Wednesday, September 29, 2010

Manatees at Amity Marina































Last Sunday we decided to go sailing and were pleasantly surprised to see three Manatees while walking to our boat. These large "Sea Cows" are a common sight at our marina on the St. Johns River. The Manatee averages 10 feet long and weighs 2000 lbs. They are vegetarians, spending about 8 hours a day eating sea grass in the shallow rivers of Florida. Many have prop scars from boats on their backs, and speed limits have been imposed in Manatee Areas on many rivers and the Intracoastal Waterway to help protect them. One playful Manatee has been nicknamed "Thumper" as he will sometimes thump on the hulls of the docked boats for attention. (You may need to click or double click to enlarge these pictures for a better view.)





Our sailing trip never happened as the boat moved very slowly away from the dock due to a prop severely fouled with barnacles. I went into the river and scrapped the thick layer of barnacles from both the prop and the boat bottom, a necessary maintenance task for a salt water boat owner.
Next time we will be ready to sail.
























Posted by Daveed at 11:14 AM 2 comments

Wednesday, September 22, 2010

Back to the Island & a Family Reunion



























































Last week we returned to Amelia Island, FL for a week of sunning, swimming, surfing, kayaking and surf fishing. Amelia Island is the place we spent five months last year. We were joined by my son from Missouri and Terri's brother from Colorado. This year we stayed at Oceans of Amelia Condos and had a direct ocean front room with a gorgeous view of the uncrowded beach. Hurricane Igor, some 400 miles off the coast still kicked up some powerful surf for a few days.




Our surf fishing landed us bluefish, whiting, pompano and stingray. Our surfing attempts were not very successful but a lot of fun. A nice man who owns a beach house a few doors down loaned me one of his surf kayaks and it was a blast.




We enjoyed blackened mahi mahi sandwiches and live music at The Surf beach restaurant one evening. We visited Shuckers to try their raw oysters and fried pickles as well.




It was a great time at one of our favorite Florida beaches.














































Posted by Daveed at 11:13 AM 0 comments

Friday, August 13, 2010

Daytona Beach in July....Hot but very Cool!
























Recently Terri and I had the opportunity to visit Daytona Beach, Florida. Since we frequently travel with our two small dogs, we were pleased to find a La Quinta (pet friendly hotel) directly on the beach for about $120 per night including the La Quinta Rewards upgrade. Our room on the 3rd floor overlooked the pool and the beautiful beach which permits driving. In fact Daytona is famous for driving on the beach due to the beach races preceding building the famous Daytona 500 Speedway. Motorcycles are the norm there as well and Bike Week and Biketober are two major gatherings in the area each year. Several famous restaurants and bars are there as well such as Aunt Catfishes, the Iron Horse Saloon, Bubba Gumps, and Sloppy Joe's. There was a large amusement park area near the city pier a mile or so down the beach.

This trip we choose to stay on the beach most of the time, enjoying the cooling sea breeze and swimming in the pool, and buying fresh shrimp or ordering in food. A talented sand artist sculpted a sea monster, hammerhead shark and sea turtle in the sand and used what appeared to be food coloring for detail. I did a lot of boogie boarding and body surfing in the cooling 75 degree ocean water. It was a very nice vacation which we will always remember.





























Posted by Daveed at 9:03 PM 0 comments

Sunday, July 18, 2010

Jacksonville 4th of July Sailing & Restaurants












































The fourth of July is always a great time to be in the Jacksonville area. Last year, we went night sailing and watched the fabulous fireworks from NAS(Naval Air Station) and the City of Jacksonville from our boat while sailing in the St. Johns River.It was our plan to repeat that this year, but plans are meant to be changed, especially for sailors who depend on the weather. After an exceptionally hot June for our area, this year we had clouds, afternoon squalls and thunderstorms which was a deterrent to our plans, but a welcome change in temperature.


On the 3rd, we took Terri's Uncle and his Grandson for their first sail. We enjoyed a nice breeze under threatening skies. After a nice sail a squall hit and obscured our view from the shore. Our guest got to experience a heeling sailboat and all the excitement that comes from being caught in a storm. Heading back to the marina after dropping sails, everyone seemed to enjoy the adventure and it was just another day of sailing in Florida in the summertime.


Due to the weather forecast, we cancelled our 4th of July night sail, but sailed on the 5th under cloudy skies and a brisk wind. It was a great day!


Sometimes we forget about some of the great places in our own backyard, so its time to mention some of the great restaurants we go to in the Jacksonville area. We enjoyed buckets of dungeness and snow crab from Joe's Crab Shack on Jax Beach at a friends birthday party while the wait staff danced in a Conga Line every thirty minutes or so. We also found a great inexpensive locals spot at Millers Ale House (try the Jambalaya & fish tacos) on San Jose Blvd. in Mandarin. The Bonefish Grill in Mandarin is probably our favorite, featuring great service, salads, and excellent grilled grouper with chimechurri sauce at Red Lobster prices.


Tomorrow we leave for the famous Daytona Beach for a week or so, look for another article soon.


































