Florida Flora and Fauna #AtoZChallenge

 Today, I bring you some of the natural and human-made beauty one can find in our state of Florida.  Some of the plantings may be native and some may not but all these pictures were taken in Florida.

 I couldn't resist the one non flora/fauna picture as the building is so beautiful.

Morikami Japanese Gardens, Delray Beach Florida.

Not sure if this is an anhinga (that's what I think) or a cormorant (what my iPhone thinks).  I know the birders in the audience will tell me. Taken on Bayshore Boulevard in Tampa.

Anhinga, similar location to above.

I believe this isn't a true Florida flower but a Brazil Raintree.  But it was growing in Florida so I'm using t.
 

Statue "The Spirit of Punta Gorda", Punta Gorda, Florida, and nearby trees.  I love this photo.

Great Blue Heron, Delray Beach, Florida.

Bird almost hidden, Ft. Myers, Florida.

What a beautiful state Florida is.  Too many tourists come for the theme parks and miss the natural beauty.

F day in the Blogging from A to Z Challenge.  My theme:  Beauty of Our Land 

Forevermore?

Halloween is the season for spookiness.  People turn their front yards into fake graveyards, hang plastic skeletons in trees, and carve grotesque faces into pumpkins.

A haunted corn maze would get a lot of delighted visitors.
 

In a recent scarecrow contents in a local park, a dog walker walked skeleton dogs.

This horror decorating can be a way to channel our fears.  We live in times fraught with true terror, be it events in the Middle East or in our own country.

On October 25, that terror, true terror, not made up fake terror, hit the small city of Lewiston, Maine.  That evening there was a horrendous double mass shooting (18 innocents died in two locations) at the hands (and gun) of a 40 year old man.  It was followed by nearly 48 hours of lockdown for residents until it was established that the shooter had taken his own life.

As someone who worked in a community that experienced a mass shooting in 2009  I feel a connection of sorts with each of these communities. I also know that when the national news networks leave the scene, the community is left to deal with its grief.

Back in 2011, my spouse and I vacationed in Brunswick, Maine, which is about 20 miles from Lewiston.  It was a beautiful, peaceful area.  

The horror I felt on October 25 and the following days was mixed with the good memories I had of that area, including our walk across a bridge with a history tied to the city where I grew up.

I also think of Tampa and the Ybor City shooting of this weekend,  a terrible end to a Halloween gathering. Thinking of Tampa also brings back memories of the two years I lived there years ago. Ybor City was where I discovered my beloved strawberry onions.

Gun violence.  A national nightmare we aren't waking up from.

This Halloween we ask:  Will this be our fate forevermore? 

Will the Lesson Be Learned?

Ghosts of vacations past.  What do these all have in common?

Beach, Sanibel Island, Florida.

Shells on a Sanibel beach.

 Boats in a Punta Gorda, Florida marina.

Causeway, Punta Gorda

Shopping area, Sarasota, Florida.

Bayshore Boulevard, Tampa, Florida.  I don't think this is the place where the now viral photo of water sucked out of Tampa Bay was taken but it gives you a good view of the bay.

Tampa, taken from Bayshore Boulevard.

Historic home, Savannah, Georgia.

Ravenel Bridge at sunset, looking at Charleston, South Carolina.

College of Charleston, Charleston, South Carolina.

Sanibel.  Punta Gorda.  Sarasota.  Savannah.  Charleston.

What do they have in common?  The photos were taken between 2013 and 2020, before Hurricane Ian (or tropical storm Ian) hit.  Perhaps we should call it "the before time".  True, these cities have been hit by hurricanes and tropical storms before.  But Ian was what some are calling a "generational storm".

Of these localities, perhaps Sanibel/Captiva Island was hit the worst.  The island is cut off except by air or water, and its residents are lacking power and water.  I spent part of yesterday looking at satellite images of Sanibel, trying to see landmarks I remembered from my two visits there.

But let's not mourn what was.

Let's not waste another moment without working on what is.

