Found a Reason to Hurricane Season

I just returned from 2 weeks in North Florida, and I must say that it exceeded the anticipation I felt before going. We survived the first Tropical Storm of the season, as TS Alberto brought some much needed rain to the area and little to no damage. If anything the first storm reminded people just how fragile the Gulf Coast is and perhaps helps to slow the onslaught of real estate development.

Living in Colorado is an interesting contrast to having grown up in Florida. Both states are abundant with wildlife, something that I seem to appreciate more with each passing year. For the third straight year, I spotted a loggerhead turtle swimming off the Alligator Point spit. I don't ever remember seeing turtles growing up and now they seem almost commonplace. Someone has posted signs along the highway on Alligator point warning drivers of nesting turtles. I hope the raised awareness will ensure their survival; however, I feel strongly that the ultimate survival of the turtles along this part of the coast is going to depend upon some restraint in human development.

When I first moved to Colorado I became a mountain biking enthusiast and someone directed me to the Waterton Canyon trail just a feel miles southwest of Denver in the foothills. On one of my rides, I came into a herd of Big Horn sheep. It was a thrilling experience and one that had me some what on edge as I considered that I might need to make a hasty retreat should one of the rams decide I was a treat to his territory.

Equal to this experience was my recent encounter with a bald eagle perched in a tree in front of our beach house. I was able to quietly sneak outside and position myself directly underneath the branch where the eagle was perch to get a couple of photos before this magnificent bird launched back out over the water and away to his roost somewhere in the marshes behind our house. I have never seen a bald eagle at the coast and I hope that this is something that others will be able to enjoy in future generations. I worry that the SummerCamp development planned by St Joe will destroy the habitats of both the turtles and the eagles. It is my understanding that St Joe plans to develop the entire St. James Island, including a new highway short cutting the road from the Ochlocknee River bridge to the summer camp development.

One evening at the coast, my old friend Terry Nelson stopped by to catch up. He told us about the mother black bear and her two cubs that were hit by cars along highway 98. It seems that first the mother bear was killed one foggy night by a car and her two distraught cubs stayed with her only to be hit by a subsequent car before anyone from State Wildlife could rescue them. I don't know if this mother bear was the same one seen a few years ago in backyards of some coastal residents, but St James Island is now without another 3 bears. At what point will the State realize that the Island is a bear habitat and keep development from driving them out. I am not one for the government solving all our problems, but it does feel like St Joe has a power over us that can't be stopped.

I have long been an opponent of the statewide fishing net ban that was passed 10 years ago. There has been a noticeable increase in fish populations in the waters, but at what cost when the fishing industry is replaced by tourism and development? I also worry that the Gulf Coast culture is being replaced with a market tested and generically commonplace one catered toward the expected influx of people to the "Forgotten Coast". I don't know who came up with this name for the stretch of coastline between Panama City and Wakulla County, but it is not hard to guess. Perhaps a better name than "The Forgotten Coast" is "The Florida Coast not yet overly developed for Tourists". Proof of this can be found in the newly published "Sweet Tea" magazine along with the rising real estate costs and overtly branded signs up and down Highway 98.

I keep reminding myself of Carl Hiassen's words, "nothing wrong with Florida that a Category 5 Hurricane couldn't cure".

House Rules

No one likes to be asked to abide by rules, especially when you are supposed to be "away from it all". However, the rules are pretty simple and practical once you have spent any time on the coast. I really don't know how the rules were started. I would guess the credit should go to my great grandmother Caroline Chaires, because it was her house first and her daughter (my great aunt) Kakey is the source of many of the ones that were repetitively given.

Over the years, I am sure that some rules have been dropped and some never really took hold. For example, back when there were wild hogs roaming around in the woods there was a fence surrounding the yard. I am sure it was very important to keep the gates closed, otherwise the wild pigs would have gotten into the yard and rooted up the lawn. I have also heard how my great grandmother Caroline Chaires didn't want people shooting quail behind the house. As the story is told, she tried to tell Reynolds Lewis he couldn't and he told her he could. Supposedly, Reynolds Lewis was one of the few people who give her those kind of answers. Similarly, I believe my mom was involved in asking the Wilsons to keep from riding their horses on the beach. I wish I could remember their exact answer.