Posted by Daveed at 3:11 PM 0 comments

Monday, May 24, 2010

Panama City Beach, Florida.....Big Fun on the Beautiful Beach















I had not visited Panama City Beach since I was in High School and some things I remembered were still there while others were much different. Most of the Mom & Pop hotels are gone, replaced by High Rise Condos & World Class Hotels. The brilliant white quartz sand, emerald water and some of the family owned seafood restaurants (many in business for over 50 years) are still there and better than ever. The best news was that the oil from the BP Oil Spill hasn't made it to Florida Beaches and ruined the tourism business for the good people who have made fishing, seafood and vacation resorts their livelihood for generations.

Plentiful near the beach on this trip were large Stingrays which swam a mere 2 to 3 feet from us while we were in the water. (See dark spots in the picture above). We saw a school of 40 or 50 at one time and most people swimming were more curious than cautious. We also saw a pod of Dolphins swim only 25 yards from our spot on the beach. We did a lot of swimming and body surfing while there.

One highlight was visiting the fairly new Jimmy Buffett's Margaritaville Restaurant & Bar. Just outside the restaurant a photographer sat a Blue & Gold Macaw Parrot on my shoulder and snapped a few pictures of us. We sat on the outside deck enjoying a view of the gulf, live music and a couple of Margaritas. In a spicy mood that night, I had the Jamaican Jerk Chicken and Terri had Jimmy's Jammin Jambalaya.

We also visited Capt. Anderson's Restaurant, voted #1 Seafood Restaurant in the country by Southern Living Magazine. They unload the days catch off of their docks every day and the seafood doesn't get any fresher. It was every bit as good as when my parents took me there some 35-40 years ago. We enjoyed the Grilled Red Snapper and Grouper.

Terri and I also like Oysters, so we stopped at three Oyster Bars.....Shuckums, Salty Sues, and Dustys Oyster Bar where we had two dozen each of the freshest oysters you have ever tasted. We had meant to stop at another Panama City Beach Institution, Dirty Dicks Crab House for their New Orleans style seafood and humorous t-shirts but never got around to it.

We made one last stop before leaving and bought some large fresh shrimp from a seafood market to bring home to cook and had it peel & eat style tonight, it was delicious.

The one thing I had forgotten was how intense the sun is reflecting off the brilliant white sand and super clear water at this beach. Spending so much time at the beach and in the water, we both returned home sunburned, even though we had a good tan to start with. It was a great trip and we plan to return there soon.













Posted by Daveed at 8:56 PM 0 comments

Tuesday, May 18, 2010

Boats, Bars & Concerts....but Beaches soon!





















Since the St. Augustine trip, Terri and I have been living a pretty normal life. We have been working in the yard & gardens quite a bit. Last Sunday we went to the Suwannee River and caught some Catfish.

And since even Beach Bums need a little night life we decided to go and see a concert at Wild Adventure Theme Park near Valdosta, GA with REO Speedwagon and Styx. I enjoyed the concerts very much and especially Styx who played "Come Sail Away". Afterward we went for a late night dinner at Hooters for some of their famous Chicken Wings.

Last week we spent a few days sailing Sand Dollar on the St. Johns River. I have been working quite a bit on the boat lately too, especially the engine. Salt water tends to have an adverse effect on old engines, but thanks to a friend who lives aboard with his son on a Hunter 34 on our dock we have ALMOST got it running right. Still, Terri and I were treated to nice winds and highs in the low 90's for some nice sailing days.

Tomorrow we leave for 4 or 5 days at Panama City Beach, FL. It has been over 30 years since I have visited this beautiful Gulf Beach so I am looking forward to this very much. Look for an article about it soon.

















Posted by Daveed at 2:29 PM 0 comments

Tuesday, March 30, 2010

10% Tanning Tax.....Are You Kidding?????



Apparently Congress has passed a Health Care Bill which includes a 10% tax on indoor tanning effective in July. I am a middle of the road political type of guy but I find it a bit peculiar that this was passed during a black president's rein. I don't tan indoors very often, but after a Christmas present of a tanning package, I found it nice to get a head start before our Mexican vacation.....especially when it is so warming and relaxing on a cold winters day. Furthermore, my daughter's first job was at a tanning salon while she was in High School/College on her way to becoming a Physicians Assistant.
It all reminds me of a time when I first acquired my boat. I asked my fishing friend Slinky, a black man from St. Croix if he wanted to go sailing with me. He said "NO MON! Ja won't get me on dat boat! Black people don't like boats! Ja tell me ya taking me to a betta place und I never see my home again. Dats why black people don't like boats!" Of course he was just kidding, but he never did take me up on the offer.
We have all seen beach goers bundled up in 90 degrees, either from real problems or taking their doctors warnings far too seriously, but they are far and few between. Still, I have a problem buying this as a "Medical Tax."
How much money do they really expect to raise from this tax? Already there are two tanning salons for sale in our city. Do they want to tax the sunshine next? Perhaps taxing Afro-Sheen would raise more money......can you imagine?
Take Care All and.....Don't get too much Sun.














































Posted by Daveed at 6:17 PM 0 comments
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