The Cheeky Heron

We've had some discussion about the descriptive term "Cheeky" this week,  and I'd say that from what I've heard about that beautiful grey heron featured in an earlier blog,  that he fits the bill fairly well.

The men returned home yesterday, once again claiming to have caught a multitude of fish, (let me just mention here that there was no evidence to support their claims), but part of Howard's story sounded quite comical.

It appears that the Heron, who appeared to be so enchanting on Monday, has turned into a pest.  After reeling in a catch, Howard tells me that he must work with rapid speed to unhook the fish and throw it back into the water, because if the fish should land on the sand,  the giant bird wastes no time swooping down and grabbing the fish for a relatively easy breakfast.

I'd say that behavior is deserving of the term "Cheeky Devil!", don't you?

If I were Howard, I'd be a bit worried about my toes!

After the morning fishing adventure, we headed out to Florida State Caverns

 to experience a bit of "spelunking" as the tour guide called it.

No worries.....we kept our shirts on.

As we began our decent into the cave, our guide directed us to a very narrow and short passage, which he referred to as Squat and Tuck, as both were required in order to squeeze our way into the next room.  He assured us that if we could fit through that channel, we'd have no issues with the remainder of the tour.  And, as luck would have it, we all fit!

As you can well imagine the inside of the caves looked like......the inside of a cave. But the guide had some amusing terminology in reference to some of the internal structures.  These hanging "sheets" were referred to as cave bacon.

Here you see "soda straws"  

There were drops of water hanging on the bottom of each, but that is difficult to capture in a photo.

Here you see wedding room.  The large white formation is a wedding cake with a pipe organ, on the left, in the background.  Interesting wedding venue if one so desires. 

There were several descriptions for the white blob on the left, the most amusing being Jabba the Hutt.  

And this is just one of the many passages that we made our way through on the 50 minute tour.

The history of the caves was interesting.  In 1937,  the original entrance to the cave was discovered by accident when a tree was toppled over during a storm, bringing up the roots and leaving a hole open in the ground.  A government surveyor spotted the hole, and after crawling down into the ground, realized the treasure that lay beneath.  At this point, the CCC hired men to excavate the mine until 1942 when their work was put to a halt. The cave was then open to the public for tours and has continued since.

After our spelunking adventure was complete, we hopped into the car and headed to the home of our hosts for a quick visit, which one just might entitle the Garden of Eden!  Let me share a few photos:

Meyer Lemons nearly ready to pick

Satsuma tree

Persimmons

and figs

There were also grape vines, but the harvest was already picked, and a small vegetable garden as well.

In the distance were beehives, loaded with activity

And here they are getting a drink of water.  

Apparently bees get very thirsty!  Something I never knew!

There were dozens of these guys scurrying around.

And apparently a resident armadillo has been busy in the back.  

Certainly makes some mole holes look dwarfed in comparison!

But walking into the hot house offered the biggest surprise to me.

Orchids!  Several varieties, each of them blooming beautifully.  What a delight!

By now, it was time to start the drive back to Naturewalk.  When we returned, Marty showed Howard a few tips on setting up his rod for the next morning's fishing.

Then we headed to Seaside for a lovely dinner, outside on the deck.

Yet another fabulous ending to a fabulous day!

The Call of the Fish

Didn't I tell you that I thought there would be exciting adventures to share?

Here you see Howard with his first catch of the day.

According to Marty, he and Howard set up the rod, put on the two hooks and casted.  Before Marty could even get a chance to set up his own rod, Howard was claiming to have a hit, and, sure enough, he pulled in those fish in record time.  He must really be the Fish Whisperer!

Marty finally did manage to reel in a few of his own

And he claims that between the two of them, they brought in over 50 fish.  I suppose that he was so busy catching that he didn't have time to actually record the evidence, so we'll have to take their word for it.

This morning, Howard is eager to try 3 hooks on the line to see what happens.  Guess you'll just have to wait until tomorrow's update to see how that works out.

After the elated fishermen returned and cleaned up, we headed out to Grayton Beach State Park to check out the Dune Lake that is located there.  It's only a short distance down the road, and out travels took us over a couple of the dune lakes, by bridge,  on the way, all quite beautiful.

Once arrived, we headed out on the marked trail.  Here you see a photo of our hostess, Jennifer, with the Gulf Side dune in the background. 

And here is the lakeside view from the opposite direction.  

So we are actually walking along the strip of dune that separates the Gulf of Mexico from the lakes that are inland and are fresh water. 