The storms are getting worse.  More frequent.

How many more "I've never seen anything like this before?" must we hear before we wake up to what is happening?

Climate change isn't a political position to take.  This isn't a political post.

Climate change  It is reality.  We ignore it at our peril, and the peril of our children and grandchildren.

Super Bowl Tampa and A Couple of Dip Recipes

It's Super Bowl time - socially distanced, of course, for me.  Usually we would have had a handful of family over for snacks but not this year.

One place I will not be tomorrow is Tampa, Florida.  I will be in my living room with my spouse, no visitors (alas), with some munchies and the TV.

Anhinga along Bayshore Blvd, Tampa, January 2020

I can dream of Tampa, though.  I lived there for nearly two years in the mid 1970's and have been back a handful of times (I have a cousin who lives there).   My last visit was January 2020.

Tampa boasts the longest continuous sidewalk in the world, at 4.5 miles - Bayshore Boulevard, which runs along Hillsborough Bay.   Here is one of the mile markers. 

This picture of Bayshore Blvd is from March of 2013 and gives you an idea of the length.

So what will we have to eat?  My regular readers know I have followed Weight Watchers programs (more or less) since September 2012, so no calorie busters here.

We will have homemade guacamole.  It is so simple - peel ripe avocados, mash (we like ours chunky), add chopped sweet pepper (orange, yellow, or red), garlic, scallions (green onions), a little salt, a touch of homemade ground chili pepper if you wish, and a touch of lime juice. 

Salsa makes a wonderful dip and is point free on WW. It's so easy to make, too, if you have good fresh tomatoes available. If not, use canned dice tomatoes (preferably fire roasted diced tomatoes).  Simply chop up ripe fresh tomatoes or use the canned ones, combine with chopped pepper and onions, season with cilantro, lime juice, salt to taste, jalapenos if you like it spicy.    

Happy Super Bowl Sunday.  What are your plans, if any?

Farewell to a Blogging Friend

Last night, I checked Facebook.  I had not seen any posts from a Facebook friend since mid-May.  The fact that she had not posted since worried me, as she loved to post on Facebook.  I also knew she suffered from a number of health problems.

So I went to her page and....found a post from her sister.  My Facebook friend  had passed away a couple of days after her last post.  The sister didn't mention the cause of death, but does it matter?

The sister invited us to tell a story about Billie.  I had met Billie in 2006, and I had only seen her a handful of times since.  The last two times I was in Florida, we couldn't connect.  But I do have a story.

Here is my Billie story. It's one I've told before and I hope you won't mind the repeat.  In the original post, from 2006, I used her name and another name, and I will do so here, too.

As newlyweds, my spouse and I moved from New York State to Tampa, Florida.  We lived there a little less than two years, and then left.

Since the day we left in 1976, we had never been back to Florida.  In 2006,  it was time to return.  Florida bound we were.

We took the Auto Train down. At last, we arrived in Tampa, with our then teenaged son in tow.

I have two cousins who were born, and grew up, in Tampa.   One of them, Barry, and his (now former) companion Billie decided they were going to give us a tour of Tampa so we could see how it had changed in 30 years.  My son came along for the ride.

Barry and Billie drove us around Tampa. And finally, I asked Barry if he would take us back to where we had started our married life.

Of course he would.

We couldn’t believe it.  A neighborhood which was once not too desirable was up and coming and most desirable.   We went past what, when we lived there, was a small neighborhood mall – it was now something spanning several blocks called Hyde Park Village.

Historic sign in Hyde Park Village, January 2020

New construction was everywhere.  The “don’t go there” neighborhood was gone, razed, with condos going up on the site.  Our neighborhood had gone upscale.

The two family house we lived in was still there.  We didn’t recognize the street at all.  It looked really nice.

We parked in front of the house.  And I had to open my big mouth and say “Say, wouldn’t it be nice if we could see the apartment again?”

“Why not?” replied Billie.  She marched up the stairs and knocked on the door.

