A reporter at WIRED magazine, Reece Rogers, did something almost none of us think to do. He asked McDonald's for a copy of everything the company had on him. A few days later, a file landed in his inbox …

You’ve got it. My annual column about the return of college football to the Anderson house. The switch has been flipped. The school-loyalty gear has been pulled out for the season. It is easy to …

The world celebrated International Manatee Day on Sept. 7 to raise awareness about the protection, conservation, and research needs of manatees and their habitats. A manatee is a large, fully …

I grew up in a two-family house owned by my grandparents. We lived upstairs and they, along with my Uncle Joe, lived downstairs. Every year my grandfather would put up a garden that was the envy of …

Wendell Berry, poet, essayist, novelist, social critic, environmental activist and farmer, died this week at the age of 92 at his home in Port Royal, Kentucky. If you look up Port Royal in Google …

When Curry Island Indian Kitchen opened in Fernandina Beach in October of 2025, people lost their minds a little bit. This was the first standalone Indian restaurant on Amelia Island, and apparently …

My brother and sister-in-law, along with two of their daughters, live in the Philadelphia area, and I’ve visited them a couple of times a year for years. I’ve seen the regular tourist sites like …

A colleague here at the Observer cornered me recently to rave about Apple Pages. They had been using it for a few weeks, and the question they landed on is one I hear across the counter at least once …

A visit by my three sons triggered a request. Would they go backwater fishing with me? The quick response was yes; it would be great fun. So I quickly called Terry Lacosse, an old friend and a legend …

In the late summer, strolling through the Ritz-Carlton property on Amelia Island, it is always nice to walk over the dunes to the beach. One particular boardwalk leads from the hotel lawn to the …

Like many of you, I was deeply saddened to learn of Dolly's passing. I have followed many of the tributes that have poured in for this remarkable woman. The word most often used to describe her is no …

The title for last week’s commentary was “Living large by living tiny.” This week, I continue a big and little comparison, but in a different way. Last Sunday afternoon, I was a member of …

Wildlight has changed quite a bit over the past few years. What was once a growing community with a handful of places to eat now has a slightly larger handful of places to eat. That’s what I call …

It’s about time I give homage to the wonderful beaches that border our town. So many of us moved here for the beach, and over time have aged out of enjoying it. Well, I’m not letting that happen …

A customer came into the shop last week with a question I hear more often than you might think: "I have 20 years of music sitting on my computer. How do I get it onto my phone?" It's a fair …

Amelia Island offers a unique opportunity to experience history. Fernandina Beach's Historic District is a living museum. Like sleeping beauties ...

I think we can agree that recycling and reusing materials on this planet is a good idea. It is beneficial to get the most out of a material before it ends up in our ever-increasing landfills. …

One of the most important areas where we need to promote kindness is politics. Our political discourse at this point in time is cruel and abusive. The closest thing to this in our recent past was the …

I spent the first two weeks of August on an extended road trip. For two weeks, I had a nomadic lifestyle. Now, I have two weeks of going to medical appointments and then recovery. I don’t need to …

There’s a tea shop in Yulee I’ve visited multiple times, enjoyed every time, but forget exists until I’m driving to Target. It’s across from Culver's in the strip mall, and has been there …