Growing up it is hard to take in the rules from the adults, especially when those rules aren't coming from the usual source - our parents. The recitation of the rules from Kakey often made her unpopular with some of my cousins. I have never had a problem with the rules or hearing them, and I like to think of myself as a quick learner (aside from continual boating mishaps). I also believe that I am Kakey's favorite great nephew, so perhaps I could do no wrong. My cousin's I am afraid to say were misled down a potentially dangerous path by my brother in the form of the infamous "Kakey Trap". Not having been a part of this plot, I can't say with certainty if it really was my brother or my cousin Cary who derived this scheme. Having decided that they had had enough of Kakey, they decided to dig a pit on the beach in front of our house. They then covered this pit with thin sticks and seaweed so that when Kakey came down to the beach she would step on the seaweed and fall into the pit, where upon she would realize her misjudgement in telling her great nieces and nephews to "rinse their feet before coming inside" or "close the door quickly, don't let the mosquitos in". Thankfully, one of our parents caught wind of this plot, otherwise, Kakey may have been made a cripple.

My cousins and I will always remember Kakey for these rules and perhaps one day pass them on to another generation. I know that the beach house has been a favorite place for Kakey in her life. In the times that she didn't have her great nieces and nephews to boss, I am sure that she and her friends had "grand times" at the coast. It's not hard for me to remember those days growing up when Maryann and Phil Shuford and Dottie Rickards would all be sitting on the porch having their drinks and most likely reminiscing about the good times.

The Rules
1. Keep the doors closed. Mosquitos will take any opportunity presented to get in the house. There is nothing more annoying trying to sleep at night with the buzz of mosquitos around your ear.
2. Rinse your feet before coming into the house. This is the beach and your feet get dirty or sandy. If you have sandy feet and you lie on one of the beds on the porch, you just got sand in someone's bed. Right after mosquitos in the ear on the annoying scale.
3. Don't sit in a cane chair with a wet bathing suit. Cane is not water proof and will rot pretty fast if it gets wet. Re-caning a chair ain't easy or cheap. There are hard bottom chairs you can sit on with a wet bathing suit.
4. Don't leave food out. It is very humid, so food gets stale fast. We have roaches and ants that can't be stopped from coming in and will invade any open bags of chips, cookies, etc. Ants will also go after fruit.
5. If you are going off in a boat, tell someone where you will be. You will regret not doing this once you've ever been stranded.
6. Don't drink the tap water. The water comes out of a well in the backyard. No sense in risking it.
7. Conserve water. The forementioned well will run dry if a lot of people are in the house and use the water too freely.
8. When walking in the water, drag your feet. Better to kick up a stingaree than step on one.
9. Discard fish parts smartly. Don't drop heads and guts in the water while others are swimming. We haven't had a shark attack yet, but no need to ring the dinner bell.
10. Respect your neighbors. The houses are close together and the proximity to water helps the sound carry. Mom and Dad have called the Franklin County sheriff numerous times over the years on the young adult parties that went late into the night. Paybacks are way overdue.
11. Don't leave chairs and belongings on the beach. If you are not using them, bring them back up to the yard.

Boats - Part 2

The scary motor
Another one of my earliest boating memories is how my father would clean the outboard motor after each use in the saltwater. When I was young we would always bring the boat back to town after being down at the coast. Dad would sometimes wait to spray down the outboard motor with WD-40 once we got back to the house in town. As I can recall, he would somehow have water running through the motor to flush out any remaining saltwater from the pump. I don't think he had a hose and cup back then. What I seem to remember is that he would place an empty garbage can under the prop and make sure that the pump intake was submerged after filling the can with water. He would then crank up the motor in the front driveway of our house to clear out the saltwater left in the water pump. While the motor was running, he would also remove the cover to the outboard. With the cover off, he could then spray down the engine ensuring that all the parts that might have gotten salt water on them would be protected.

The removal of the outboard cover absolutely terrified me. First of all the exposed engine was so frightening looking. Second, the cover muffles a lot of the sound of the running outboard. So much so that when you take the cover off it becomes so much louder with a more sinister growl. Some part of my mind thought that the engine was a monster. Years later when I saw Star Wars I think I halfway expected that under Darth Vader's helmet was an outboard engine. I always dreaded that some problem would occur with us all in the boat and Dad would need to remove the outboard cover. As I got older, I obviously overcame this fear, but I can still remember running up to my room, which was on the opposite side of the house, anytime my Dad cranked up the motor in the driveway.

Old Motors
I mentioned in "Boats - Part 1" how a boat provides early life lessons. Hoke Oliver had an old 7 or 10 horse power evinrude outboard, which I can only guess was built in the 40s or 50s. He would mount it on the back of his john boat to use for fishing or setting crab traps. That old motor was a prime example of the quality that used to go into things and how long something can last if you took good care of it. It also taught me early on that newer isn't always better. I do believe that the motor did owe a part of it's longevity to Mr. Oliver. He was pretty handy with small engines and could provide any service needed to that engine to keep it going through the years.

