Last week while visiting Hilton Head Island, we took a tour by zodiac to visit a sandbar off Daufuskie Island and watch the local dolphins. On our way out from the Sea Pines Marina the dolphins immediately came up to the zodiac, they seemed to enjoy swimming with us as much as we liked watching them. We then headed out to a huge sandbar that sits between Sea Pines and Daufuskie Island. The tide was very low and as we walked out there were hundreds of sand dollars lying on the sand, there were also beautiful cat eye shells, starfish, and tiny horseshoe crabs. The kids and I were in heaven!

Even if this had been the end of our tour, it would have been great. As we got in the boat our guide asked us to hurry and he would take us back into the tidal creeks and see if we could catch dolphins “Strand Feeding”. As we pulled into the creek, dolphins once again came right up to the zodiac. The creek was narrow and shallow and we loved being that close to the dolphins. As the dolphins swam in front of us, we could see large schools of bait fish scrambling to get away from them. There were also 3-4 foot sharks swimming close to shore and birds that seemed to know what to expect next.

Our guide, asked us to watch for the dolphins to start to head bob and begin to circle. As they began to circle the school in tighter circles, it trapped the 6-inch fish into a tighter and tighter ball. Then they created a powerful bow wave that rushed the prey out of the water and onto the muddy bank of the creek. The dolphins actually came all the way out of the water onto the bank and ate as many fish as they could. We then watched them wriggle back into the water, cruise around until they found another school of fish, and repeat the process. The two sharks that followed along with us waited with the birds until the dolphins finished eating and then ate everything that was left.

Bottlenose dolphins in Mexico and Portugal have also been observed strand feeding, but only the dolphins along the low-country coast of South Carolina and Georgia strand feed daily. Strand feeding is apparently a learned behavior and not instinctual. Young calves pick it up by observing their mother. No one knows why, but the dolphins always land on their right sides when they come up on the bank to feed. It looks like a synchronized trick.

So sorry my pictures of this are not better, I could not stop watching.

We went out with Commander Zodiac and our guide was Heath. The trip was amazing and something none of us will forget.

Our whole family loves the Florida Keys, I hope to retire there one day with a boat. We have travel down at least once a year. Usually we drive and that way we can take all of our gear, fishing stuff, skim boards, etc. We have also taken the Autotrain down from Washington D.C. and you can read a review of that here. In the past, we have helped many of our friends with their vacation planning to the Keys and so I decided to finally go on and post my list of favorite places.  I would also like to say that I am not affiliated in any way with the places I am recommending.

These are as you drive down from Miami -

Sunshine Market on Tavernier Key - This Cuban gem is on the left as you are driving down to Key West in a yellow building. The coffee is wonderful and the to-go foods are great.

Home Away Islamorada/Tavernier Vacation House - We loved renting this house, it was beautifully decorated, had an amazing kitchen, we could park our boat right out front and the owner is a delight. We have rented several times through both Home Away and VRBO and we have had a great experience each time.

Islamorada Fish Company Restaurant at the huge Bass Pro Shop on Islamorada - The food is very good and it is a beautiful location to take photos at sunset. It is also fun when they feed the tarpon, grouper, and HUGE lemon sharks that come right up in the middle of the dockside restaurant to eat. The Bass Pro Shop is also amazing and they give great fishing advice.

Robbies of Islamorada- It is great spot to hire a fishing charter, go out on their night time party boat, and their largest attraction is allowing people to feed GIANT tarpon from their dock. There are also cute little open-air shops.

Indigo Reef and Coral Lagoon on Marathon- We love staying here too. You can park your boat right out in front of your townhouse, they are beautifully decorated, have wonderful linens and great kitchens. If you sign up for their emails you can get significantly discounted rates.

Bahia Honda State Park - This my daughter’s favorite place on earth! The beach is beautiful and one of the only real beaches in the Keys. It is perfect for skim boarding. The fishing from the jetty under the Seven-Mile Bridge is also fabulous!

Big Pine Key Deer Watching - You can almost always find some of the endangered tiny Key Deer on back roads at dusk.

On Key West -

Mangia Mangia - A restaurant with great Italian food that has been there since we honeymooned in 1993. It seems to be a little more of a local place and away from the craziness of Duval Street.

Fort Zachary Taylor State Park Beach - This another gem of a beach in the Keys. It is very clean and you can snorkel right from the beach.

