A few views from 2018

I was fortunate to do some wonderful traveling throughout 2018. Click on the first photo and scroll down for a larger view.

Little things

When treating myself to an extended vacation, there's a great deal to be happy about: an ocean view, spectacular beaches, warm weather, great company, tons of history to enjoy and learn about.

But there are lots of little things to savor, too. Like old houses . . .

An osprey on a pirate ship . . .

A Portugese Man o'War on the beach . . .

Sunset on a marsh . . .

The decor at a "fish camp" restaurant . . .

Sampling craft beers  with my in-house experts . . .

A funny note on a door in the Old City . . .

Following the billboards to "the best strawberry shortcake in the country" in the appropriately-named Plant City . . .

Black skimmers coming in for a landing.

Plantations

We've tried to absorb some of the history beyond the Spanish colonization of this area, namely a little about the slave era. Ruins of two plantations leave complicated impressions. Today the sites can  seem almost serene, but also eerie. And, of course, disturbing.

These were not the stereotypical white-columned mansions with belles in hoop skirts, but more modest cotton and sugar cane operations.

I've been trying to picture working 12-16 hours a day ladling impurities out of giant boiling vats of sugar cane syrup on a hot, humid summer day. These photos of the ruins don't tell the story, but might give a sense of the atmosphere.

Or harvesting Sea Island cotton when the temps are over 100. Or picking the seeds out of the cotton (the cotton gin didn't work well on this type), which I tried and found nearly impossible.

Add in non-agricultural jobs like clearing land, working at the sawmill, or cooking. Add in insects, heat, humidity, and illness, and a cramped home, two rooms for your whole family.

These houses once had palm-thatch roofs. There was a "driver," one of your peers elevated to a position of responsibility, living in a better house and keeping an eye on you.

Perhaps most chilling was a description of children being taken into the fields, because there was nowhere else for them to be, and enduring sun, insects, and the occasional hungry alligator.

And then there were the people who were displaced to make room for all this, the small native groups that eventually united and were called Seminoles. Despite fierce resistance they were first forced onto a Central Florida reservation and then condemned to that terrible walk into exile in Oklahoma.

We've read all these thing before. The sugar mill and cotton plantation ruins brought that terrible history home in a new way. 

Mardi Gras

How do you celebrate Fat Tuesday in St. Augustine? With gusto, a little like this sporty conquistador on a mural in the Old Town:

First, you have lunch at a place that specializes in New Orleans grub. In this case, shrimp and grits, with a Hurricane, just for fun. Wear the Mardi Gras beads they give you all afternoon.

Then you explore a historic home or two and stroll through some shops. Check out some art:

 

Stop by the Cathedral for a few contemplative minutes.

Go to the supermarket and buy a king cake. Eat a piece and hope you get the plastic baby hidden inside so you're the king or queen of the evening and will have good luck throughout the year.

Nature

My friend Hope, bird watcher par excellence, is spending a few days, along with her sister Caroline. I've been laughing at our different approaches to North Florida weather. Caroline, a Jacksonville resident, is thoroughly bundled up, complete with scarf around her ears. Hope and I saunter along in sweatshirts and sandals, rejoicing in what, to us, is a balmy day.

We revisited Merritt Island refuge, where an abundance of shore and other birds awaited. I've said it before, and I'll say it again: warblers and other teeny exquisites are lost on me, but big birds that hold still--herons, cranes, and their ilk--I can love. We spent a happy afternoon identifying tricolor cranes and looking for anhingas and stilts. I was so busy with the binos I pretty much forgot about the camera, but I did snag a couple of fun shots of a blue teal pair, a handsome snowy egret and--the icing on our afternoon--an armadillo running around in the grass.

There's a lot of sky here, and a lot to look at.