Small engines were not the limits to Mr. Oliver's expertise. His house was 2 doors down and between ours and the Nelson's. He was a person who always had a smile on his face. Anytime we caught a fish that we could not identify, we would run over to Mr. Oliver and he could identify it. The time Jack and Chris Lowman and my brother and I caught a giant Jack Crevalle off the Alligator point spit, it was Mr. Oliver who identified the fish for us. He once raked up a coral snake in his front yard and brought over to our house for us to see. I learned that coral snakes can live under the pine straw at the beach and if "red meets yellow, it can kill a fellow". Mr. Oliver used to also keep a couple of quail feeders back behind the houses in the woods. In mornings and afternoons, you would hear Bobwhite quail calling each other with their distinctive "bob-white" whistle. If you hear a bobwhite down there today, there's a good chance that it is the descendant to one released years ago by Mr. Oliver.

Boats - Part 1

My earliest memory of being in a boat probably occurred when I was 4 years old. The memory is pretty faded, but I remember it being a dark green john boat. I think it belonged to our cousin Larry. I also remember Dad trying to put me in the boat down at Diehl's from the lower portion of the dock. What stands out in the memory is that it was sinking.

Dad has always owned a Boston Whaler. Florida Sportsman used to have a Boston Whaler ad in their magazine with a boat sawn into 3 sections, each with a person safely floating on board. A Boston Whaler is styrofoam boat with a hard fiberglass shell. It probably isn't actual styrofoam, but something equivalent. While it isn't the smoothest ride across the water, you don't have to worry about sinking.

When we know that a storm is coming or there might be a chance for rain, we will just pull the plug out and let the natural bouyancy of the boat settle the water line. This way a deluge of rain or a breaking wave won't capsize the boat after filling it with water. The only drawbacks are that you need someone to run the water out before going on that next boat trip and sometimes the battery makes contact with the water. That phenonmenon is what H.D. and I refer to as "stingy water".

Since Saint Teresa is protected by Alligator Point to the Southeast, Dog Island to the Southwest and the reef directly south; there never really is too much surf. We are able to toss anchor in front of the house and leave the boat parked. It always seems like the time we have to worry most about the boat is when a storm comes at night. Dad always has a powerful flashlight that he can use from the front porch of the house to make sure that the boat isn't dragging anchor when the waves and wind pick up during a storm. When boats started to drag anchor during a storm you could always expect the men along the beach to come down out of the cottages and help each other out.

The boat has been a great teaching tool for responsibility. There were times in the past when I was a teenager when Dad wanted me to make sure that the boat didn't get beached. If I slept through a storm at night, I would spend the next day digging a beached boat out. Once you've had blisters from digging in wet sand you never want that experience again.

I learned how to drive a boat before I could drive a car. To this day you can see the lessons I learned. First lesson - a boat doesn't have breaks. Frederick Conrad and I took the boat over to the Alligator Point marina to get gas. When you are 14 or 15 years old, getting gas at the marina by yourself is pretty big time. When we were pulling up to the dock, I came in too fast and Frederick got distracted by someone saying "hey". We didn't hit the pier of the dock too fast, but hard enough to ding the bow of the boat. That "scar" is still on the boat today.

Second lesson - don't forget to pull up the anchor. I've heard of friends forget to tie the anchor on and tossing it into the open water, but I think I've got that beat. Late one afternoon Terry Nelson and I were both in our father's boats. I don't know where we were going, but he took off before me and I got in such a hurry to catch up that I forgot to pull the anchor all the way. I must have shorted it or something because when I took off the anchor came off the sand and right into the bottom of the boat - prongs up! Terry either heard the noise or saw me stop suddenly. He circle back over to where I was and asked me what was wrong. I could barely speak. I think I went into shock. When we figured out what happened we both dove under the boat and pryed the anchor out from the bottom. To this day there are 2 "tooth marks" on the underside of the boat. I am not sure if my Dad knows these stories. I hope the statue of limitations has been reached since those both occurred over twenty years ago.

Of course Terry Nelson also owns the worst boating accident story that I know. In Tallahassee on South Monroe street, just below the state capitol, used to be the "B&W Fruit Market". As you come down the hill from the capitol, the road transitions rather abruptly from hill to straight flat road. As I can recall I believe there was even a metal grate across the road where the hill part of the street meets the flat part. It is probably to help with runoff during heavy rains as it was quite common for the Market to get flooded.

