May
26
Why didn’t I think of this?
Filed Under St. Augustine | 4 Comments
Mar
6
Leaving Florida
Filed Under Florida is Great | 2 Comments
In less than 24 hours I will be leaving FLA for the arctic north that is Huntsville, AL.
Everything north of the Florida state line is “up north” to me.
So, I’ll be missing and not missing a bunch of things. Of course, friends and family top that list, Florida bloggers included. The coolest thing is meeting truly talented people with a lot of the same interests, like sweet asses and nice racks.
Anyway, here’s a list of some other things I’m going to miss about Florida:
- Disney and the Orlando theme parks are a $300 day trip rather than a $2,000 vacation.
- Watching the sun set over the Gulf of Mexico from Pine Island.
- The coolest town on the east coast, St. Augustine.
- The coolest island in Florida, Amelia Island.
Here’s a list of things I won’t miss:
- South Florida. Really people, y’all should quit calling yourselves Floridians. ‘cept for Key West, the awesomest place I’ve ever been. You guys are ok.
- Planning and zoning commissions more interested in maximizing property tax revenues today rather than smart planning for things like water, roads, and schools.
- A governor with orange skin. WTF?
- All of the canadians down for winter vacations. Effin’ canadians. They’ll drive 2000 miles just to get a decent steak.
So yeah, I’ve got mixed feelings.
Feb
5
Only in FLA: Woman buckles the Busch, let’s the infant roam free in the car
Filed Under Florida Crime | Leave a Comment
Sorry, I just don’t have the energy to write about how this woman ought to be…
Police: Fla. driver’s beer was buckled up, infant was not
See, told you I don’t have the energy.
Jan
13
Young girls sacrifice Hannah Montana tickets to help friend
Filed Under Feel Good Florida | Leave a Comment
There is a story locally about 4 young girls who willingly donated their tickets to the Hannah Montana / Miley Cyrus concert in Jacksonville at the end of January, to be used in a raffle fundraiser for another girl. She has a rare condition that affects her eyesight, and needs to travel to China for an experimental treatment.
From the homepage of blessherwithsight.com:
Rylee Lovett is a beautiful, happy six year old girl living in Saint Augustine, Florida with a rare congenital condition known as Optic Nerve Hypoplasia (ONH). This rare condition, of unknown causes has left her with less than ten percent of her optic nerve. Her endocrine system was also affected, leaving her with a daily regimen of medication and injections. Since diagnosis at four months of age doctors have said that nothing can be done. She would be blind with no hope of recovery.
Until recently there was no hope of Rylee growing up to see the world in the way everyone else does. Recently, doctors in China began using the blood discarded after the birth of a child to restore sight in children like Rylee. This innovative transplant of stem cells, collected through the umbilical cord of afterbirth, has given other ONH children the ability to see. It has even given one little girl the ability to recognize her mother’s face when previously she could not even see light.
Please help to bless Rylee this holiday season with this same gift of sight. She wants to see her favorite television show DragonTales, to take gymnastics with her little sister, and above all to see the faces of her loved ones. Please help us meet our goal of $60,000 and send Rylee to China to give her the chance to see. With your help this beautiful child can be lucky enough to get the priceless gift of sight this holiday season.
Please head over to the site to buy your raffle tickets through paypal, or to just make a donation.
Cross-posted at myfirstcoast.net
Dec
7
Florida Memorabilia
Filed Under Uncategorized | Leave a Comment
Florida memorabilia and collectibles are hot right now.
Nov
25
First Friday Artwalk in St. Augustine
Filed Under Interesting | 1 Comment
This is the best time of year in St. Augustine. The weather is beautiful and the city does a great job of decorating with Night of Lights. There are also activities every single weekend, and one of the cool things to do is the St. Augustine Artwalk.
On the first Friday and Saturday every month, over 20 participating galleries offer tours that start at 5 p.m. There are complementary shuttles in the form of St. Augustine Sightseeing Trains and Old Town Trolley Tours if you’d like to ride between stops on the Artwalk. Galleries have exhibits that include local artists, including painting, photography, and music.
The schedule for the next few months is as follows:
- Dec. 7th and 8th
Jan. 4th and 5th
Feb. 1st and 2nd
March 7th and 8th
The First Friday Weekend Art Walk is another great reason to visit the city of St. Augustine. The weather this time of year is fantastic, the shops are stocked, the bed-and-breakfast inns are decorated for the holidays, and the romance levels are high. It’s no surprise that it was the weekend before Christmas that I proposed to my wife in St. Augustine.
