The Legacy Trail - a Rail Trail

The Legacy Trail is a paved Rails to Trails route from Sarasota to Venice, Florida.  It is a very pleasant trail that is about 10 miles long one way.  The best information that I've found for the trail (which I didn't find until I was writing this  . . . .) is at The Friends of the Legacy Trail website.

Finding the doggone northern terminus is what vexed us - yes, it was mostly our fault for not paying more attention.  But . . . Mary Louise's iPhone DID NOT HELP!!  I guess we needed to ask Siri, but ML is stuck with just an iPhone 4.  If you go, get off I-75 on Exit 205 (Rt. 72), go west on Clark Ave (Rt. 72), take a left on McIntosh Road, and follow the signs to the parking area on the left.   Simple, if you've done it once.

The trail is nice because it traverses some reasonably "traditional" Florida scrub and then comes back out to see some salt water channels.  It's quiet and stays away from any parallel busy roads.

Florida scrub - the way that much of inland Florida used to look.

The information boards along the side of the trail are a nice feature.  Some tell about flora and fauna, and some are historical.

The trail builders left an original trestle bridge with the tracks still in place.  You can see the trail bridge off to the rights.  Toot toot!

Further south, we started to cross rivers and inlets with mangroves and evidence of salt water.

At the end of the trail is the original Venice, FL train station that is now used as a bus transfer station.  There is a canal, boat ramp, and park off to the left also where people were sitting and eating their picnic lunches.  Very nice.

And finally, a picture of the trail, with a gazebo alongside to shade bikers who need a bit of a rest.










All in all, The a very pleasant trail to see some scenery and get some exercise.

Jack Takes me Fishing!

Jack loves to go fishing, so we were up at 5 a.m. to get half a day in.  I'm always jealous of Jack's setup anyway.  He's got a huge outbuilding to store all his toys.  Plus, he's got a dually diesel truck and a flats boat that goes faster than at least one car that I own.

We got to the ramp at Spring Warrior, FL just as the sun was coming up.  The tide was coming in but we still churned some mud on the way out the river.

 In the left picture above, look closely in order to see the moon.  Jack is in his "guiding" pose in the picture on the right. 

 Of course we limited out on trout.  Here's a nice one.  No, the fish - not Jack

We had to start the trek back to Tampa to take care of the dog, so Jack got stuck with the cleaning of both fish and boat.  THANKS, Jack!!!  It's always a great day going out in the boat with a good friend.

Bicycling the Tallahassee - St. Mark's Bicycle Trail

There is a reason why we stuffed the trunk with the bicycles.

We'd always wanted to ride the Tallahassee -St. Marks Historic Railroad State Trail which is 16 miles one way.

Fortunately, Jack and Velma, were interested also.  They live on 5 acres in Hamilton County where they recently built a very nice house.  Velma and Mary Louise were school buddies and their grandparents lived across the street from each other in Hyde Park, Tampa.

The bicycle trail is great.  We accidently hit the prime time for blooming redbud and dogwood trees which were beautiful.   The day was a little warm but the trail is mostly shaded and away from the noise of any busy highways.  It's definitely worth a pedal.

Mary Louise and I previously visited the St. Mark's National Wildlife Refuge.  It is definitely worth a visit, also.  If we would have had time, we would have stayed in a hotel in St. Marks and ridden out around the St. Mark's refuge road.  

Velma hams it up.

More dogwood.

 Watch out for these three. 

The prize at the end - a restaurant right on the water across from the St. Mark's National Wildlife Refuge. 

It's always a little tough to get going after a grouper sandwich and a cold beer.

Fairhope, AL to Tallahassee, FL

We spent a nice morning with Francis - walked and visited Fairhope. 

We loved the "traditional" hardware store in Fairhope.  You might never find what you need there, but the people who work there can.  Plus, there were the "pre LED" Christmas lights on sale for half price.  We took two!

On to Mobile Bay, Alabama

We packed our little toyota camry with 5 people and suitcases and dropped 3 at the New Orleans airport.  Plus, we couldn't use the trunk since we had two bicycles in it.

Then we drove on to Point Clear near Fairhope, Alabama.   Our Tampa neighbors, Francis and George, have a family beach cottage there.  I should be more specific.  George grew up in Spanish Fort.  Francis spent the summers in the cottage that her grandfather had the foresight to buy many years ago.  Now she and her three sisters own the cottage but she let's George go too - after a huge rebuild based upon the wrath of Katrina.







It's a beautiful place right on the bay.  Thanks for the hospitality, Francis!

New Orleans Music and classic Bourbon

Another thing I like about New Orleans, maybe specifically the French Quarter, is the music - particularly the "street" music which I define as people playing for tips.

Oh man, she could not only play the clarinet but was a great singer too.  

Hillbilly bands (I'm sure it's the not right name) seem to be "in" right now.  These guys were great, although I missed the "bassist" on the washtub who was to the right.  The dog wasn't impressed.

Another band.  I liked the bass drum suitcase.  

A closeup of the bass drum suitcase and a nice pair of authentic stockings on the left.

You can't miss Bourbon St.  But it doesn't take long.

New Orleans "Architecture" and iJesus iPhone

We enjoy looking at houses and neighborhoods in most of the places we go.  New Orleans has some of the most fun looking places.

Colors and patterns are so vibrant.

Some of the houses aren't very big!

I thought this was an interesting night shot, but I would have like to have gotten more definition on the statue.

NEW ORLEANS

New Orleans is fun.

Glenda found a great place to stay just on the edge of the French Quarter, the Lion's Inn.  Floyd, the proprietor, is a real character.  The action of the Quarter close to walk and the neighborhood is pleasantly funky.

This is one of Floyd's primary rules.  

Imagine yourself sitting here.

Rule #2 at the Lion's Inn - or come to think of it, maybe it's Rule #1.

This picture looks into our "Garden Room" with windows all across looking into the garden.  The hot tub is just visible on the left and then the pool!

NEW ORLEANS and Bob's 60th!

Birthdays are interesting things - especially as one grows older, they seem to morph into something that I never anticipated.  As our friend Velma states, "I feel just the same age as I ever did - mostly, anyway."  It might not have been those exact words, but you get the idea.  After all, she ran the New York City marathon on her 70th birthday and we were there to see it - but that's another story to tell.

This event was my brother Bob's 15th and 60th birthday.  I'm sure you can figure out exactly what date he was born.  Glenda organized the celebration event for New Orleans.  Bob and Glenda flew from Hoonah, Alaska.  Sister Jane flew from Parkesburg, Pennsylvania, and Mary Louise and I drove from Tampa.

Let me tell you, it is a LONG WAY out of Florida going north and west from Tampa.  I thought Alaska was big.

I imagine one of the reasons Glenda chose it was because our family had lived there for two years in the middle 1950's.  The engineering firm our father worked for,  Modjeski and Masters, asked him to go to New Orleans to oversee the construction of the bridge over the Mississippi you see below.