Less than 48 hours from now I’ll be heading to Orlando to participate in the 15th Annual SATW Institute for Travel Writing & Photography for the weekend. I attended in May 2005 and am really looking forward to learning about the changes in travel writing since then, especially in technology. (more…)
Thanksgiving in Tlaquepaque, Mexico, 2008
Thanksgiving this year was the first time in three years I celebrated the American holiday in the United States. Last year was Mexico - Tlaquepaque (outside Guadalajara) to be exact and in 2007 was Italy (Florence). Enjoy these two-for-one margaritas from the Quinta Don Jose.** I sure enjoyed them!
**FTC Disclosure: Selecting hyperlinks indicated with “**” results in revenue.
No sleeping in for me and I don’t count 7:30 as sleeping in. Decided it was time for me to hit the beach and do what other tourists do, the Sanibel Stoop, the act of stooping over the beach hunting for seashells. I live in Florida and collecting shells is so…touristy…but this was my vacation so I indulged in the activity but first sprayed down with my 22% DEET repellent.
I encountered one little bird, a plover of some sort, maybe? He’s pictured below.
Shore Bird, Sanibel Island, Florida
A little bit further down the beach came across a flock of seagulls. No, not the ’80s band. There were maybe hundreds of my new feathered friends. Turns out I disrupted their breakfast, check out the video:Breakfast with the Birds of Sanibel Island, Florida.
Between slapping no-see-ums (as I later learned on my journey, these gnats with teeth laugh at DEET) I found some gorgeous shells. One of the coolest things I found were these bird prints on among the shells on the sand.
Bird Footprints in the Sand, Sanibel Island, Florida
After cleaning up was a trip to J.N. “Ding” Darling National Wildlife Refuge. Was going to save it for a Friday visit but remembered the Wildlife Drive is closed on Fridays in order for wildlife to get back to nature, so to say. It’d been a very long time since I last visited yet it still seemed new. Although there were amazing birds and loads of mullet jumping, the coolest thing was this hole in a tree on the Shell Mound Trail. This boardwalk trail was somewhat interesting not just for the foliage and shell mound but the odors. It smelled of skunk, coffee, orange blossoms and jasmine. Indeed, an interesting mix of aromas.
Hole in Tree, J.N. Ding Darling National Wildlife Refuge
The afternoon consisted of yummy lunch at Captiva Island’s The Bubble Room, lounging in the pool - in which the tiki bar was tuned into the unfolding Balloon Boy saga - followed by dinner at the hotel. Work was interspersed with down time (just couldn’t escape it). Sanibel dining deserves its own posts so stay tuned because The Bubble Room was a trip! Can’t believe I’ve never been there and can’t wait to share? Check out “Budget Travel Tips for Bird-watchers to Sanibel Island.”
Exotic Python in Everglades National Park
Feeling left out of all the recent conversation about exotic snakes invading the Everglades and Florida, I’d like to share a blog post I wrote in July 2007 about an almost-domesticated-python found in an employee dorm room in Everglades National Park. Okay, the snake wasn’t initially found in the dorm room, two employees put it there.
It was kept in the false bottom of a dresser and upon discovering it, a National Park Service official told one of the employees the snake could have killed him during the night. Yikes! Guess the employee didn’t snuggle up with the slithery reptile when it came to bedtime.