On the sides of the dunes, one can spot thees holes, surrounded by dozens of tiny foot prints.

That is the home of the Choctawhatchee Beach Mouse.  The DVD that we had watched the night previously had shown video of this creature hopping about the dunes.  The closest we got to one was this photo on a display board.  

Too bad, because they looked quite entertaining on film. 

But we certainly weren't lacking in visual entertainment.  We learned that there are slash trees in the forest that were once used for making turpentine.  The trees are slashed and the resin removed and distilled to make the product.  These are no longer used for the industry as this is a protected area now. 

Along the way, we passed through Sand Live Oaks that form a canopy over a path.  Marty and I are standing just at the entrance.

Just inside stands this Prayer of the Woods

The path was fairly easy to follow

And marked arrows are always convenient

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Here you see Marty posing Gulf Side

And Howard on the lake side

Entertaining fellow, for sure.

Along our travels we spied a Dahoon Holly

A marshmallow flower standing among the grasses

And loads of butterflies having a field day.

We finally made it down to the beach.  What a spectacular sight!

I managed to snap this photo on the walk to the car park where you can see the Gulf in the background. 

Just gorgeous!

On the way back to the house, we just had to stop for some refreshment.

We took a quick stroll through Rosemary Beach, which is an upscale community with a European theme. 

Picture perfect!

As was agreed, the men made dinner.

A great ending to yet another fabulous day at Naturewalk!

Relaxing at Naturewalk

Yesterday began as usual.....with Marty and Howard heading out the door bright and early to satisfy that early morning call of the fish that Marty claims to hear.

And..... a couple of hours later...with them walking back into the house, empty handed, but smiling at the prospect of "almost" having some success.

Things were a bit different this time, however, as it soon became obvious that Howard himself had suddenly experienced at least a whisper of the fish calling his name when he announced that he had stopped on the way back from the beach with Marty and had bought himself a fishing license.  AND, his plan was to was go out later that day to buy a fishing rod.  Of course, it didn't take any encouragement whatsoever to get Marty on board with that decision.

Let me just say that there were some very excited men in the house later in the day, and today should certainly be an exciting one for the two of them.

But that will have to wait until tomorrow's blog.

Yesterday was yet another beautiful day, with bright blue skies speckled with some clouds, but just enough for a break from the sun.  After the men returned from their morning adventures, we enjoyed a lovely breakfast together when I noticed some activity across the road, where the nature walk to the ocean actually begins.

I forgot to mention that there are these exercise stations located throughout the community, and one just so happens to stand within easy view of the house.

As I was sipping my coffee, I noticed a woman with a clipboard in hand, looking like a drill sergeant, recording how many chin ups her husband could do at the exercise bar.  Howard tells me he saw the man stop after two, as he didn't hesitate to get up and peer out the door to watch.  I, on the other hand, stuck with the more discreet approach, although I must admit that I found the whole scene to be quite entertaining.  Not too many dull moments around here, that's for sure.

After we finished breakfast, we decided to walk down to the beach to sit for awhile.  What a picture perfect day!

You may have noticed the jellyfish floating in the gulf in my first blog.  Warning flags continued to fly in the wind as we made our way down to the beach, although there were a few people who chose to brave the waters in spite of them. 

How convenient that every entranceway to the beach has the color code explanation displayed on the walkway. 

Purple = water pests.  Good to know, don't you think?

As you can see, the surrounds were beautiful, and for the record, the only fish that Marty saw yesterday were on his shirt. 

At least he's still happy!

The sun actually was pretty hot, so we headed back after a couple of hours and enjoyed the rest of the day relaxing around the house, which is exceptionally easy to do.

The guys had their fun shopping for dinner, as they are in charge of the evening meal today, and as I mentioned earlier,  their shopping adventures led them to fishing nirvana where they left with a nice new rod in Howard's hand.  Excitement abounds!

Last night, I was determined to get down to the beach to see the sunset, as I had only managed to glimpse the beauty over trees the first few nights, so Marty and I headed down to watch.

We were not disappointed!

Today's plans are to head out to Grayton Beach to see the Dune Lakes,  While we enjoyed our dessert last evening, we watched a DVD detailing the 15 Coastal Dune lakes in Walton County, which is where we are staying.  Thsey are fresh water lakes within several feet of the ocean, separated only by narrow dunes.  Sounds like another interesting adventure, don't you think? 

So, with knowledge in hand, we head out later to see one of the lake areas first hand.  I just hope I'm not expected to remember all of those lake names! 

I'll bet you just can't wait for tomorrow's blog!  Until then......