She came back down.  A young Hispanic man had answered her knock. And yes, we were more than welcome to come in and look around.

So we took our son up and showed him where we had started married life over 30 years before.  The young man proudly showed us around the apartment.   He had restored most of it but the bathroom was almost exactly how we had left it, 30 years before.  We couldn't believe it.

I never would have had the nerve to knock on that door.  But Billie did it for me, brushing my fears away.  And my spouse, my son, and I, were richer for it.

Flowers, Hyde Park Village, January 2020

The last words Billie wrote on her Facebook page were:  "Celebrate! Celebrate! Dance to the music..."

But right now, I can't.

RIP, Billie. You are the person who got me into serious blogging back in 2011, two years after I had started to blog, introducing me to my first blogging challenge.

Our world is poorer for your absence.

The Day of the Palmetto Bug

Please don't be put off by the title of this post.  But I do have to warn you in advance that when you blog about Florida, you can't truly blog about it without mentioning the insect life.

I do love palm trees, though.

I grew up in New York City and wanted so badly to get out of the place that I ended up, as a newlywed, in Tampa, Florida, where I had family.  Years ago, I did a guest post on the blog of the woman who introduced me to blogging,  You, my dear readers, are (of course) welcome to read the whole thing.

Something you need to know about me is that I tend to do things in reverse order.  Many people in the North dream about snow birding in Florida in the winter when they become old.  On the other hand, I moved to Florida when I was in my early 20's, lived there for a little under two years, and ended up (eventually) moving back to New York State.

Why?  The insect life, including (but not limited to) palmetto bugs was a large part of the reason.

Palmetto bugs, in case you have never lived in Florida, are a type of Southern cockroach.  They are a fact of life in Florida.  Besides being large (and I do mean LARGE) and somewhat able to fly (well, it's more like gliding) they carry diseases such as salmonella.

My spouse and I quickly learned about palmetto bugs within days of moving to Florida.   It started when we went to the laundromat to wash our clothes and there, larger than life, we found a cockroach like insect in the washing machine as we started to add our clothes.  We decided we would never use that laundromat again.

But you couldn't escape these insects we were told were called Palmetto bugs.

My father came down for a visit, staying with us, and didn't even blink an eye when he saw them.  My Dad was like that.  But to me, it was embarrassing.

The last straw was finding one in the kitchen of our small newlywed apartment, in what was then a not-that-desirable neighborhood called Hyde Park.  (In fact, we were told NEVER to cross the street.  If we stayed on our side, it was fine.  But don't ever go "there".)

Spouse was so upset about this bug that (I kid you not) he took the refrigerator and dropped it on the bug.  Actually, it just about takes a refrigerator to put an end to one of them.  It left a spot we could never get out.

Now, fast forward 30 years.

Since the day we left in 1976, we had never been back to Florida.  In 2006,  it was time.  Florida bound we were.

We took the Auto Train down. At last, we arrived in Tampa, with our teenaged son in tow.

I have two cousins who were born, and grew up, in Tampa.   One of them, Barry, and his (now former) companion Billie decided they were going to give us a tour of Tampa so we could see how it had changed in 30 years.  My son came along for the ride.

Barry and Billie drove us around Tampa. And finally, I asked Barry if he would take us back to where we had started our married life.

Of course he would.

We couldn’t believe it.  What was once not too desirable was up and coming and most desirable.   We went past what, when we lived there, was a small neighborhood mall – it was now something spanning several blocks called Hyde Park Village.  New construction was everywhere.  The “don’t go there” neighborhood was gone, razed, with condos going up on the site.  Our neighborhood had gone upscale.

The two family house we lived in was still there.  We didn’t recognize the street at all.  It looked really nice.

We parked in front of the house.  And I had to open my big mouth and say “Say, wouldn’t it be nice if we could see the apartment again?”

“Why not?” replied Billie.  She marched up the stairs and knocked on the door.

She came back down.  A young Hispanic man had answered her knock. And yes, we were more than welcome to come in and look around.