Mel Fisher Treasure Museum - Who doesn’t love treasure? The Mel Fisher story is wonderful and well worth going to see first hand.

Truman Annex - The homes in the Truman Annex are the epitome of the Florida Keys to me. It is one of the most charming neighborhoods in the U.S.

Parrot Key Resort - These are great townhouse style vacation rentals that also have wonderful linens, great kitchens and are beautifully decorated.

The Mermaid & the Alligator B&B - This B&B is another great example of Key West architecture. We even stayed here on our honeymoon in 1993.

This recipe is a favorite in my house and I am proud to say, it is totally my creation. If you ask me to bring a dessert, especially if there are kids there, you can almost always be assured this is what I will bring. I think the key in the recipe, like most others, is good ingredients. I use real butter, good quality vanilla (I like Nielsan-Massey and I just got organic Nielsan-Massey at Marshalls!), Reese’s peanut butter chips and, of course, good chocolate. Oh yes, No, the whole wheat flour is not an attempt to make these healthy, there’s way to much butter for that! The whole wheat flour seams to make them stand up better to cutting into squares. I also like to add chopped pecans, but that almost always insures kids won’t like them.

Jolly Brownies

1 cup butter (2 sticks)
4 ounces unsweetened chocolate (4 squares)
2 cups sugar
4 eggs
3 teaspoons vanilla
¾ cup all-purpose white flour
¾ cup whole wheat flour
10 ounces peanut butter chips

Preheat oven to 350, 325 for convection ovens. In a 4-quart saucepan, melt the butter and chocolate carefully over low heat. Remove from heat. Stir in sugar, eggs, and vanilla. Beat very lightly, just until combined, by hand. Stir in both flours. Spread batter into greased 9X13 pan.  Top with peanut butter chips.  Bake at 350 for approximately 40 minutes in a standard oven or bake at 325 for 30 minutes in a convection oven.

I went with my extended family May 13th-15th to the annual reenactment of the Raid on Martin’s Station. There are similar events at the park all summer long and almost every month throughout the year, but the this is the biggest. Wilderness Road State Park is in far southwest Virginia. The park is 310 acres that lie beside the Wilderness Road, a route carved by Daniel Boone in 1775 that followed a buffalo migration trail and opened America’s first western frontier. Martin’s Station is a replica of a colonial frontier fort that was on this site in 1775. Park officials brag that it is the most authentically reconstructed fort in the United States. The three-day event has more than 500 re-enactors, including Shawnee and Cherokee warriors (who were my kid’s favorite) and men, women and children (who were adorable) settlers.

I had never been to a reenactment and I wasn’t sure what I would think, but I knew my kids would love it. I think there is something for everyone. My father has a sincere appreciation for the authenticity the reactors strive for in everything they do and really enjoyed sharing that with us. Other than the other visitors to the site and the cars in the parking lot, there is nothing modern to be seen. It was a wonderful step back in time that brings history alive. Even the coffee shops and vendors in the 18th century Market Fair, serve on tin and there is no plastic anywhere.

My children and my nephew absolutely loved the Indians, their camp and watching them creep through the woods and across the field during the raid. They even told my dad, whom I think would enjoy being a re-enactor, they would dress up and come along to more of these if he would join the Indians. But, I don’t think he’s ready to join sides with the Indians just yet.

My mom, sister and I loved seeing how the re-enactors authentically prepare their meals in their camps. I think it’s a secret contest amongst them to see who can have the best food. A group of about 9 men had ribs, pies, greens, stuffing and salad. They were the winners in the secret contest that day! Although, I think there wives must have helped with a lot of prep before they got there.

I could also appreciate how authentic the camps were. There were no air mattresses, mosquito netting, or coolers anywhere. I have since found out that the coolers are hidden in crates. The men in the first picture below have an actual birch bark canoe they made.  One of the re-enactors told us how the night before that had to get cosy under a lean-to belonging to two people they had never met before during a sudden rain storm. I think I would only be happy camping in the actual fort, maybe!

The two reenactments of raids of the fort were enjoyed by everyone. You see the Indians sneak through the fields, capture the women caught outside the fort (of course!), fire original muskets and a cannon, burn down sections of the fort, and negotiate the return of the women.

I know there are reenactments in many places but the beauty of Wilderness Road State Park and Cumberland Gap is amazing. The town of Cumberland Gap is also very charming. There is only one restaurant, Webb’s Country Kitchen,  that serves great country cooked meals (we ate there 4 times that weekend) and it is quite funny to see the groups of re-enactors there having dinner. Early one morning, my four year-old nephew peeked out the window of our hotel only to see an Indian in the parking lot!

