow era when most beaches were segregated. American Beach remains an undeveloped historical gem, brimming with cultural history. The very first thing that caught my eye on the beach was the bottle tree above, glistening between two palms. Bottle trees are a hallmark of Southern gardens but the tradition reaches back further, centuries ago in the Central African nation of the Congo.  Bottles were slipped onto tree branches to catch spirits trying to enter a house. This tree shows the customary sea green and " haint blue" bottles that whistle like captured ghosts when the wind blows. The other thing that immediately grabbed my attention was this swirling 60 feet sand dune called Nana, a West African term for  great mother.  Nana is the tallest sand dune in the state of Florida an...

This is the turtle that ambled in front of me as I started a tour of  historic American Beach on Amelia Island. He crossed Ocean Blvd casually and confidently, as if he wanted to be part of the tour too. But he got spooked when I moved close to snap his photo. Or maybe he heard my tour guide, Marsha Phelts explain that the only reason he was so big was that the women who live on Ocean Blvd are too old to catch him and make turtle stew!

This week, I'll be on a press trip to Amelia Island, one of the southernmost of the Sea Islands, located off the coast of Florida.  Steeped in history, this 13-mile island is also called  the "Isle of Eight Flags"  since it has flown the flags of France,  Spain (twice), Great Britain, the Patriots of Amelia Island,  the Green Cross of Florida,  Mexico, the Confederate States of America and the United States, since 1562.  I'll be staying in a charming inn on Fernandina Beach, pictured above, complete with rocking chairs to watch the blue herons. My activities will include delving into all that intriguing history as well as horseback riding on the beach, a segway tour of the Amelia Island Plantation nature center and a walking tour of American Beach, a storied African American enclave  frequented by legends like Zora Neale Hurston, A. Phillip Randolph and Joe Louis during the Jim crow era of the 30s-60s.   Of course, I hope to sneak ...