Florida
Secrets
Blog
Submitted
Dec. 17,2009. by Cathy Billoni.
A
very special place in Florida is the remarkable Cabbage Key! Cabbage
Key is definitely a secret and special destination - you can only get
their by boat and their restaurant's is renowned to be the inspiration to
Jimmy Buffet's Cheese burger in paradise song.You can go just for lunch or
for the night and their private cottages or a room at the main inn -what a
gem - truly rustic yet all of the amenities you need. My
husband and I love the atmosphere in the lounge
which is decorated with $1 bills and signed by everyone who comes to
visit. The peaceful nature trails really are untouched goodness, you
can climb their water tower to see for miles. You can hop on a boat
and cruise over to Captiva for some lively interaction but then come back
for the night for peace and quiet and a true old florida get away. You
can take water taxis from the pine island marina to get there, its about a
half hour west of Ft Myers.
10/7/9
Vickie Johnson-A
most interesting and serendipitous side trip my husband and I had coming
home from Disney was stopping at Washington Oaks State Park outside of
Palm Coast. The gardens are on the side of the intracoastal and so
serene. The beach side is equally as pleasant with natural coquina
formations along the shore shooting up sprays of ocean mist as the waves
roll in. It was as if we owned the place....shhh.
Jack
Singletary: My wife Jill and I spent a weekend in Mount Dora this
past weekend.
June-5-6-7 09. We are from Fort Lauderdale and had heard that
the town was like returning to yesteryear. We stayed at "
Somewhere in Time" a vacation rental near the downtown
with a swing under a big oak tree in back. We
took a boat ride on Lake Dora and browsed
the shops downtown. If you are looking to
relax in a a small town going back to
yesteryear we recommend it and
the Vacation rental that is also
on Florida Secrets.
oPhil
Lieberman-Sarasota- 5/9/09 Now that the medieval fair season has ended in
Florida, Rosalind and I are back to exploring a wider variety of
fairs and festivals . In April, we attended five different outdoor events
in
Pinellas County.
The first event was a block party - no, a several blocks party -
in Gulfport, where local merchants and craftsmen demonstrated their wares
and skills. It was there that we first met the lovely and talented
Deserie Valloreo, who makes her own
herbal teas, potions,
and tinctures. Deserie's business, HerbalWise, is now a Florida Secret.
Honeymoon Island, off the coast of
Dunedin, hosted an eco-fest the following weekend. We saw Deserie
again, took a 90-minute hike with a park ranger, and won free yoga tickets
from the Ani Yoga Studio in Oldsmar.
The third event is one we have attended every year, the Green Thumb
Festival, at Walter Fuller Park. Here, dozens of different nurseries
proudly display their botanical specimens. We also saw sculptors (and
avid boaters) Mike and Shelley Ewashenko, whom we've known for years. And
guess who else was there? Deserie again!
From Green Thumb, we traveled north to
Clearwater for a
Japanese Culture evening. We witnessed an authentic tea ritual,
and listened to many unique percussion performances.
Finally, the Mainsail Art
Festival, in a park across from the
Vinoy Hotel in St. Pete., is one of Florida's biggest and best. I
bought Roz a unusual mother's day present: a metal keyholder in the shape
of a striped bass from New Port Richey metallurgist Lee Jones and his
beautiful wife, Sharon. Lee, who loves to fish, grew up in Florida, while
Sharon moved down here from
Holbrook,
Long Island. "I'd never go back," she declares. I'll second that
motion!
Blog 2 Last week (April 24th) Patty and I traveled to West Palm
Beach and stayed in the Casa de Rosa Bed and Breakfast, a lovely
1920's Spanish Style Inn located in the Old Northwood District. We met a
wonderful gentleman in a park across the intra coastal from West Palm in
ritzy Palm Beach. He gave us the inside scoop on Palm Beach social life
etc. and said he had recently seen The Donald ( as in Trump ) sitting
humbly at the
back of the Episcopal Church. That night
we saw the fountains and dined at
" City Place" and it reminded us a little
bit of a Roman Piazza.
5/2/09
