Thanks to Laura Lee over at Midlife Crisis Queen for her nomination of Hole In The Donut for a Splash Award!

The Splash is  given to alluring, amusing, bewitching, impressive, and inspiring blogs.

In the spirit of the pass-it-along quality of the award, I invite you to visit the following blogs which I am nominating because I have found them to be well worth following:

• Random Thoughts From The Beach
• The Fabulous Geezersisters
• Nomadic Matt’s Travel Site
• Travel Wonders of the World
• Briefcase To Backpack
• What A Trip!
• DuchessOmnium – Island to Island

Note to nominees: The rules for a Splash Award are as follows:

The Splash Award is given to alluring, amusing, bewitching, impressive, and inspiring blogs. When you receive this award, you should: 1. Put the logo on your blog (where do we find this logo to post?) 2. Nominate up to nine blogs that allure, amuse, bewitch, impress or inspire you 3. Be sure to link to your nominees within your post 4. Let them know that they have been splashed by commenting on their blog 5. Remember to link to the person from whom you received your Splash award

After a few weeks on the road, I returned to Sarasota for a few days of R&R before heading out again. As usual, on my first day back I stopped by my favorite coffee shop, Pastry Art On Main, for a cup of java. Instead, on this particular day the owners of the shop, Forrest and Alex Shaw, invited me to sample a cup of Samboya Tea, a new brand they would soon be serving.

I am no stranger to tea – my kitchen shelf is lined with many flavors and several different brands. But though I keep trying to find one I like, every brand comes up short. Some are too bitter. Most don’t even taste like the flavors they represent. So I was game to sample a new brand, especially since Forrest insisted that once I tried Samboya, I would never again want to drink tea bought at the grocery store.

A delicious fragrance immediately suffused the air when the Earl Grey tea was set before me. Raising the cup, I inhaled deeply, enjoying the musky scent reminiscent of exotic Indian cardamom and turmeric spices. I sipped and rolled Read the rest of this entry »

Three Vermont businesses are calling all boomers, zoomers, red hats, seniors, silver foxes and really cool people over the age of 50 to participate in the “Vermont to Fabulous Las Vegas Virtual Challenge” contest. Because they are located in Vermont, home of the beautiful Green Mountains, where people love to love to bike, row, run and walk, Cabot Creamery Cooperative (of cheddar cheese fame), Concept2, and the Vermont Department of Tourism thought it would be fun to design an online challenge that revolved around healthy lifestyles, the pursuit of good eating, and exercise.

Stoweflake Resort

It’s easy to participate. First, create a log-in name and password on the homepage. This is a virtual contest, so you won’t see the other contestants involved – and although you will exercise, you won’t actually walk, run, row or bike to Las Vegas from Vermont. Simply log the minutes of physical activity you do each day to move along the map towards Vegas. Play tennis for an hour? Give yourself credit for an hour of walking or running, depending on how vigorous the game. Or if you play a round of golf, log those hours played as walking. Players earn poker Read the rest of this entry »

Everything happens for a reason. I was on the last leg of my trip home and had every intention of driving straight through to Sarasota when I got a phone call from the contractor I had hired to install a new kitchen in the Key West apartment. Apparently Home Depot no longer keeps the type of cabinets I need in stock; ordering them would take eight weeks, during which time I would be unable to rent the apartment. I had no choice but to detour through Florida City and see if I could buy what I needed at that Home Depot and have it transferred to the Key West store.

Two hours later I headed out again and, rather that retrace my steps to take Alligator Alley across the state, I turned onto Krome Avenue, bound for Tamiami Trail. Passing through downtown Homestead, I noticed banners on the light poles advertising “Coral Castle.” The name was familiar; I vaguely recalled reading about this attraction on the Internet and bookmarking it, thinking it would be an interesting place to visit. I thought briefly about detouring to see it but then dismissed the idea; I really wanted to get back home. Not long afterward the sun started to set and I changed my mind. Crossing through 100 miles of deserted, black Everglades when I was exhausted was simply not a good idea, so I turned back toward Homestead, sure I would find a motel along Rt. 1. Instead, I ran straight into the Coral Castle.

There was no way I could NOT stop. It was quite clear this is where I was supposed to be.

Overview of site, showing massive sculptures mounted atop the perimeter walls

From the moment I stepped through the main gate, I knew this was a powerful place. It positively throbbed with energy. The perimeter of the rectangular area was delineated by a two story wall of coral blocks, within which stood dozens of Read the rest of this entry »

Is there anyone out there old enough (like me) to remember the classic movie “The Long, Long Trailer,” starring Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz? Well, for the young pups, let me explain. The storyline centers around a cross country road trip in a loooong pull-behind trailer. In one classic comedic scene, Lucy falls out the door of the trailer into the mud; in another she is bounced around the inside of the trailer as she tries to fix dinner while Ricky drives. But the funniest moment of the film is when they are going up the Rockies. Prior to starting up the mountains, Desi demands that Lucy get rid of the ‘pretty’ rocks that she had collected throughout the trip. Unable to bear parting with them, she hides rocks inside drawers and cabinets and tells Desi she has thrown them out. Well, you can just imagine what happens when he starts up that steeeeeep, steeeeep slope.