Terry and I had a lot in common growing up, but when we got to high school he "lived it up", while I always was in fear of stepping out of line. It must have been when were in the 10th grade. I remember that the Key Club was having the annual bahamas dance at Lafayette Park gym. As was quite common growing up, my parents took us to either the beach or river when there was a social event in town. I guess it is better that we weren't sitting at home. Terry was going to go to the dance that friday night and then come down with his father the next morning. We had already made plans to go fishing for specs that Saturday afternoon.

Saturday morning rolled around and no Terry. I kept checking over at their house, but no sign. When they finally arrived you could tell something bad had happened. It seems that earlier that morning, Terry's Dad asked him to hitch the boat to the back of the truck. Terry was probably a little foggy that morning and forgot to roll up the front wheel of the trailer that you use to bring the trailer to the hitch without having to lift the front. As they were driving across town and came down South Monroe, that front trailer wheel, still cranked down, caught the part of the road where the hill ends and the flat part of the road begins. Right in front of the B&W Fruit Market, the trailer detaches from the truck and sails into the back of a car parked along the street. The momentum of the moving trailer stopping suddenly in the back of the car sends the boat airborne into the wench of the trailer - completely gouging a hole in the bow of the boat all the way through. Fortunately, no one was hurt. But Terry Nelson, a Boston Whaler, and the B&W Fruit Market are forever tied together.

Oysters

This past Friday night, I was in a local restaurant serving Apalachicola oysters. Being close to the end of April, I was a little apprehensive about ordering oysters, but I knew the restaurant to have a good reputation for freshness and quality. So with worries aside, I ordered a dozen on the half shell. With the exception of one that seemed to taste a little funny, I thoroughly enjoyed the delicacy.

The wonderful thing about food from one's home is that there are so many memories and associations. To me this is "Soul food". Now, I have never harvested an oyster in my life so I can't claim to have the same experiences as those who lived by working the oyster bars. Nonetheless, I like to think that my being from North Florida gives me a unique association to oysters.

I think about Granny making oyster soup and how she revered it as a delicacy. I also remember my first job out of college at the Leon County courthouse and how Buddy Holmes would tell stories about eating oysters in the old County courthouse parking lot on payday. Then there was local woman famed for being the World's Fastest Oyster Shucker. She was featured on a TV show called "That's Incredible". I can’t remember if it was before or after her being on TV, but she worked briefly down at the bottom of the hill at Lewis Seafood.

I’ve also heard stories about how my Grandfather would gather oysters in the back waters of the bay between St Teresa and Alligator point. I only know my Grandfather through these stories, so it is through the oyster that I can imagine a man who probably shared the same feelings of being blessed to experience St Teresa and this part of the Gulf coast.

Map of St Teresa

I found a cool way to link a map of St Teresa to this blog. Thanks to the folks at Wayfaring it is pretty easy to create a map and set up points of interest. Look for updates to the map to show all the nearby sites and attractions.

Afternoon Reading

On sunny days, it is a good idea to minimize your sunburn risk. The last thing you want to do is get a bad sunburn early in the vacation. I actually like to use the middle of the day to make any necessary preparations for fishing later in afternoon. Sometimes this means making a run to Crum's MiniMall for ice, tackle and snacks.

Of course this is always a good time for a little pleasure reading. So it's a good idea to bring a book or two to read, or else you will find yourself reading one of the Lewis Grizzard books that has found a permanent home at the beach house. Of course, it's not a bad time to take a nap either. All that fresh air can really take it out of you.

Turtles

Over the last couple of summers, I've started seeing more and more sea turtles on the Alligator Point spit. I don't ever remember seeing them growing up out in the water other than the occasional baby turtle you might see swimming along the grass line. I would guess that the re-emergence of the turtles in the bay is directly due to the net ban enacted back in the mid 90s. I still remain opposed to the net ban because I think it does more harm than good. Franklin County was home to a number of commercial fisherman and their families who depended on saltwater nets for their livelihood. Taking away the nets hurt the local fishing industry and as a result forced the county leaders to seek new ways to put the waterfront to use. Long story short, in comes the big development company, which is now transforming the region.

We may see more turtles today, but will that be the case when there are more recreational boats in the water and more runoff of fertilizers and pesticides from the newly developed lawns and golf courses making their way into the Gulf. Not too mention that many of the areas where the turtles would nest will now be challenged by greater human contact.

St Marks

St Marks and Wakulla Springs are two nearby places that are worth taking a day trip. You can check out the links I have posted to get indepth information on both locations, but both places have a strong place in early Florida history. The Spanish landed at St Marks and strategically built a fort where the St Marks and Wakulla Rivers meet. Out from St Marks is the National Wildlife Refuge and Lighthouse. If you want to see a real gator in the wild, a trip into the park will almost guarantee at least one sighting.