So we took our son up and showed him where we had started married life over 30 years before.  The young man proudly showed us around the apartment.  The kitchen had been totally renovated. The palmetto spot was gone.

So now, fast forward again, to 2019.  My spouse is already retired, and I am getting close.  And now, Florida beckons. We want to escape the harsh upstate New York winters for a month or maybe two.  Palmetto bugs or no palmetto bugs.

Funny how things change.

And that two family house in Hyde Park?  My cousin Barry isn't sure it's even there anymore.  There's been a lot of changes in that neighborhood.  But, if we come down again, he's willing to take us there to find out.

And hopefully, we won't see any palmetto bugs.

Tampa Treasures #AtoZChallenge

After my spouse and I got married, we moved to Tampa (we had family there) and spent a little less than two years there.  In the mid 70's, Tampa was not the city it is today.  But we had a lot of fun there.

We left in 1976, and did not return until 2006.  We got a tour from a cousin who moved from Tampa years ago and now lives in Pinellas County and his then significant other.  We returned to Tampa again in 2013 and revisited some areas with this same cousin.

Tampa is full of little treasures.

Mosaic Art, Columbia Restaurant, in the Ybor city neighborhood.

Another of the many mosaics near this restaurant.

Let's move on to Bayshore Boulevard, which is said to have the world's longest continuous sidewalk.
It has some interesting architecture, too.

The Tampa skyline, so different from when I lived there, taken from Bayshore Blvd, March 2013.  My spouse and I have walked almost all of Bayshore's sidewalk.  You see wonderful homes and hotels, shorebirds, joggers, Spanish Moss and more, from Bayshore.

More Tampa architecture.

Have you ever returned to visit a place you lived in a long time ago again?  What did you find?

"T" day on the #AtoZChallenge.

Ybor (City) #AtoZChallenge #Blogboost

Ybor City, a neighborhood near downtown Tampa, Florida,  is a National Historic Landmark District district.

It was founded in 1885 by cigar manufacturers, including one Vincente Martinez Ybor, and was incorporated into Tampa a couple of years later.  The cigar years were good ones for Ybor City - this city of Cuban and Spanish immigrants had many high paying jobs in the cigar manufacturing industry available to them.  But, by the time I first set foot in Ybor City (escorted by a cousin who grew up in Tampa) in 1966, the community had slid way downhill.

In the last thirty or so years, Ybor City has experienced a revival.  These pictures were taken by me in 2013.

Let's walk down 7th Avenue for a minute, and see what is out there to see, free of charge.

The beautiful Columbia Restaurant is decorated with many historic tiles.

This is one of my favorites - decorated with grapes.  It should be noted that, in addition to Cubans making up much of Ybor City's early population, there was also an influx of Italian immigrants.

The cigar heritage of Ybor City was evident in some of the offerings at the weekly farmer's market.

This is the only time I've ever seen cigars for sale at a farmer's market.

The old Ferlita (before that, La oven Francesa) bakery on 9th avenue is now a museum.

It once was a major producer of Cuban bread, a bread somewhat like Italian bread.  You should not leave Tampa without trying at least one Cuban sandwich

Day 28 of the Ultimate Blog Challenge #blogboost.

"Y" day (next to last!) on the Blogging from A to Z Challenge #AtoZChallenge.  My theme - Florida Outside the Theme Parks.

Join me Monday for the final Blogging from A to Z Challenge post.

Nostalgia #blogboost #AtoZChallenge

Nostalgia.  It happens to all of us.

Do you remember S.H. Kress?  I do. It's a piece of my childhood.  As a child of the 1950's and early 1960's, I shopped at Kress with my Mom on many occasions.

The former Kress Building in Columbia, South Carolina, gives a flavor of Kress architecture

Between 1974 and 1976, my spouse and I lived in Tampa, Florida.  During this time, as an office temporary, I spent several months working in downtown Tampa.  And, my spouse worked for a company called Woolco.  Woolco was a subsidiary of Woolworths, the famous "five and dime" chain.

