Author: Debbie King

A blog about LIFE and STYLE
DESTINATIONS

See Ya Later…….Everglades!

Our first night camping in a somewhat desolate campground in the Everglades.  Good thing we kept JiaJia on a short leash.

This is what we saw upon awakening – looked to be about 10 ft. long

 I guess with about two million alligators living in the Florida Everglades the chances of seeing at least one are pretty high.  Did you know that Florida is the only place in the world where both alligators and crocodiles co-habit in the wild.

Tried to take a photo of a baby gator but just as I was about to snap there was a loud splash.  The mama made her presence known and I made mine disappear in a flash so sorry; no photo.  Damn…it would have been so good too.

Still want to go swimming?

Heron & Gator – still can’t believe the amount of wildlife we’ve seen here

After we left the campsite on route to Miami we saw a big turtle crossing the highway and shortly after a whole bunch of buzzards tearing apart what looked to be a very large dead python. I’ll spare you those photos.

This is a rarely seen land creature – almost extinct.

What do you get when you cross a hummer and a stretch limo?  One ugly motherhummer!

Photos: d. king

 

FUN

MORNING OWL

Woke up real early this morning so decided to take a walk around the block in my leopard print pajamas.  Nobody knows me here but I did make these two new friends:

Until now the only Burrowing Owl I was familiar with was the winery in the Okanagan, British Columbia (which by the way is very good)….….but the real thing does exist and it is a lovely sight to behold.  They’re a tiny but long-legged owl found throughout open landscapes of North and South America. They nest and roost in burrows – hence the name.

The Burrowing Owl is currently on British Columbia’s Red List meaning that as of 2006 they are Endangered.  They’re endangered for a variety of reasons (too numerous to mention here) but for starters the reproduction rate of Burrowing Owls is limited by the availability of suitable habitat. The last breeding record for Burrowing Owls in BC was in 1970.

The outlook for Burrowing Owls in British Columbia is reasonably good. Although habitat loss continues, many other impacts have been minimized, thanks in part to public awareness and support.  To become more aware please refer to this link:

http://www.naturecanada.ca/endangered_know_our_species_burrowingowl…

 p.s.  The sun was starting to rise as I walked back just in time to see a man wearing a bathrobe walk out to get his morning paper – didn’t feel too bad wearing p.j’s.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

DESTINATIONS

SANIBEL ISLAND

Sanibel Island, Florida is Frommer’s Top Tourist Destination

Bowman Beach – the little dot is JiaJia

 Yesterday we went to Sanibel Island which is not too far from my uncle’s house.  What a gorgeous stretch of beach!  They have 250 different kinds of shells so naturally I picked some since I collect hard to find shells. We took JiaJia for his birthday to the Island Cow restaurant where he had the child’s portion cheeseburger (since he’s under 10) with the cheese on the side.  Then we let him run wild on the beach.  Every now and again he manages to break loose from his leash.  See photos.

 Arther Frommer (from Frommer’s series of travel guide books) ranked Sanibel Island, Florida as his #1 favorite travel destination.  Hard to believe but here’s what ranked second and third:

 #2 is Bali, Indonesia

#3 is Paris, France

 This is what he wrote in his 2011 travel guide:

 Off the west coast of the Sunshine State, a few miles from Ft. Myers, is an idyllic haven of white-sand beaches, condos where seafront apartments are available for weekly rentals, excellent restaurants, good shopping – and the most important, the Ding Darling Nature Preserve, visited by thousands of birds of every species, who bask in the sun after diving for fish, and are one of the great natural sights of wildlife in America.

He never mentioned the traffic and the other kind of wildlife called “snowbirds”.

  On our way

After our birthday lunch
Run, run……..run to work off lunch

 Photos: d. king

 

FUN

Florida MAN TEASE

Ha, ha……fooled you!
Photo taken this morning - gentle giants don't deserve to be endangered.

Knew that would get your attention but I really meant Manatees, those loveable, large, docile aquatic sea creatures found mostly in Florida.  Did you know that they are related to the Elephant? Other than size there’s nothing elephantine about them other than they’re mammals and also vegetarian.

We were so lucky to see six of them this morning in their natural habitat on the Suwannee River.  Several years ago in Jamaica by chance I had the opportunity of swimming with one again in its natural habitat.  I heard that a Manatee saved someone from drowning so I pretended to drown but I guess it didn’t consider me save worthy because it ignored me.  Nonetheless it was a moving experience.

