Environmentalists constantly charge that development has deprived plants and animals of their natural habitat. While I would normally agree, a few thing have happened over the past few weeks that make me wonder whether this is true, or if plants and animals are adapting just fine to cityscapes.

Last week, I was walking along Main Street in downtown Sarasota. It was early evening, perhaps 7 p.m., and still light. As I passed the building housing the offices of First Baptist Church, I glanced down at the sidewalk. Lying on the concrete, at the junction where the church building butted up against the locksmith shop, was a length of rubber tubing. I took a few more steps before it registered. “What on earth was that?” I wondered aloud. I backed up and bent down for a second look. Just a two-foot length of black rubber hose, sticking out of a hole in the mortar between the buildings. Then it moved. Slowly it backed away from me, sliding back into the circular hole a few inches. Thinking I was imagining things, I inched closer, cautiously. Again the snake retreated, this time until only its head was visible at the entrance of the hole. I blinked and it was gone. I have no idea what type of snake it was; I was so astounded to see it in the midst of an urban environment that I never thought to identify it.

Night Blooming Cereus flowers adorn the scraggly cactus just one night each year. Photo courtesy of http://skiplombardi.org.

Later that same night, I was leaving my favorite coffee shop following a performance by guitarist/vocalist Michael Miller, when his wife, Laura, told me about the Night Blooming Cereus, a cactus flower that only opens after dark, and only blooms for a single night each year. This being the long-awaited night, I drove to the Towles Court neighborhood in search of the elusive flower. As Laura had promised, it was a Read the rest of this entry »

Oh what are they talking about this week, those unpredictable blogging boomers? Check out the eclectic posts at this week’s host, This Marriage Thing.

In recent decades, major sports teams have been selling naming rights to their stadiums. San Francisco’s historic Candlestick Park was renamed 3-Com Stadium, the Arizona Diamondbacks play in Bank One Ballpark, and Heinz Stadium is home to the Pittsburgh Steelers. Bowl games sell corporate sponsorships (i.e.: the 96th Rose Bowl Game Presented by Citi or the Valero Energy Alamo Bowl) and although they often turn event names into lengthy, tongue-twisting titles, the sponsorships also provide much needed revenue. It is precisely this revenue source that prompted officials in New York City to consider selling naming rights to some very unconventional facilities.

Faced with a massive $2 billion deficit, New York City’s Metropolitan Transit Authority began searching for corporate sponsors for – of all things – the city’s subway stops. For five years the MTA offered corporate naming rights to the underground but there were no takers – until now. If the $4 million deal is approved, Barclays Bank will be added to the already lengthy named Atlantic Avenue, Pacific Street and Flatbush Avenue subway stop in downtown Brooklyn. Although in this case the sponsorship may make sense (the subway stop will serve Barclays Center, a new sports arena scheduled to open in 2012), it certainly begs the question of whether traveling around NYC will still have that authentic New York flavor when conductors find themselves announcing “McDonald’s Big Mac Lincoln Center,” or “Yahoo! Rockefeller Center.”

Until I lived on the Outer Banks of North Carolina, I thought vacation accommodations were limited to hotels, motels, and bed & breakfasts. When I arrived in Nags Head back in 1996, I noticed that virtually all the houses on the ocean side of the main highway displayed “for rent” signs. I needed a place to live, so the bounty of rental signs was encouraging, but after just a few calls I realized all these homes were not year-round rentals – they were vacation rentals.

Private individuals who own these residences stay in them two weeks out of the year and place them in a rental program for the remainder of the year, providing vacationers with an option other than hotels or motels. In the U.S., this type of accommodation is prevalent in the country’s most popular vacation spots: Hawaii, Florida, and destinations on both coasts, although their popularity is growing in the interior as well. Vacation rentals are also available in tourism Read the rest of this entry »

President Franklin D. Roosevelt nodded at me from his wheelchair on the porch of his favorite retreat in Warm Springs, Georgia.

“Good afternoon, Mr. President,” I said.

“May I inquire where you are from?” he asked.

“Sarasota, Florida.”

“Ah, yes. I have traveled to your part of the country to inspect military installations and harbors to make sure they are ready in the event of war.”

The conversation was surreal. The distinguished, soft-spoken man in the wheelchair looked like every photo of FDR I have ever seen. It felt like I’d stepped into a time machine and been transported back to 1938. He went on to explain that he first came to Warm Springs in 1924 to swim in nearby mineral springs, searching for relief from polio.