Now, you may be asking what an old movie has to do with this post. It’s quite simple. I have been a rockhound from the time I was old enough to pick up my first pebble. I carry home rocks from every place I visit. I dig geodes from hillsides, chip crystals out of boulders in quarries, and hunt for fossils in muddy creeks. This has been a constant source of amusement to my family. Although I have moved more than 30 times in my life, I cannot bring myself to part with my gems and minerals. Boxes of rocks were stored at my sister’s house when I lived in Puerto Rico, causing my brother-in-law to grouse incessantly whenever the heavy cartons had to be moved. When I sold my house in North Carolina and moved to Florida I stored most of my personal belongings at my Dad’s house – yes, even the rocks…especially the rocks. So I can relate to the Long, Long Trailer. Like Lucy, I would not have been able to get rid of the rocks.

Visitors Center at Windley Key Fossil Reef Geological State Park overlooks one end of the main quarry

Now that you know this tidbit about me, you can just imagine my excitement when I discovered Windley Key Fossil Reef Geological State Park in the Florida Keys. The site is actually three old quarries where limestone was mined between the early 1900′s to the early 1960′s. The limestone found at these quarries is actually a fossilized coral reef that formed during the higher sea levels of the last interglacial episode, approximately 100,000 to 125,000 years ago. With a sea Read the rest of this entry »

Some years ago, when I was still living on the Outer Banks of North Carolina, I was having lunch at the Rodanthe Pier when I noticed that almost everyone in the restaurant had stepped outside to look at the ocean. Curious to see what had caused such a stir, I followed. The summer sun sparkled off the glassy, perfectly formed waves that rolled in, one after another. I was marveling at the clarity of the water – it was one of those rare days when the Atlantic is so calm that you can see through the waves – when I realized what everyone was looking at. Frolicking within the translucent blue breakers were hundreds of dolphins. Sunlight penetrated the waves, exposing their sleek bodies as gray silhouettes. The dolphins played tag with the waves, alternately surfing along their crests and sliding back down their faces as they bodysurfed to shore. A nanosecond before each wave crashed into the beach, they darted back to deeper water behind a sandbar, waiting for the next swell.

I have seen hundreds of dolphins over the years; I have even surfed beside a dolphin or two who shared a wave with me. But I had never seen so many dolphins in one place, and certainly had never before witnessed such behavior. What animal, other than humans, engages in cooperative group play? Since that day I have believed that dolphins have a higher intelligence and were put on this earth for a very special purpose, but I had no proof. To test my theory, it would be necessary to get up close and personal with dolphins. Fortunately, I was on an extended tour of the Florida Keys, and the Dolphin Research Center on Grassy Key afforded me just such an opportunity.

Amazing high jump

Milton Santini, a local fisherman who lived on the site of the present day center in the mid-1950′s, captured Mitzi and other Atlantic bottlenose dolphins and formed Santini’s Porpoise School. Mitzi starred in the original pilot movie Flipper, along with five of Santini’s other dolphins. Following Mitzi’s demise in 1972 the Read the rest of this entry »

American Airlines is now allowing customers to book one way fares when redeeming miles in their AAdvantage frequent flier rewards program. New One-Way Flex Awards are offered at exactly half of the round-trip rate. The benefits of the new program include:

• Customers can now book a one-way trip, a round trip, or a multi-city trip online
• It is now possible to combine MileSAAver and an AAnytime awards, allowing customers to take advantage of an award that requires a lower number of miles for half of the trip
• Customers may now combine different classes of service for different legs (i.e.: economy class outbound leg and business class on the return)

The AAdvantage award booking tool on AA.com has also been enhanced, making booking reward travel online a breeze. The easy to read at-a-glance calendar now allows customers to select different award types (MileSAAver or AAnytime) or classes of service for each portion of their trip.

Don’t Gel Too Soon hosts our Blogging Boomers Carnival this week. What’s on tap? The title of her blog post – “From 401(K) to Folk Art” – says it all! Cruise on over and check out what those ever-fascinating boomers are talking about.

Each time I drive across the Seven Mile Bridge on my way to or from Key West I wonder about tiny Pigeon Key, located off the west end of Marathon. The only access to this five-acre rock appears to be via a rusted old bridge that bisects the island. Speeding along the new modern bridge, I have often puzzled over the adjacent older roadway. If it was unsafe, why it was left standing? And if it is safe, why have two giant chunks been cut out of the span, ensuring that it is not used? This time, my curiosity got the better of me. It was time to find out.

Aerial view of tiny Pigeon Key clearly shows the chunk of the old Seven Mile Bridge that has been removed beyond the island. Traffic roars by on the New Seven Mile Bridge at left. Photo courtesy of Pigeon Key Foundation.

Inside the silver Henry Flagler railroad car that now serves as the Pigeon Key Visitor Center and Gift Shop, I discovered that my $11 admission included a boat trip to the island, but instead I opted to walk 2.2 miles along the original Seven Mile Bridge. Under a blazing sun I strolled the narrow two-lane roadway that has been converted for golf cart, bicycle, and pedestrian use. Noticing that the handrails are actually old railroad steel rails, I was reminded that this bridge was originally a railroad trestle for the Florida East Coast Railway.

Walking to Pigeon Key on the old highway, built atop Flagler's railroad trestle.

The railway was the idea of Henry Flagler, who had the good fortune to be a partner of John D. Rockefeller in the firm that eventually became Standard Oil. Long intrigued by Florida, Flagler began constructing luxury hotels on the east coast of the state. He soon realized that Florida’s development potential was hampered by lack of infrastructure and, in 1904, announced his intention to build a railroad from Miami to Key West. Engineers scoffed. Friends thought he had lost his mind. Undeterred, Flagler Read the rest of this entry »