The Essential Beachcomber

(Credit:  Royal Palm Marina) The winner of the 2010 Seawall Art Competition at Royal Palm Marina in Englewood, Florida was local artist Diana Davidson.  Her mural will be the only section not painted over for the 2012 contest. I am certain that Englewood has more artists per capita than any other gulf coast town in SWFL. We do have our fair share of doctors, lawyers, teachers,  realtor's, construction guys (who double as fishing guides),  retail workers & restaurant people but most of them are artists in their spare time.  We have an art center ,  an Artists Alliance ,  an artist's retreat .  Englewood abounds in  local shops & galleries that carry the work of area artists. Painting virtuosos will add their creative magic to anything in Englewood that stands still long enough.  If it has aesthetic potential some would-be artist will beautify or decorate it with their imaginative skills.  No bench , outside business ...

"Royal Palm Manatees" painted by Scott "Scooter" Thompson. My first home was a boat.  My birth father was a frustrated fisherman who worked for the phone company during the day but fished every other waking breathing moment of his life.  We lived on a small charter boat that he finagled a slip for at a small city-owned marina in Clearwater back in 1958.  I learned to swim before I could walk.  For reasons beyond my control I have always had an affinity for the smell of diesel fuel, bait buckets, & men that...shall we say.. have potential.  Between Jesus & Dr. Phil I pretty much have all those issues under control except I just can't pass by a marina full of boats without stopping and taking a look around.  Imagine my delight at stumbling upon this little treasure right in my own backyard.  I was told by an Englewood resident that the restaurant Zeke's had the best hamburgers in town.  You just have to find the darn place.  Zeke's...