Cruise to Shell Island

One of the better island adventure bargains in the world can be found in Panama City, FL where cruises are conducted daily to beautiful Shell Island. This barrier island is located on the opposite side of St. Andrews Bay and fronts on the Gulf of Mexico.

The Ashley Gorman

Shell Island is about 12 miles long and completely undeveloped. Most of the land is administered as a part of nearby St. Andrews State Park and the only way to get there is by boat. When you arrive you will encounter a pristine wilderness paradise located a mere stones throw from a bustling commerical harbor and nearby miltary bases. For $16 you get a three and half hour tour (lunch included) with a one hour stay on the island to collect shells and frolic in the crystal clear waters of its Gulf beach front. This being Florida the boat has a snack concession and a full service bar. What more could y'all want? After Memorial Day there are three trips a day so you can arrange to stay longer on the island if you so desire. So what are you waiting for? Get thee to Shell Island!

St. Andrews Bay from the front of the boat

Atlantic bottlenose dolphin

Coming ashore on Shell Island


Pristine beach


Crystal clear water of St. Andrews Bay


Leaving Shell Island

For more information: http://www.shellislandcruises.com/

Manatee Springs State Park

Manatee Springs State Park is in Levy County along the east bank of the Suwannee River near the town of Chiefland. Over 100 million gallons of water flow from this first magnitude spring every day into the Suwannee. The water rises to the surface through a large underground aquatic cave system that is believed to be one of the longest in North America.

Manatee Springs

The warm waters of the spring attract West Indian manatees in the winter. They swim up the Suwannee River from the Gulf of Mexico to spend the colder months near this source of warmth and refuge. These magnficent mammals are a favorite attraction for park visitors.

Manatee (Trichechus manatus latirostris) with a turtle on its back

The park is divided into two distinct sections with the area around the springs and the quarter-mile run it forms to the Suwannee dominated by water-loving trees like cypress, tupelo, gum, ash and maple. The uplands of the park are drier and contain a sandhill plant community that contains turkey oak, longleaf pine, wiregrass and palmetto.

View from the elevated boardwalk

18th century naturalist William Bartram was the first person to describe Manatee Springs in detail and also to note the presence of manatees. The area was once famous for its old growth cypress trees, with some specimens being over 3,000 years old. Cedar was also extensively logged here by the pencil industry in the late 19th century and was processed and shipped from nearby Cedar Key in the Gulf of Mexico.

Black vulture (Coragyps atratus)

The Suwannee River

Activities include swimming, scuba diving, fishing, boating and hiking. There is a campground and food concession near the spring. The best time to view manatees is November through April.

The North Trail

For more information: http://www.floridastateparks.org/manateesprings/

Spring Flowers

Ponce de Leon discovering the Fountain of Youth

The naming of Florida is credited to Ponce de Leon who christened this land in 1513 with a Spanish term Pascua Florida, meaning “feast of flowers” which was also another word for Easter. With this in mind I thought it fitting to showcase a photo gallery of flowers that we observed today on this most splendid Palm Sunday.

The photographs were taken in two state parks about ten miles apart (Camp Helen and Eden Gardens) where the signs of spring were everywhere in evidence. Have a Happy Easter week everyone!

Water lily (Nymphaea odorata)

Azaleas (Rhododendron periclymenoides)


Golden Aster (Chrysopsis floridana)


Camellia (Camellia japonica)

Orange Cape Honeysuckle (Tecoma capensis)

Saint Andrews State Park

This park had somehow passed under my radar screen until today, when I suggested that we incorporate a visit there while on a trip to run errands in nearby Panama City. I had always viewed St. Andrews State Park as recreational in its orientation with a busy public beach, large campground and extensive facilities for boating and fishing. Well that all turned out to be true but this park also contains an untamed side where one can see wildlife up close through a nifty network of trails that penetrates into a surprisingly diverse set of terrains and habitats.

The beach and jetty

Known throughout the Panhandle for its sugar white sands and emerald green waters, this 1260 acre preserve, which is a former military reservation, has over one-and-a-half miles of beach front on the Gulf of Mexico and Grand Lagoon and is located a scant three miles from Panama City.

