Florida in 12 Pictures

Mansion at the Ringling Museum in Sarasota

Who knew that 5 sons of German immigrants could build their fortune by creating a circus empire from the 1870 - 1929?

Myakka Canopy Walkway at Myakka River State Park

I was a little scared of this walkway. Once I saw it was so sturdy, I gave it a try. It was great!

We climbed a solidly constructed stairway to the suspension bridge through the tree canopy. Walking along the bridge there was a bit of swaying, but it felt very secure and safe. It was really interesting to see plants growing on the trees, plus to see the tree tops up close.

At the end of the bridge, you can descend a stairway, or climb up more stairs to a tower above the canopy where you can see for miles.

Good practice for canopy tours in the rain forest....one of my dream trips!!

Alligator in Myakka River State Park

The water level was low in March, since it's the end of the dry season in Florida. We didn't canoe with the alligators. But we saw plenty of alligators!!

Manatee at Manatee Park in Fort Myers

Manatees congregate in warm water during the cooler winter months in Florida. The park in Fort Myers is near the outflow from a power plant, where the water is warm.

We met people who saw 20 or more manatees at one visit to this park. We visited twice and saw this single manatee.

The manatee would stay under water for about 4 minutes, then surface and breathe twice, then head back under water. I liked seeing it in the wild because it was more sluggish and docile than I imagined.....I don't think there's a good way to get that across without actually seeing one in person.

My favorite beach on Sanibel Island

I fell in love with Sanibel on this trip!!

I like how low key the development is there, how the island has 25 miles of bike paths, that various conservation agencies have preserved large parcels of land on the island.

For me, the beaches are great because they're spacious, not very crowded, dog friendly, great for walking, shelling and wildlife watching. Plus, there are tons of amazing birds on the island.

Osprey clutching a flounder over my favorite beach

Osprey were everywhere on Sanibel. At one point, I was finding great shells, spotting dolphins in the waves, and watching 4 osprey overhead. So much fun stuff to see!

One osprey caught a large mackerel. Two other osprey gave chase, dive-bombing the bird with the fish.

When they were about 10 feet over my head, the osprey dropped the fish. We moved away from the fish thinking the birds would be back to pick it up. But they continued their skirmish and vanished into the woods.

Jim went over to check out the fish, which was flopping around in the dry sand. He picked up the fish by the tail and released it in the ocean. The fish swam away. Imagine the "fish story" that mackerel has for his school!!

Mixed flock of wading birds in Ding Darling Wildlife Refuge

Another great things about Sanibel is all the bird life in the wildlife refuge. We spent hours a day there watching and photographing birds. This is my kind of birding!!!

Roseate Spoonbill Landing in Ding Darling NWR

Naples City Pier

TripAdvisor ranks the municipal pier in Naples as one of the city's top attractions. That seemed weird to me, but one afternoon we were in Naples with a bit of time to spare, so we checked it out.

Within 45 minutes we'd been buzzed by a bald eagle, had several close osprey encounters, all while watching dolphins, pelicans and fishermen.

We returned after dinner for more sea life, plus a beautiful sunset.

The next morning, as we left town, we stopped by again. Mid-morning wasn't such a good time for wildlife sightings.

Dolphins

Hard to photograph, but always fun to watch!

Pelican Swallowing a Large Fish

Pelicans at Sunset

Sometimes, after a long winter, a trip to a warm, sunny place is a balm for the soul!!!


I totally apologize for not being caught up on your blogs or your comments before posting about Florida. Please know that I appreciate the huge swirl of creativity that all of our blogs foster, and I read and think about every comment that you leave for me!!! I hereby promise to catch up!

Glacier and Yellowstone in Ten Pictures

Jim and I just hiked, photographed, and watched wildlife in Glacier and Yellowstone National Parks for two wonderful weeks.

For my local friends, I distilled the trip to 10 photos, which I printed and show to anyone who is willing to look (or who doesn't scurry away fast enough).

For my blog friends, here's the same set of photos:

Glacier

Yellowstone








I hope to say more, much more, about our wonderful trip in future blog posts.

Meanwhile, enjoy my uncharacteristic brevity!!

Textiles at Mystic Seaport: Making Rope

Before our trip to Mystic, I wouldn't have expected to be so interested in rope-making.

But this group of rope-makers is doing something very similar to what weavers do when we twist the fringe on a scarf.

Rope-making was mechanized, so that handmade rope is a rarity today.


Inside the very long ropewalk, moved from the now defunct Plymouth Cordage Company, raw materials for rope are processed using hackles, similar to the hackles used to process flax when spinning linen yarn.


Rope was made from hemp or jute.


Individual strands are spun.


Then the spools are loaded onto a spool rack, fed through a round disk with holes, and plied into rope.

