Guess what I did Sunday night?

Sandra and I were at the first annual Florida Hiking Festival. It was Sandra’s concept and her hard work that got the activities together that made up the festival. This event was a transformation of the annual Florida Trail Association annual meeting. This year opened it to all who wanted to do what the organization is suppose to be about: Being active outdoors. It was a tough sell to those who wanted to do the same annual event that they’ve done for decades. But it happened and from the enthusiasm, sounds like they’ll do it next year. The entire event was very successful thanks to Sandra.

Needless to write, she was frightfully busy during the three days. Along with this she even lead one of the major hikes. The festival was in White Springs in North Florida and we stayed in the Adams House, a bed and breakfast. I’ll write more of that in Genuine Florida later.

Above is the leader of the historic hike around White Springs that I attended. To the left is an edge of the Suwannee River. The bottom sketch is part of what’s left of a springs attraction in White Springs. More of all this when I have more time.

This is a neat set of essays mostly about books and authors that set their stories in Florida. Nifty tidbits of info up to the book being published in 1997. Lots about John D. MacDonald, T.J. MacGregor, Carl Hiassen, Edna Buchanon and the many other mystery writers. This is before Tim Dorsey and Jonathan King.

We made a trip to White Springs so that Sandra could drop off a ton of materials for the upcoming hiking festival and to test a hike she will be leading a “V.I.P.” group on Saturday. The test was to see how much of the trail was passable due to recent high water levels of the adjacent Suwannee River. We tried getting through a number of ways but kept running into the Suwannee running over the trail or thick clusters of saw palmetto being impossible to find a way around the water. The hope is that the water recedes and the trail will be passable Saturday. Otherwise, Sandra will have to take them down boring dirt roadways used by government vehicles to do whatever they do. It was a lot of walking for me, but much needed. Above is a sketch of a native azalea. Click here to see a photo of the azalea flowers at Genuine Florida. 

Here is a sketch of the former Adams Dry Goods Store that has clocked a hundred years and still stands proudly at the main crossroads of White Springs.

It was Sandra’s birthday and that evening headed to Alachua and had dinner at a great and very popular spot, Conestoga’s. Friend Phyliss Walinsky joined us. We had a terrific meal of steaks and, courtesy of the restaurant, birthday cake ice cream. Below are a few drawings of  a few sitting near us. The middle lady was a bit odd and ended up creating a bit of a spectacle in the restaurant. The end guy looked a bit Burt Lahr-ish.

I was out in southwest Florida. While there I roamed Punta Gorda. See a couple photos by clicking here. Then I was in Englewood where I saw a bobcat in the Rotunda development. See the bobcat photos by clicking here. 

Then I found the Cape Haze Trail. To the right is a sketch I made of the Placida Bunk House. To learn more of it, click here.

I then made my way south on US41 and took lots of photos of Florida historic sites and cool signs. I was actually retaking most of them involving the switch of the Swampy doll and the Stuckey’s monkey doll used before. I’ll slowly sprinkle the trips photos on the Genuine Florida site. Click here to see one I just put there.

Guess what I did Easter Sunday?

After hearing of William F. Buckley’s death, I decided to shift my reading list around and to tap his first Blackford Oakes novel. I enjoyed the historical aspects of it and felt the fictional narrative shoved in. I like Gore Vidal’s handling of the mix much better.

I love this cover. The layout is outstanding. Font, color and island illustration are just terrific. It’s rare to find this sort of grabbing cover anymore and this edition is just over 20 years old.