AmericanPressTravelNews–December 3rd, Bob and Barb “On the Road Again” and “Stopping to Smell the Roses and fish scales”–Caught every one of these species in the Florida Keys and Costa Rica. Barb wanted a large lobster tail for dinner. She got it! Look, life is s breeze in the Florida Keys! Could I be wrong? Nah!
APtravelnews-Bob and Barb On The Road Again-November 24th, Lakepoint Resort State Park, Eufaula, Alabama- The resort is located about 7-miles north of historic Eufaula, AL. off of highway 421. The resort as well as the 1,220 park rests adjacent to and on the banks of the scenic 45,200 acre Lake Eufaula, also known as the “Bass Capital of the World.” The park is also located next to the 11,000 acre National Wildlife Refuge. If you want natural quietude amongst delightful natural surroundings, you’ll find it here. If you’re up to enjoyable nightlife, head for the lounge for music and libations, as well as “good eats” at the resort restaurant, or have it both ways, or anyway you like, night and day!
As we travel for the many pursuits we must do, and also enjoy doing, we visit and stay at many different accommodations with so many different and exciting venues that sometimes, our experiences blend into strong memories of delightful places we fish, dine, meet new friends, hike, photograph wildlife, flowers and birds, etc. Well, Lakepoint Resort is not blended, it stands on its own as a terrific place to boat, fish, photograph wildlife, even alligators and relax overlooking Lake Eufaula in their comfortable and memorable restaurant and lounge, sometimes observing predator fish hitting top water at schools of prey fish. At and near the resort there is a swimming complex pool, a campground, cottages and cabins (we stayed in one of their older cabins, it was on a bass pond and perfect) a golf course, a well-stocked marina store at a very modern marina. The resort lodge was impressive with high ceilings, all manner of rooms for special events and private parties, a restaurant that looked over the lake and a cocktail lounge. The outdoor patio area was so peaceful and scenic. Vista views of the lake greeted you from every angle. We were there as writers and also as representatives of both Al’s Goldfish Lures and Click-It Hot warming units. We met up with old acquaintances and broke bread with them again during the South Eastern Outdoor Press Conference being held on the grounds of the resort. The staff was first rate, the foods were quite good for a conference, the cleanliness was without exception, perfect. From what we experienced, everyone loved this venue for our conference. After-all our group is an “outdoor” group, where else could we have had a better conference? We had and experienced the great outdoors in safety and comfort in Eufaula, AL. both in town at their great specialty food party and music of the South and at the beautiful Lake Aufaula.
For information on Lakepoint or other Alabama State Parks call 1-800-ALA-PARK or visit www.alapark.com
AmericanPressTravelNews-Oct. 27th, Treasure Coast of Florida-reprinting Jennifer Allford’s Special to the Star:
While this Canadian jaw drops, the locals on the beach barely look up. The small spinner sharks don’t worry anyone here too much.
A surfer ignores the half-hour “no swim order” after it’s spotted and runs back in after a few minutes: “The waves are too good,” he says, flipping his long bangs as he heads into the water off Hutchinson Island.
This 50-kilometre strip of Florida along the Atlantic — from Sebastian down to Stuart — is called the Treasure Coast, for the silver and gold left in the sea after a hurricane wiped out a Spanish fleet in 1715. But that’s not the only bounty here.
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In the state known for Disney World, spring-break parties and packed beaches, the Treasure Coast offers something else entirely. Long stretches of uncrowded beaches — with ample room in their parking lots — others that are preserved wetlands and plenty of opportunities to hang out with some of the area’s original inhabitants.
Such as alligators.
We see dozens of them lollygagging about during an airboat ride on Blue Cypress Lake, 40 minutes inland from Vero Beach.
“Their ancestors walked with dinosaurs,” our captain says after cracking the requisite joke about going waterskiing in the lake.
“A lot of people don’t realize this is the real Florida,” Capt. John Smith of Florida Airboat Excursions says of the 500-year-old cypress trees and magnificent birds that are soaring overhead — osprey, white egrets and great blue heron.
We’re the only mammals around while horseback riding on the beach on Hutchinson Island, although someone spots a few dolphins frolicking in the ocean. As we amble single file along the water line listening to the waves, soaking up the turquoise of the water and the blue of the sky, we keep our eyes peeled for turtles walking up from the Atlantic to nest on the quiet beach.
Kayaking through the mangroves in Indian River Lagoon — the body of water between Hutchinson Island and the mainland — we watch pelicans dive for fish and meet Larry, a heron minding his own business on a rock.
“He’s retired now,” says Billy Gibson, our Motorized Kayak Adventures guide and avid naturalist. “We know the names of the birds that stay here,” he explains, and grins.
At a visit to the Florida Oceanographic Society’s Coastal Center in Stuart, we hear about local restaurants donating mounds of oyster shells so the centre can build oyster reefs to boost oyster populations and improve the water quality in the area. We learn to keep the beaches “clean, flat and dark” to not upset sea turtles and their babies.
“We get families changing their behaviour on the beaches,” says Zack Jud, director of education and exhibits at the centre. “We teach them that the environment matters.” The big draw is “petting” stingrays in a pool. You hold your hand still and the patient are rewarded with a stingray swimming up against you.
“Ecotourism seems to be the new economic boom for Florida,” says Charles Barrowclough, our guide as we walk along the boardwalk into the Barley Barber Swamp to see a 1,000-year-old bald cypress tree. “People want something to do, something different, and a whole industry has been created around that.”
We pause to taste the salt that’s formed on the leaves of black mangroves and look down to try to spot imaginary faces in the cypress stumps below the boardwalk. “This is old Florida, a remnant of what it was like before the Europeans came here,” says Barrowclough over the choir of cicadas.
“You can ride a roller-coaster anywhere,” he says, looking around at the ancient and very much alive swamp. “You can’t see this anywhere.”