Red-Winged Blackbird (Agelaius phoniceus)

Gator Lake Trail

The two most visited parts of the park are the beach on the Gulf of Mexico which is protected by a jetty and the bay frontage on the Grand Lagoon with boat ramps, docks and picnic areas. The park's more remote uplands are characterized by rolling white sand dunes separated by low swales of either pine flat woods or marshes. Dunes covered with sea oats abound. Dunes found farther inland are covered with sand pines, scrub oaks, rosemary and other hardy plants that play an important role in preventing erosion during intense storms and hurricanes. This lesser visited part of St. Andrews is where you'll find the wildlife.

American Alligator (Alligator mississipiensis)


Common Egret (Casmerodius albus)

Oak hammock with palmetto

One of the interesting highlights of the park is the Gator Lake Trail which traverses several different ecosystems and affords an opportunity to observe a variety of animals including many species of birds, mammals and of course alligators. The pond itself reminded me a lot of peninsular Florida with it's egrets, herons and reptilian swamp life. Be careful when you hike this trail because it takes you right up close and personal to where the gators live. Watch out for snakes too.

Brown Pelican (Pelecanus occidentalis)

An alligator in Gator Lake, of course.

For more information: http://www.floridastateparks.org/standrews/default.cfm

Cottonmouth Snakes

It's spring in Florida and time for everyone to become aware of the potential dangers posed by venomous snakes. Today our condominium complex had a little brief moment of excitement when it was discovered that a cottonmouth snake was sunning itself by the swimming pool. We helped the security guard put it in a collection bag which made Connie and I feel just like Steve and Terry Irwin on the Crocodile Hunter TV show. Connie said that it was definitely "not a very pretty sheila at all."

Cottonmouth or water moccasin
(Agkistrodon piscivorus conati)

The cottonmouth is dangerous because unlike other snakes they don't slither away when someone approaches but can become defensive and easily stirred to strike out aggressively.

From the very well written website www.marshbunny.com I found this:

Cottonmouth snakes are poisonous and extremely aggressive. They get the name cottonmouth because when they prepare to strike they open their jaws wide, exposing the puffy white lining of their mouths. Alligators only get aggressive during mating season, but cottonmouths are in a constant state of PMS - they not only will NOT run away from you, they will seek you out and chase you down.

Most anyone would rather have an alligator in their boat than a cottonmouth any day of the week. I have heard a few snake-in-the-boat stories and they are about equally divided between "we all jumped overboard" and "I grabbed my gun and shot the boat full of holes trying to kill the snake". You learn to not only keep an eye on things moving on the water, but to perform a "snake check!" anytime you pull up under a tree. Some snakes (in a fit of whimsy, no doubt) like to drop from trees into boats to see how fast they can empty the boat out.

I hope that none of these things ever happens to me or any of you my dear readers. So let's be extra careful and ever mindful of our surroundings, so we can steer clear of these dangerous reptiles in our midst.

Steve Irwin I'm NOT!

Wildlife Photographer

I have been out in the field lately and blessed with enough good luck to get some great closeups of Florida wildlife. Here are three recent favorites I thought y'all might enjoy:

American Alligator (Alligator mississipeinsis)
Lounging by a pond in Osceola County


Southern Fence Lizard (Sceloporus undulatus undulatus)
Topsail Hill Preserve State Park, Walton County


Georgia river cruiser dragonfly (Macromia illinoiensis georgina)
Topsail Hill Preserve State Park

Sunrise on the Emerald Coast

Sunrise on Seagrove Beach

My wife has become quite accomplished at taking excellent photographs with the digital camera we recently purchased and has determinedly taken it out each morning for her daily walk at dawn. Again, as many of you may already know, I don't do the dawn's early light very often. To be more exact I NEVER get up that early, so it's great having someone out covering the dawn patrol on the most beautiful stretch of coastline this side of Fiji. I kid you not.

This morning I was asked to download the contents of today's sunrise from the camera and admire one of the most beautiful mornings yet. Well I gotta admit she warn't exageratin' none t'all.

