Bucko and I are back in our happy place in time for the Placencia Lobster Festival just down the beach from our usual hotel in Belize. We were still reeling from the overcrowded, heavily touristed …

It seems like many of my weekly stories are about adventures in far-off places, but really enjoying my own backyard is its own adventure. Now it is clearly spring, nearing summer, and my yard has …

When I travel anywhere I am always on the lookout for sights and experiences that I can relate to my local readers in Florida. And there is always something. This time, I’m reminiscing about …

Our home feels empty. There is no longer a cat scratch post, a litter box, food and water dishes, cat toys, and a lamb’s wool mat on our spare bed, that was once the “cat’s …

It was not a usual trip to Cumberland Island for me a little while ago. I was on the ferry from St. Marys alone this time, not with a handful of other friends. But I was not going to be alone long. …

It’s blueberry picking season! Recently, I got a hankering for picking my own blueberries and hopefully other produce from a U-pick farm near us. It took a bit of Googling but I found a few …

Last week I wrote about walking around the town of Darien, Georgia and all the historical and scenic sights. But when Bucko and I go to Darien, it is not just about the town, but about the various …

Darien, Georgia is only an hour north of Fernandina but it is years in the past from the bustling town we now call home. Bucko and I go there for a night or two to savor the quietness and history of …

I confess that I’ve been less active these days than I was in years past. Back in the day, I routinely took five-mile walks around our area and led Newcomer’s Club friends on once-a-month …

A few weeks ago, I was chasing a single small, innocuous brown butterfly along a path in Fort Clinch State Park. I didn’t know the species, I was curious, as always, and the best way I know to …

Bucko and I drove across Florida to the Big Bend area, south of Tallahassee, where the panhandle starts, to enjoy the Sopchoppy Worm Grunting Festival …

It makes me laugh just to say it: Sopchoppy Worm Grunting Festival. And it has made all our friends and acquaintances do a double-take when we mention that we are going there. We’ve had a lot …

Low tides are my favorite times to go to the seashore, wherever I am. On the West Coast of the United States, the pools left behind the retreating tides are full of anemones, urchins, sea stars, and …

Whenever I get a hankering for fresh live caught local shrimp I wait for Friday, Saturday, or Sunday mornings when Martin Holton is manning his pickup truck on Eighth Street near T.J. Courson Road. …

I just returned from our special place in Belize with my heart and soul filled with the tropical beach scenes there. But here I was at home again on Amelia Island, it was low tide, and I started my …

Ever since we started routinely going to Belize, I’ve been wanting to eat an iguana. As all my friends know, I love to try different exotic foods — tarantulas in Cambodia, monkey stew in …

I knew about this even before Bucko and I arrived in Placencia, Belize, this time: there would be a “Lionfish Shootout” when we were there, and I was eager to photograph the action. …

I’ve been a friend of Amelia River Cruises ever since I moved here nearly 30 years ago and met Kevin McCarthy at a talk I was giving on right whales. Kevin introduced himself to me and invited …

On a whim, I stopped into Sam’s Flying Frog Ranch pet store in Yulee recently and couldn’t be more impressed with the collection of animals contained therein. It was about four years ago …

This past Sunday, I was looking for a story — maybe about the birds of prey now nesting in our area. A pair of great horned owls and at least one chick are in their usual yearly nest in Fort …