The Essential Beachcomber

It's time for me to do some more bragging on my hometown of Englewood, Florida.  I can go on & on about our beautiful beaches, shark's teeth, & shells but a girl's gotta eat sometime.  I about wore poor Tennessee Sister out. We went to the beach every day & sometimes twice a day. She deserved a nice lunch out.   If possible I like to frequent local business when I shop or eat out. Supporting local businesses is the best way to help the local economy.  Englewood has a rejuvenated downtown district on Dearborn Street with lots of fun restaurants, quirky shops, & artist galleries called  Olde Englewood Village.    It was the perfect day to eat outside and the colorful porch of the Mango Bistro caught my eye. How could we not sit on the porch with it's zebra-striped bench and tropical colors.  It down-right beckons you in. We were greeted shortly by a very friendly server who guided us to her favorites on the menu of authentic F...

The park is located at the extreme western end of Curlew Road in Dunedin, Florida. It is very helpful to bring a Honeymoon old-timer like Cousin Joannie along to show you what the agatized coral looks like. The sister from Tennessee is in town. All year long she waits out the frost, ice, & snow by vicariously beach combing, shelling, & picking-up shark's teeth on my FB page & blog (interspersed with some Farmville & Zenga Poker).  Once a year she migrates south for a few weeks via a cheap Allegiant Airline flight that goes non-stop from Knoxville to sunny Punta Gorda, Florida. She usually steps off the plane legs shaved & adorned in tropical attire ready to head for the closest beach. I can't let my little sister down.  We have been to the beach every day since she has been here (& sometimes twice a day)  This visit we have shelled Stump Pass , Blind Pass Beach , Manasota Key, Casey Key, Caspersen Beach, Venice Beach, Nokomis Jetty ...

Even my shell sistah  Pam of iLove Shelling  couldn't resist a road trip up from Sanibel to Manasota Key for a little shark's tooth action. (credit:  www.iLoveShelling.com) All hobbies & interests have different levels of dedication.  Shelling is the perfect example of this.  You have the average beach goer that doesn't know anything more about shells other than "it's pretty".  Then the next level would be the enthusiast.  This person  knows to shell at low tide, has some basic shelling equipment, & they know what a junonia is.  Then there are the fanatics  who are willing to travel to the good shelling spots,  they knows the Latin scientific names of most shells, & are into quality not quantity because their shell collection has now taken over their garage.   Collecting shark's teeth is no different. On any given day on Manasota Key there will be hundreds of beach-goers walking the shoreline looking for shar...

Eat your heart out Cake Boss! All it takes is that one phone call.  You know, life is good.  The plan is being followed then ring, ring, ring (or whatever snazzy sound or song you have for a ringtone) everything changes.  This time for me nothing major - just my cousin the cake decorator calling to tell me I'm on my own to make the baby shower cake for my niece Shweekie because she can't get the time off from work. "No problem" I say to her. "RATZ!!" I think as I hang up.   Publix is right across the street. Joan & I had been planning to make cupcakes.  Our illusions of baking grandeur were probably bolstered by watching  too many episodes of Cupcake Wars.  We were making Key lime cupcakes & Chocolate with coconut-filling cupcakes surrounding a sandcastle centerpiece that we were going to create out of foam board. The baby shower was a beachy theme and we thought easy peasy as we high fived each other over the phone.  I know when ...