Donny Brewer’s performance of Bubbles Up, one of Jimmy Buffett’s last songs, during the tribute show at The Hangout tonight. Meeting of the Minds (MOTM), the largest of the Parrothead parties, officially kicks off tomorrow morning here in Gulf Shores. Looking forward to lots of music, laughter, and phun times with phriends! 🫧🦜🎼🎸🍺💖🫧

As I mentioned previously, this past Saturday my friends fished from their boat while I waded along the shore of a spoil island in Tampa Bay. The unnamed island is set aside for wildlife so no humans are allowed on land. As long as I kept my feet in the water I wasn’t breaking the rules.

I was looking for shells but movement around the bend of the beach caught my eye. I slowly approached, hoping to get a closer look at the animal and was absolutely amazed to find the largest Green Iguana (Iguana iguana) I’ve ever seen.

I’ve come across them before in Costa Rica and the Florida Keys, but this one was immense. His body was almost 3 feet long, with a tail close to 4 feet. This male was an absolute beast, incredibly colorful, and clearly eating well. I think he should be studied because he was definitely not your average iguana.

I was certainly not expecting to see one of these on the island. While they are native to Central and South America (and are common invasives in the Keys and southern Florida) they are quite rare up here.

I was thrilled to spend time watching him stroll along the beach. I think I have a good name for that place, Iguana Island!

Since the weather down here still thinks it’s summer, I went fishing in Tampa Bay with friends this past weekend. When I say fishing, I mean, I wandered around on the sandbars looking for shells and wildlife while they fished. I came across some interesting items (more about that in the next post), they caught a few fish, and a wonderful day was had by all.

There’s a house of worship in Madeira Beach, just up the road from me. Its official name is Church by the Sea but, for obvious reasons, locals affectionately refer to it as Chicken by the Sea. Based on the church’s own sign, they’ve embraced the nickname.

Personally, I think the chicken looks a little surprised. Makes me wonder if the architect did it on purpose.

These two businesses are on the same block of Central Avenue near my house. It cracks me up every time I drive by. Apparently while he was alive Bob had a flooring business but in his afterlife he opened up a little pub.

They are separated by a building that closed during the pandemic. It recently opened as a little coffee shop and I really think they missed the mark by not naming it after Bob.

Side note, I love Dead Bob’s, they have one of the best burgers around. Reminds me of the yummy burgers at Bob Dobb’s back in Tucson. What is it about Bob’s and burgers?

Palm trees, a fisherman, sunset, and a sliver of moon. What a lovely way to wrap up the day!

Saturday’s 85 degrees might have* been the last of our summer weather for the year. Fall might have arrived last night, as I woke up to a crisp 65° this morning (with hardly any humidity).

I let Westley out the back door as usual and stepped into the kitchen to prepare my breakfast. A moment later, I heard Westley come back in. As I turned around, I saw him dash to the couch and crawl under the throw blanket.

Apparently, Westley wasn’t prepared for the cooler temperatures! It’s finally sweater weather, y’all! (Well, at least in the morning, it’ll be up in the mid 70s by lunch). Oh, and don’t worry too much about poor Westley, it’s 70° now and he’s back outside.

*I say “might have” because it looks like another round of 80°+ days are coming next week.

It must be Friday the 13th – I spotted this while on my way to work this morning. 🧙🧹 I don’t know what happened here but I certainly hope your weekend starts off better than hers did! 😂

Earlier this week I finally had a chance to visit Weeki Wachee Springs State Park. While the park encompasses over 300 acres, only 53 are open to the public. There’s a lot packed in the small space: a river boat tour, a nature trail, a center for the care of injured, non-releasable wildlife, and a water park (during the summer), but the highlight of the park is the historic “Under Water Mermaid Theatre”.

The undersea show at the mouth of the Weeki Wachee spring was created by stunt swimmer Newt Perry. In 1947, he set up air hoses, carved seats down into the adjacent limestone, installed large windows, and a roadside attraction was born.

Over the ensuing years, the mermaid performances grew in popularity. The theater was enlarged and eventually, fully enclosed. I had heard good things about the show from friends so I made sure to get in line early – I didn’t want to miss a thing.

Fittingly, the mermaids, mermen, and even a mer-turtle swam and danced to the telling of Hans Christian Andersen’s The Little Mermaid. While I admired the choreography, I really enjoyes the fish that randomly swam through the performance.

The “stage” sits in the mouth of the spring while the river flows overhead. So, any aquatic fauna that chooses can drop in. I’ve heard that even manatees, the original mermaids, join in the fun on occasion.

In 2008 the venue became part of the Florida State Park system and in 2020 the park was added to the National Register of Historic Places. Hopefully that means the mermaid show will go on for years to come!

Came across this sand octopus on the beach during my evening walk. I enjoy seeing how people entertain themselves while at the coast. Always something to see out there!