Ok, maybe you unmarried guys might want to keep your girlfriends away…
Nov
22
Not my favorite Thanksgiving by a longshot. I even preferred the Thanksgiving where two of my brothers got into a fistfight to this one.
Yes, they were grown. Heaven is reserved for the mothers of four boys.
Dinner was at Gypsy Cab Company in St. Augustine. A restaurant. A freakin’ restaurant!
Ok, you women who are saying to yourselves, “Ha! At least the women in your house didn’t have to cook!” can just shut up. A restaurant on Thanksgiving is sacrilege.
Oh, the folks at Gypsy did fine. The food was good and plentiful, the service was great (and looked fantastic!). But c’mon!
Thanksgiving should be spent at home, not in a room full of strangers with some waitress (no matter how hot!) serving up salads and turkey and 80% of the table ordering off the menu instead of the Turkey Dinner! What the hell is up with that? Seafood and black beans on Thanksgiving?
Bah Humbug!
Nov
19
Vacation rental homes in Florida (and other places too!): Easy money
Filed Under Uncategorized | Leave a Comment
I have written before about my parents’ having a vacation home in North Carolina. They’re at a point in their lives where they are trying to decide if they are going to keep it or sell it due to retirement and health problems - they just can’t get away as much as they hoped.
I say, why not do both? Keep it AND sell it - or, rent it for a bit, that is. Did you know that you can list your vacation rental and reach 25 million travelers? They bought their North Carolina mountain vacation home many years ago and are fortunate enough to have a mortgage payment of $400, give or take. Do you realize what 2 bedroom mountain vacation rental cabins go for?
About $2,400 per month.
They’re leaving a lot of money on the table, aren’t they? When you advertise your vacation home rental, you get access to a worldwide market, the same way a hotel would. You can list on 4 vacation rental websites for one price and centrally manage your inquiries and listing,
ensuring you reach the maximum audience with your vacation home.
The Florida vacation rental market is especially attractive thanks to the abundance of attractions in this state. Disney World, Sea World, Universal Studios, and the rest that Orlando has to offer create built-in demand for Orlando and Disney vacation rentals. While the rent you charge as a homeowner will easily cover your mortgage AND provide a generous profit, in most cases it will be cheaper than hotels for tourists. And with 0% commissions on vacation rentals bookings, you really can’t go wrong.
Maybe you have a beachfront vacation rental property in Destin or Panama City? Perhaps you’re a snowbird with a vacation rental in St. Petersburg or Ft. Lauderdale? You should give it some thought, and if you decide the extra money will come in handy, join the world’s largest vacation rental network with over 100,000 vacation rentals.
Nov
13
Only in FLA: Man found stuck in cat door, dead; Yahoo attempts to profit from tragedy
Filed Under Only in FLA | Leave a Comment
Man, this would funny if it weren’t so tragic.
Investigators said 32-year-old Charles Tucker Jr. was using the cat door early Saturday morning as a way to get back into his girlfriend’s St. Augustine home after the woman kicked him out.
Deputies said several hours after his girlfriend told him to leave she found him stuck in the cat door.
From Yahoo News and News4Jax
While you ought to feel bad if you find that story funny, here’s something you don’t need to feel bad about - Yahoo’ contextual sensing ad technology delivering the worst possible ad at the worst possible time:
Of course, you may need me to blow that up a little. Click on the picture, hope this works:
Nov
1
Uptown Saturday Night in St. Augustine
Filed Under Family, Interesting, St. Augustine | Leave a Comment
You know I love writing about St. Augustine events almost as much as I love going to them. I think I’m going to have to do some “optimizing” to make it easier to find those kind of posts, because my category system is a mess.
Anyway, the last Saturday night in each month is now Uptown Saturday Night, an event put on in St. Augustine that features street music, antiques shopping, book signing, art galleries, and exhibits in a party-like atmosphere along San Marco Avenue. Each of the participating shops features an open house with refreshments. Free parking is provided at the Mission of Nombre de Dios, one of my favorite spots for peaceful relaxing (don’t worry, the parking lot is away from the peaceful relaxing!).
According to their schedule, Uptown Saturday Night is scheduled out through 2008, so mark the last Saturday of each month on your calendar and plan to attend from 5:00 to 9:00 p.m. The next event is November 24th, and you know you’ll be looking to get out of the house in the middle of the long Thanksgiving weekend (with or without those pesky visitors from up north… or maybe you’re one of those pesky visitors - sorry!). St. Augustine has tons of interesting and unique restaurants and places to get adult beverages, so this will make a for a great night out.
Technorati Tags: st. augustine, uptown saturday night