Near the fort is the world's famous Posey's Oyster Bar. I'd recommend sticking to the "R" months on the oysters. It has been a couple years since my visit, but my buddy Wayne got a bad oyster when I was last there. Fortunately it all came out before we got to Woodville.


Wakulla Springs is known for being the largest freshwater spring in the world, or at least in terms of gallons of water that it pumps out on a daily basis. It is also the location where the old Tarzan movies were made as well as "Creature from the Black Lagoon". The Jungle Boat ride is always entertaining and well worth the ticket price. If we are lucky, the guide Christa and I had will still be giving the tour... "Ice cococola"

Wakulla Springs was also a home for St Joe Paper Company Founder Ed Ball. I guess Ed Ball really enjoyed the wild natural beauty of Florida. Too bad St Joe and Arvada don't see it that way today.

June Vacation

Since we are just two months away from the trip to Saint Teresa Beach, Florida. I thought it would be helpful for everyone to get a taste of what to expect. I am very excited about having guests to a place that is very special to me.

For this introductory blog, I will begin by sharing the important information of how to get there and some tidbits on things you need to think about before you head on down. Look for future blogs to list the nearby attractions and activities ofthings to do while in the area.

Getting There
The closest airport to St. Teresa is the Tallahassee, FL airport. Looking at fares this afternoon, both Continental and Northwest are running just over $300 per person round trip. The airlines that fly in and out of Tallahassee are the forementioned two airlines plus Delta and US Airways. The other airports that are nearby are Panama City (70 miles), Valdosta (100 miles) and Jacksonville (180 miles).

What to Expect...

The Weather
June is a great time of year to be on the Gulf Coast. The weather is usually pretty nice as temperatures will range somewhere in the 90s with maybe a day or two over 100. Hurricane season doesn't officially begin until June 30th, so I don't expect tropical weather to be a factor. We may get a thunderstorm while we are there, which can be pretty entertaining if you have never been in a real thunderstorm before... KA-BOOM!

The humidity will be something that will hit you and take a day or two to acclimate. As soon as you walk out of the airport, you will feel the sweet thick Florida air. Don't expect too many good hair days, but at least you will know that your skin is going to benefit from the moist air and swimming in salt water.

Living with Nature
We have lots of insects in Florida, but there are really only 3 that you need to take precautions against: Mosquitos, Yellow Flies and Deer Flies. There is plenty of bug repellant and spray at the house. These pests will attack any time you are outside, but you tend to be safer the closer you are to the beach. If you are out in the yard or especially behind the house, you are more likely to get bitten.

The bugs also tend to come out in greater numbers in the early morning and late evening or any time immediately after a rain. We also have sand fleas or "no-see-ums" which you can't see, but just give you this general sense of itchiness. Avon makes a product very popular in Florida called "Skin So Soft". If you don't mind smelling all sweet and flowery, it does help on all the bugs. Whenever there is a breeze out we don't have to worry about bugs.

The other thing that you may notice is that the biting bugs might bother one person, but not another. What you eat is what you sweat, and what you sweat is what either attracts or doesn't attract the bugs. My advice to you if are prone to attracting insects is to avoid sweets and increase your intake of onions, garlic and vinegar both before the trip and while you are there. We'll also make sure to have some antihistamine as that can help relieve any itching and swelling with the bites.

You can also expect ants (if you leave food out), non-biting bugs drawn to lights, and the occasional cockroach. People get freaked out about cockroaches, but they don't bite and want to get away from you as much as you want to get away from them.

Smoked Mullet and Crackers
Get ready for some great seafood. One of the best parts about vacationing in Florida is the abundance of fresh seafood. You won't find fresher seafood than what you caught hours earlier in the day.

Fishing in the bay can be really exciting for those who don't mind casting a line. Either of the nearby flats can be good for Speckled Trout, redfish and flounder. Sometimes you get lucky and even pull in a Spanish Mackeral, Pompano, Cobia or Grouper. Going a bit further out to the reef, we can troll for Spanish Mackeral and Bluefish. The action out there can be tremendous.

Anyone who plans to fish in Florida is required to have a saltwater fishing license, which is a reasonable $16.50 for a 7 day license. We have a couple of trolling rods to take out to the reef, and I believe that there are a couple of spinning rods in working order for those who would rather fish on the flats. For anyone who wants to learn how to catch mullet (the fish not the fella in the picture), we have a couple of cast nets.

Living in 3/4 Time
Life is a lot slower in North Florida and especially along the Coast. Aside from the guaranteed boating adventure, it should be very relaxing and a good time to catch up on reading or just sitting on the front porch in a rocking chair and taking it all in.