Bob Prater portrays FDR on the rear porch of the Little White House

FDR became so enchanted with the area that he built a small vacation home on the side of Pine Mountain while running for president in 1932. Throughout his terms he made many trips to the cottage, which by then had been dubbed the “Little White House.” During these visits he spoke with neighbors to learn about their difficulties, especially during the Great Depression. New Deal policies such as the Rural Electrification Administration, Civilian Conservation Corps, and Tennessee Valley Authority grew out of these conversations. Today the Little White House is one of Georgia’s most popular historic sites. Guests can tour Read the rest of this entry »

John Agno at So Baby Boomer reviews a midsummer’s eve festival of articles for this week’s Blogging Boomers Carnival. In celebration of the season, everything from the meaning of the summer solstice to 101 ways to detox your body, mind and home to bettter enjoy summer is being discussed on our diverse boomer blogs.

It was gray and drizzly on the afternoon I arrived at the Cecil B. Day Butterfly Center in Pine Mountain Georgia. I stepped inside the octagonal glass Conservatory, prepared to be wowed by more than 1,000 butterflies of 50 different species flying freely throughout the enclosed rain forest environment. But nothing was happening; hardly a butterfly was in sight. Staff members explained that butterflies rest in overcast weather.

Glassed-in Conservatory houses Cecil B. Day Butterfly Center at Callaway Gardens

I wandered through the facility, enjoying its tropical plants and waterfalls as I kept one eye peeled for the occasional lethargic butterfly and the other on the leaden sky. As usual, luck was with me. A short time later clouds began to break up and the sun peeked out. Sensing sun-warmed air, the butterflies and moths emerged from hiding. At first just a few fluttered around, then hundreds more rose into the air and began flitting from flower to flower.

One of 50 species of butterfly at Callaway Gardens

Read the rest of this entry »

Since I’d opted to extend my stay in Toccoa, I took advantage of the opportunity to visit Traveler’s Rest State Historic Site, located in the Tugaloo Valley just five miles east of town. This 1815 stagecoach inn and plantation house has been completely restored, providing visitors with a glimpse of what it was like to undertake long-distance travel in the first half of the nineteenth century.

Traveler's Rest State Historic Site, Toccoa, Georgia

Following Cherokee trading trails that later became wagon roads, Traveler’s Rest was built to accommodate travelers on the Unicoi Turnpike, a busy thoroughfare connecting the Tugaloo and the Little Tennessee River on the western side of the Blue Ridge Mountains. Although an imposing structure for its day, the inn was anything but luxurious. A common joke was oft repeated about such inns:

During his stay at a crowded inn, a traveler complained to the innkeeper about a dirty rag on the washstand in his room. The innkeeper replied: “Sir, more than a hundred people have used that rag today, but you are the first to complain about it!”

The Joe Brown room, the nicest in the inn, was available for $1 per night – which would equate to about $100 per night today. It was named for Joseph E. Brown, Georgia’s Governor from 1857-1865 and a U.S. Senator from 1880-1891. In 1847, Brown and his new bride spent their honeymoon night in this room. Read the rest of this entry »

My tour of waterfalls seemingly at an end, I spread the map out on my lap and contemplated the best route between Tallulah Falls and Atlanta, Georgia. As I scanned my options I noticed a red dot on the map, not far from my current location. I squinted to make out the small print: Toccoa Falls. Another waterfall! There was no question I would divert to see it.

Toccoa Falls, 186 feet high, is located on the campus of Toccoa Falls College

Upon arriving in Toccoa I stopped by the renovated train station that serves as the area’s Welcome Center to ask directions. My intention was to make a quick stop at the waterfall and then be on my way but the gracious staff convinced me there was much more to see in this tiny town nestled in the foothills of the Southern Appalachian Mountains. With no schedule to adhere to, I decided to investigate what Toccoa had to offer.

I began with the Stephens County Historical Society Museum and the Currahee Military Museum, both also located within the historic railroad depot. In the Historical Society Museum I wandered from exhibit to exhibit, learning about well-known personages connected with Toccoa. I was not surprised to discover that President Franklin D. Roosevelt was among them. Roosevelt’s love affair with Georgia is well known; he often traveled to his vacation home in Warm Springs, Georgia, which became known at the “Little White House.” On one such Read the rest of this entry »