I remember the Tampa Kress.  It closed in 1981.
Woolco is gone, too.

Kress building historic plaque, King Street, Charleston, South Carolina

Kress and Woolworths has a place in the Civil Rights movement of the 1960's, as many civil rights protestors strove to integrate their lunch counters.

Maybe the marker will be like this one on King Street in Charleston, South Carolina

The Woolworth's in Tampa was one of those stores.  Only this year have they decided to commemorate this with a historical marker.

The former Kress building in downtown Tampa, Florida, has sat, abandoned, since 1981.

Of course, I never took pictures of these buildings when I lived in Tampa- whoever would have thought that those chains would be no more.

I remember the W. T. Grant in Tampa and when the chain went bankrupt.

They aren't just a piece of Old Florida. They are a piece of the retail history of the United States.  Binghamton, New York, (population about 47,000) where I work, still has a downtown department store.  I wonder how many other downtowns still do.

So many stores from when I lived in Tampa are gone.  Besides Grants, Woolworths, and Kress Brothers:
RIP  Maas Brothers (founded in 1886, it closed its downtown Tampa store years ago. The building was demolished in 2006.)  Another Tampa store, in a major mall, still operates as a Macy's).

RIP Robinson's. (we got our first credit card at Robinson's as newlyweds).

A lot to reminisce about, this nosgalgia I feel for the Tampa we knew between 1974 and 1976.  But now, it is time for music.

Since this is Monday, it is time for #MusicMovesMe.

The Head 4M'er is XmasDolly.  Her co-4Mers are:  Callie of JAmerican Spice, (who has been taking a break for health reasons) and ♥Stacy of Stacy Uncorked♥   And last but certainly not least, Cathy from Curious as a Cathy. 

 

 I decided to look up retail music.  Yes, there is such a thing.  Music is used by retailers all the time to drive sales.  The first two songs come from an H&M playlist from 2013 I found on You Tube.

Here's one I found:  New Day by Alicia Keys

And this, by Ne-Yo:  Forever Now.

Day 12 of the Ultimate Blog Challenge #blogboost

"N" day on the #AtoZChallenge.

Ybor City

For Y day at the Blogging from A to Z Challenge, I want to show you some of the beauty in a neighborhood of Tampa, Florida that is one of only two National Historic Landmark Districts in the State of Florida.  And, since my theme is America the Beautiful, and my secondary theme is using photos buried in my iPhone, this Y day was not a challenge for me at all.

Ybor City was not a desirable neighborhood when I lived in Tampa, but it has been transformed over the past 40 years, with the history and the Latin vibe shining through.  Daytime, it is family friendly.  Nighttime, more of a party atmosphere.

Here are some pictures of Ybor City, including a Saturday market I went to in 2013.

One of the highlights of Ybor City (named after a cigar manufacturer) is the Columbia Restaurant, which opened in 1905.

Here are some pictures taken near or at the restaurant.

A closeup of the tile work.

If you can't have living flowers, these are the next best thing.

It's been many years since I last ate at the Columbia, so I can't endorse the food, but I'd like to try their "1905" salad one day.  You will get some good Cuban food here.

And it is even more beautiful inside.  Maybe, I'll eat there the next time I visit Tampa (next year, perhaps?)

Ironically, for a neighborhood named after a cigar maker by the name of Vincent Martinez Ybor, the cigar industry Ybor City was once known for is fading away.

But, despite that, Ybor City is well worth the visit.

Civil War Sunday - The Invasion of Bayshore Boulevard

If my spouse and I visit a city, we always like to take one (or more) walks through neighborhoods,  just to get a feel of the city.

It's a little different when we visit a place we used to live in.  Forty years ago, we lived in Tampa, Florida (on Florida's west coast) and rarely took advantage of what is one of longest (if not the longest) continuous sidewalk in the United States.

Last year, we decided to change that.  So in March of 2013, we found ourselves visitors in a city where we used to live.  It was time to be tourists and not residents.