I still want to adopt one.  Well not to have at home – where would I put it?  Not even room in the bathtub.  But for as little as $25 you can help protect this endangered species with the Adopt-A-Manatee program. Funds will go toward efforts to help protect them and their habitat. And unlike a child adoption program here you can even choose a manatee from a selection to match your personality.  After reviewing several I’m having difficulty deciding between the following choices:

Elaine – she’s been known to get into her fair share of mischief  (so opposite of me)

Floyd – he is a “ham” who has been in films & magazines (the glamour appeals to me)

Lenny – who prefers rest to all other activities.  (well lazy can be okay…..sometimes)

Crazy Nick – his behaviour is known to be erratic such as going north, rather than south in midwinter; hence the name. (I’ve never been good with directions either).  He’s being tracked by radio telemetry that produces information on behaviour.

Margarito – he can be identified by a number of scars from boat hits and a missing right flipper.  I’m leaning towards choosing this guy.

Go to: http://savethemanatee.org/

Try not to need Gator Aid
It caught me just in time
DESTINATIONS

Historic French Quarter, N.O.

Roux rules….the base for almost everything

They’re getting ready for Mardi Gras now but it’s always a party here.  History, Music, Culture, Architecture, Food, Fun……………….. .all to be found in New Orleans.

Southern Seafood
Cajun Cookbooks – where do I start?  Many famous chefs like Paul Prudhomme & Emeril Lagasse to name a couple started here.
Typical Balcony
I so envy this mannequin
Love this sign

Photos: d. king

Food + Drink

Best in Bar-b-que

The Pit inside “THE SALT LICK”

Their Motto is “you can smell our pits from miles away”

We’re in Galveston, Texas right now but yesterday we had the BEST Bar-b-que.  If you love bar-b-que and are ever travelling to Austin, Texas then The Salt Lick sets the gold standard.  Austin has a lot of things going on like a music scene that’s not confined to country but also great rock, jazz and blues bands.  It also does not lack for a decent bar-b-que and we were told “The Salt Lick” in Driftwood just 24 miles southwest of Austin was a must. Everyone knows that baby back ribs are the tastiest but their beef ribs were fantastic, meaty & tender.  The whole place was quite the sight to behold with its contemporary Western style  bar-b-que pit, live music and a short walk outside to get to the wine tasting room where for $5.00 you can sample five (fine) Texan wines.  Who knew that Texas is the fifth wine producing state in the U.S.?  You can buy a glass (like the Bar-b-que Red, Ranch Road Red or Hill Country Blend among others) or a bottle and take it to the restaurant with you since it’s a BYOB.

Outside the rustic Wine Cellar

To pass the time until our table was ready (it’s a busy place) I decided to sample a few – well five.  They usually have some dry crackers available to cleanse your palate before the next tasting but there were 4 women standing next to me snacking on pecans (grown in the area) and some good looking cashews.  So I grabbed a handful and started talking with them. “How nice of them to provide these” I said.  “Yeah, we always bring our own snacks with us” replied one of the women.   Oopsy!

Photos: d. king

STYLE

S T Y L E is…………..

Something That You Love Everyday

‘Le Bustier’ by jesus fernandez

Some favourite fashion quotes:
“Fashion Fades, Style is Eternal” – Yves Saint Laurent
“Dress shabbily and they remember the dress; dress impeccably and they remember the woman” – Coco Chanel
“The expression a woman wears on her face is more important than the clothes on her back” – Dale Carnegie
“You’d be surprised to know how much it costs to look this cheap” – Dolly Parton

FUN

Still in Sonoma………

AND if you have time for just two wineries in Somona make sure to visit Gloria Ferrer Vineyards. They make some incredible tasting pinot noirs – some of which you can only buy on the property.  Their 2007 estate grown & bottled Pinot was given a ’94 point rating by the “wine enthusiast” which is one of the highest ever.  As a matter of fact i’m having a glass right now as i’m writing this.

God I hope they're dog friendly! We'll take him to AA on the way back.

Did I mention that we were there as soon as they opened their doors at 10:00 a.m.? It’s always 5:00 o’clock somewhere right? Breakfast consisted of a pour of Chardonnay (just to make sure it was as good as I remembered from the last time) and a wine filled truffle.  Biting into the truffle was like those brandy filled chocolates where the liquid just pours out. Wasn’t expecting that –  delicious.  Hope it’s not true about you are what you eat……….

inside the winery

My new BFF is IN-N-OUT –  best fast food fix for burgers – but the fries are terrible.