The Story of My Life

On the Jeep On the Ferry.   As I sit here inside on a day of ICE and cold, no one here or awake but me....I think about my life the past year.  I think of how much my life has changed and how much I HAVE changed. And it makes me happy. On October 10, 2010, I got married to my love in a BEAUTIFUL warm place, St. Thomas, USVI After our very special private ceremony at 8 in the morning, we took a jeep on a ferry and spent the rest of our wedding day exploring the most beautiful place I have seen thus far in my 42 years, St. John. St. Thomas is beautiful, yes.  But commercialized and inhabited and in some parts, very poor. Newlyweds at Hawk's Nest! Hawk's Nest Bay St. John is a great deal of park and reserve land so it is NATURAL and beautiful and unspoiled in so many parts.  We bought an Off the Beaten Path book, hopped in the jeep and headed out. The bays are amazing and the pictures I made of them are untouched and unedit...

Hello and welcome. They say home is where the heart is- well I discovered that some of my heart remains here. This land has been in my maternal grandfather's family for, well back to my great-great grandfather's time. In fact, this house sat at the back of the acres that I spent an amazing day exploring. My grandfather is one of the lads on the front porch of this house, which sat above the creek and the family mill. HIS grandfather is the oldest man in the black suit and hat. His father is somewhere in the porch shadows. Not sure if the house was crooked or the photographer was drunk, but a very cool picture indeed. Zooming in when I scanned it at high resolution affords many heart warming details of the life they lived. The land remains with a very special couple who have made the place a country paradise. I call her Aunt Mary George. Technically, she is not my aunt. But in the South, does that matter? She is a cousin to my grandfather, I believe, but they all grew up to...

Who pays $248 for a skirt??? No me. I just found a bunch of stuff on the clearance racks at Macy's (my favorite store.....well that I can afford.... forget Anthhropologie and Nordstroms, my real favs) and took them to a dressing room an tried things on. You know some days, nothing fits. But today everything fit!! I had $75 in gift cards and reward bucks and got even bigger savings, so HONEY, I saved us money. I got a beautiful hounds tooth slim skirt that is regularly $248!!!!!!!!!! for $48. Oh yes and that size says "0" as in ZERO, don't ya know! See there, saved two hundred dollars right there. And who is Ellen Tracy anyhow that her name on clothes cost so much???? I expect Versace for that much. But when Macy's friendly Johnnie rang things up, the original price shows up first then she scans again for a sale price. Talk about sticker shock. I do by some expensive clothes, but never that much for a SKIRT!!!!! I have been on the hunt for a good pair of jeans. ...

On our visit to Sand Mountain, we stopped by to see Gracie, the newest addition to PawPaw's farm. She is so cute and tame. The kids loved her. She even posed for some great shots. She is a few weeks old. Her father, Wilson, is a Jerusalem donkey and has a cross marking on his back and so does she. Finally, Little man moved slowly enough to pet her! She loves little soft "wedding" mints and will come to you to eat them out of your hand. The children love PawPaw's house.... 2 cats, a dog, 3 donkeys, chickens, a peacock, a flying squirrel, a Rhino (Golf-cartish) thing to ride all over the 6 acres. And a shop full of antiques- knives, BB guns, farm tools.....my son could pilfer in the shop all day.

Hidden between the Garden of the Gods and Pikes Peak, America’s most famous mountain, lies the magical town of Manitou Springs. " Manitou ," a Native American word for "spirit," describes this beautiful mountain community. Nine named mineral springs throughout town are fed by the snows of Pikes Peak. Long before white men traveled here, the Ute, Cheyenne and many other natives considered this area sacred This was my favorite little town of the trip. Trendy, historic, beautiful, relaxing ....good food, good view. Antique shops, art galleries..... Long before bottled water was the thing, this little town bottled its mineral water from nine springs in the 1800's. Each spring boasts water that taste different because of the various minerals it passes through to the surface. By the mid 1870s, the bottling industry had begun producing bottled mineral water for the public benefit. Manitou Table Water, (recharged with natural gas), and Ute Chief Mineral Water were a ...

Last week my favorite spot Friday was Honeymoon Island Beach. I included Caladesi Island since we always went to Honeymoon and took a ferry to Caladesi. Dr. Beach released his 2008 top beach picks and....... Caladesi is the #1 ranked beach in America !! "Caladesi Island State Park takes the number one spot in the 18th Annual Top 10 Beaches ranking produced by coastal expert Dr. Stephen Leatherman, Director of Florida International University’s Laboratory for Coastal Research. Caladesi is a pristine getaway beach in the Clearwater/St. Petersburg area, only 20 miles west of bustling downtown Tampa. Traveling to this island is an experience itself as it is reached by pedestrian ferry, complete with old salts telling interesting tales, or by private boat. The bayshore is a mangrove forest interlaced with kayak trails and is a bird lover’s paradise. The only mode of transportation on this lovely island, dominated by palm trees, is by foot over the super fine white sand. There is a grea...

The pioneers called it Hog Island, but it became Honeymoon Isle in 1939 when a New York developer built 50 palm - thatched bungalows for honeymooners. Honeymoon sounds much nicer than Hog, I must admit. Today, visitors can drive across Dunedin Causeway to enjoy the sun - drenched Gulf beaches, mangrove swamps, and tidal flats. Nature lovers will find osprey nests, a wide variety of shorebirds, and one of the few remaining virgin slash pine forests in South Florida. The park boasts several nature trails and bird observation areas. Visitors can swim, fish, and snorkel in the warm waters of the Gulf or picnic while they enjoy the beautiful scenery. Shelling is particularly good here, as the Gulf currents deposit an incredible variety of seashells on the shore. Showers are available and the park´s concession has a gift shop and snack bar- which has good food and great drinks! You can't take alcohol onto the beach, but can drink on the porch of the snack bar area. Located at the extrem...