So for today I just wanted to share the beauty which is our home here on the magnificent Emerald Coast of Florida. Enjoy it y'all.

Springs along the Suwannee River

U.S. Highway 27 parallels the scenic Suwannee River for 25 miles through Lafayette County, Florida. We began a detailed reconnaissance of the remarkable springs and state parks that are located along this stretch of river in the small town of Branford. From here we traveled west to Troy Springs and Lafayette Blue Springs State Parks, both of which empty directly into the dark and murky waters of the Suwannee.

Way down upon the Suwannee River

This part of Florida is very laid back and rural. It reminded me a lot of Georgia and Alabama. People in the rest of the country often forget that Florida is indeed located in the heart of the Deep South and as such there is still much of it that looks and feels like a place unaffected by the modern world, much less the close of the Civil War. Everywhere we went in this section we saw people, both black and white, fishing along creeks, hanging out at barbecue shacks and lazing away the end of an era. Yes indeedy, my kind of place.

A beautiful spring in the middle of Branford's city park

The geology of Florida is dominated by a porous limestone layer known as the Floridian Aquifer. It is the main source of water for the springs which bubble to the surface in this part of the state. A large portion of the annual precipitation that falls to the ground is absorbed into this limestone layer and eventually returns to the surface through an elaborate underground network of caves and rivers that are carved through this unique formation. When this subterranean water table intersects with the surface of the land it forms artesian springs. Florida has more of these springs than any other place in the world.

Red-tailed hawk soars over the Suwannee

If you're ever in this part of Florida I highly recommend that you leave the mindless grind of interstate travel and come enjoy this stretch of old U.S. 27. You'll discover the beauty and serenity of a genuine piece of the Old South.

Way down upon de Swanee ribber,

Far, far away,

Dere's wha my heart is turning ebber,

Dere's wha de old folks stay.

The clear waters of Troy Spring empty into the Suwannee

Remains of the Confederate warship Madison in Troy Spring


Suwannee River as seen from the highway bridge in Branford, FL


Late afternoon light filters through the floodplain forest

Sylvan Spring

Trail through the bottomland

While out looking at riverfront properties, along the bucolically sublime shores of Econofina Creek in northern Bay County, we stumbled upon a beautiful hiking trail through an old growth forest. It is a 2-mile loop that starts out in the densely wooded bottomlands of the Econfina floodplain where it passes under Florida Hwy. 20 at the Pitt Spring recreation area. From there the trail gradually climbs up onto an 80-foot bluff overlooking the winding creek below before descending back down to the swampy bottoms and eventually back to the Pitt Spring parking area.

Sylvan Spring

Along the way we encountered a most beautiful natural spring appropriately named Sylvan Spring, which opens up right in the middle of the woods adjacent to the trail. The main spring has two central vents which bubble up adjacent to a small rise of land with a conveniently placed wooden bench, where one can sit and enjoy the serene and highly scenic splendors of this magical spot.

Bubbling vent of water

The trail winds through a forest that contains many giant specimens of beech, oak and cypress, some of which towered almost 100 feet above us. We spotted a large crested woodpecker which we thought was a pileated but after giving a description to a birder friend of mine he suspected that we may have actually stumbled upon an ivory-billed. Such a discovery would make us famous celebrities in the naturalist world. I'm still quite sceptical but my friend has urged me to return and see if I can get another good look and maybe even a picture.

Clear water of Sylvan Spring merges with Econfina Creek

The last reported sighting of this supposedly extinct bird was in this very same part of Florida last year. In 2004 a team of Cornell University ornithologists claim to have made a positive sighting in the woody swamps of southern Arkansas and before that the last documented ivory-billed woodpecker recorded was in Louisiana in 1944.

Ivory-billed woodpecker

The trailhead is located at the Pitt Spring recreation pool located along Florida Hwy. 20 where it crosses Econfina Creek about 25 miles north of Panama City and eight miles east of U.S. Hwy. 231.

Sinkhole along the trail


Beaver lodge in Econfina Creek