Walking along Bayshore Boulevard, at Hawthorne Road on that bright March day, we saw this historical marker.

There had actually been a small battle in Tampa, back in 1862, but this marker was not for that.  Rather, it was for something I had never heard of, a skirmish on October 17, 1863 - a small Federal invasion of the city that failed. 

But, this isn't the only trace of the Civil War in the waters near Tampa. Indeed, Civil War era wrecks are being located, including one called the Scottish Chief and a "blockade runner" called the Kate Dale.

Indeed, Tampa, and Florida (a Confederate state), played a role in the Civil War, one that was vital, but isn't that well known.

I found more historical info on Tampa which I might save for a snowy winter day.

You can see a list of historical markers across Florida online.

Near Downtown Tampa

History.  You can find it wherever you walk.

Frozen in Time

Have you ever been frozen in time?

You may have been.  Have you ever gone to a high school reunion, expecting to find a room full of 17 and 18 year olds, and shocked, instead, to discover that everyone had aged - just like you? Or, visited a place you haven't been to in many years, to find how much it's changed?

I sometimes ride the subway in my native New York City, where I spent the first 21 years of my life.  Before I left, I used mass transit all the time - my family never owned a car. (Back in the 50's and 60's, non car owing families were common in the City.) I've visited New York City a number of times since I left, and sometimes I use mass transit. When I ride the subway, a art of me knows how the subways look, sound, smell nowadays - but a part of me expects to see token booths and does not expect Metro Cards and people listening to music on their phones. 

Another example:  I lived in Tampa, Florida for a couple of years back in the 1970's, and visited the Orlando area several times during that time.  I've been back to Tampa twice since then, the most recent visit being in March, and have been in the Orlando area three times.  A part of me knows that Orlando is a city of skyscrapers and theme park sprawl but I'm amazed when I'm there, because Orlando wasn't like that at all in the 1970's.  I-4 was not a superhighway, and Tampa's downtown was several sort of tallish buildings.  Today I would, and did, get so lost in downtown Tampa that it's amazing I'm still not wandering around looking for the exit.

Yes, at times I am frozen.  Frozen in time, suspended in a time that no longer exists, and not knowing what to make of it.

Has this happened to you?

Sustainable Saturday - Strawberry Onions and Cigars

Last Saturday, I had my first experience visiting a Florida farmer's market.

It was located in historic Ybor City, the "Latin Quarter" of Tampa, Florida (a city I lived in many years ago for a couple of years) I found a Saturday farmer's market unlike any I had ever visited.

Most of the booths at the Ybor City Saturday market were not selling produce.  That surprised me a little bit - if you go into supermarkets in March, you will find produce shelves stocked with (excellent) Florida grown summer squash, strawberries, juice oranges (a word on that a little later)  and even corn.  This visitor from upstate New York thought the market would be chock full of local produce.  It wasn't.  Instead, there were a lot of craft booths, and a touch (well, more than a touch) of local flavor.

One surprise was something called strawberry onions.

The vendor explained that these freshly dug sweet onions were grown at the edge of strawberry fields. (Plant City, a major strawberry growing area, is in the same county as Tampa). We purchased two onions.  If we had known they would survive five days in our car (they did) and if we had a larger cooler, I would have purchased this woman's entire stock.  They are fantastic!

What would a Florida farmers market be without citrus?  Well, here's a little secret that hasn't changed in the almost 40 years since I've lived in Florida.  The best citrus gets imported outside of Florida.  But I tasted these, and they were nice and sweet.

How about avocados? Or mangoes? (Confession: I like Haas avocados better.  Sorry, Florida.)

I was enjoying some iced Cuban coffee when I spied the booth that made this farmer's market different from any other one I had ever been to.

Cigars!

Ybor City was founded by people in the cigar business (and annexed by Tampa a couple of years later). So, although I have my own personal opinions about tobacco use, cigars do belong in this market in the context of history.

In the next few weeks, I'd like to show you some more of Ybor City, and Tampa.

What is the most surprising thing you have found at a farmer's market?