Unfortunately, none of my pictures of the very long rope walk where machines plied these cords into rope worked out.



Love this rope storage device!!!

Just want to clarify that this equipment is set up, but wasn't being operated while we visited. There were signs in the rope walk building that explained the process.

Related Posts:
Mystic Seaport
Susan's Tutorial on Fringe-Twisting

Mystic Seaport

I haven't visited Mystic Seaport since childhood. I loved it even more as an adult!!

I like that Jim captured an action photo of me touring!

We were able to spend lots of times with staff and volunteers who knew so much history. I loved finding people who could answer my questions about history.

Row of Merchants

Visiting Mystic helped us visualize what life might have been like in Portsmouth, and other New Hampshire towns during the 1800's.

View from the north end of the property

Yacht spending the winter

According to dictionary.com, the name Mystic is derived from the Algonquian "missituk" which means great tidal river. ("Missi" = large and "tuk" is tidal river.) The Mystic River in Connecticut is actually an estuary.

I'd bet that many New England towns had areas like this in the 1850's

We definitely picked a good time to visit. They seem geared up for the summer season ahead, with enthusiastic people working there. Plus, it wasn't very crowded. There were some groups of students on field trips, and just enough other visitors that we didn't feel alone.

Sail Loft

Sails were hand sewn specifically for each ship out of commercially woven canvas.

Oyster Shack

Judging by restaurant menus, oysters are still plentiful in the area. In New Hampshire, the oyster fishery has been decimated.

Mystic Seaport has three sections: a restoration shipyard, an interpretation of a whaling village in the 1850's or so, and exhibit space and archives devoted to various sea-faring subjects.

Charles W. Morgan, Last wooden whaling ship being restored

A high school teacher who was very influential in my life recommended that I read Moby Dick again when I turned 35. I did. I still didn't get it.

This trip, coupled with having added another decade of life since then, makes me feel like maybe now I really would get it. Maybe I'll add it to my reading list again!

There's always something happening at Mystic Seaport. As we were leaving, a tug boat was being parked on the front lawn!

Mystic tips:

• Your ticket gives you admission for 2 days. You'll probably want to spend the 2 days there, so go ahead and get your re-entry pass when you buy your ticket. (The days don't have to be consecutive I don't think. They just need to be within 6 or 7 days of each other.)
  

Mashantucket Pequot Museum

Tower at Pequot Museum

On our way to a little get-away in Mystic, Connecticut, we visited the Pequot Museum near Foxwoods (a big casino).

View of Foxwoods from Tower

Museum Roof from Tower

We weren't quite sure what to expect, but it is a wonderful museum. I highly recommend visiting!!

Atrium

Dugout Canoe

No photos are permitted in the exhibit space. There is a floor that shows artifacts and explains about the natural surroundings in New England from the last ice age to the present.

Back View of Museum

The lowest floor in the museum is a 4 acre indoor re-creation of a Pequot village, including homes, gardens, hunting and fishing. That was my favorite part of the museum.

Brass numbers on the floor correspond to numbers you press on a hand-held audio device. You can walk around and learn more about the areas that interest you. I learned more about gardening, food storage, and the only domesticated animal the Pequots had (dogs!)

Pequot Museum Tips:

• Allow enough time. We spent just over 2 1/2 hours, and could have used a little more time.
• GPS Coordinates: N 41.46482 W 71.96181 (When we tried to use the street address on our GPS, we ended up somewhere else entirely.)
• Food: For lunch we went to Noah's in Stonington, which was good....but the museum's cafe looked good also. Prices seemed reasonable and the architecture of the cafe space was airy, open and interesting.
• Have fun!!!
  

Where Have I Been?

Lately, I've been an infrequent blogger. Instead I've been:

• perched on a mountaintop watching migrating hawks
• sanding shafts and treadles for my 12 shaft Toika loom
• painting the outside of our house
  
• hiking and watching wildlife in Colorado and Utah

Now that vacation is over and we're back home, I'll be blogging more often. Plus, I hope to do a better job of keeping up with your blogs and with comments. I've been pretty haphazard about that lately!

When we left for vacation in late September, the trees in our front yard were still green.


Now hints of yellow are creeping in.

Going forward, my posts will be the usual mixture of things that inspire me, and what I do with that inspiration. I am stepping up my studio commitment this fall to make the most of my weaving time.

I will be blogging about my trip as well...on the dates when events actually occurred in late September and early October.

It's been a stormy day here today, full of unpacking, laundry, and generally getting the house restarted.

Bailey is so glad that we bailed him out of the kennel and he's back home!! We're glad to be back home too.

Look how yellow the beech trees are.


One of our maples is starting to turn red. My guess is that we have 3 weeks of foliage left. I promise not to post leaf pictures every single day. Or maybe I should, just to get it out of my system.