The iris comes with a lot of history.  The flower dates all the way back to Greek mythology.  It was believed that the Greek goddess Iris was the messenger of the gods and the link between heaven and earth.  The word iris itself is the Greek word for a rainbow.

And, irises really do come in almost every color possible.  There are different shapes and types, as well.   You’ll find bearded iris, Siberian iris and my new favorite the Japanese iris. They are very easy to grow and typically bloom in the spring.  Take a drive around town or out into the country and you’ll see them growing.  Blue irises are the most common, but they also come in white, yellow, maroon, orange and black.  Look for plants to add to your garden at your local nursery or farmers’ market.

Near Sumter, SC is the beautiful Swan Lake Iris Garden.  The lake is home to all eight types of the world’s swans including swans from Asia, Australia, England and South America.   Every Memorial Day Weekend they celebrate the Sumter Iris Festival.  The 3-day festival includes concerts, an art and craft show, a golf tournament, a flower show, a food tasting, the crowning of the Iris Festival king and queen, and a number of contests and kids activities.

Last weekend I trekked with my entire family down to Cumberland Gap, TN to see a reenactment of the Raid at Martin’s Station. I will write about the raid in a few days, I need to sort through the 500 pictures I took! While we were at the ranger station, one of the park rangers told me about a great hike with kids a few miles up the road to a large cave with a 1 meter round skylight in the top of the cave. My son overheard him and was dying to check it out, unfortunately I only had my Dansko clogs with me. The trail was beautiful leading up to the cave and except for having to be very careful not to roll my ankle, not a bad hike in clogs.  I loved seeing the running cedar growing all along the trail.

I was shocked when we got to the cave how big it was. It was great to listen to a school group of kids who were thrilled to crawl around in the dark. I would have been fine to have hiked up there in clogs, had I had not decided to crawl around in the dark cave. I managed to step into two feet of very cold water in a lake in the cave. I had a very squishy shoe for the rest of the weekend.

It was a great hike in beautiful weather that I am so glad we decided to take, even if one of us didn’t have the right shoes.

Tip- if you want to hike on top of the cave and crawl in through the skylight, as you are looking at the cave from the outside, hike up from the left side and it is a very easy hike.  My kids loved it!

What ride threatens to make you sick at the fair?  Is it the Tilt-a-Whirl?  Maybe it is the Flying Pirate Ship that may at any moment dump you out of your seat.  For me it is the cute green dragons.

Those dragons seem innocent enough with their pretty colors and smiling faces, but beware!  Unknown to me was the fact that they each spin individually, while simultaneously being hurled around in a circle.  Really, I can’t think of any carnival ride more torturous for an adult.  Of course, my two small children thought it was the best ride they have ever been on.  They grabbed the wheel in the middle of the dragon and spun it around and around making us go faster and faster.  To survive, I had to look out the door and try and focus on a light or building, anything to keep my dizzy head from getting the best of me.

When the ride was finally over, I stumbled outside and safely away from the grinning dragon.  The kids handed the man two more tickets and jumped back on.  My lesson…. let the kids ride the spinning dragons.  I’m happy to wait by the fence with some kettle corn.

Dogwood Festival,   Coshocton, OH

April 30th – May 8th

Vashon Island Strawberry Festival,  Vashon, WA

July 17th - July 18th

Virginia Beach Neptune Festival, Virginia Beach, VA

September 24th - 26th

Norfolk Harborfest, Norfolk, VA

July 3rd - 5th

When you are visiting farmers’ markets this year keep an eye out for fresh eggs.  Once you have tried an egg from a hen that has roamed around a field foraging on fresh grass and bugs, you’ll never want to eat a grocery store egg again.

We added a chicken coop and hen house to our yard two years ago. I purchased an assortment of chicks from McMurray Hatchery, but my favorite ones are the Polish hens with the top hat feathers.  I raised the chicks in my office, which you might think is insane and you would be right. The chicks make a huge mess so I have to clean their cage twice daily. I know folks who have raised the chicks in their garage and this works, but keep in mind the smell can move through the house if you are not really careful. After the chicks’ feathers have come in, which takes about four weeks, they can be moved to their permanent residence outside. It takes another six months or so for the hens to start laying eggs.  It’s quite a process to go from chick to hen to eggs.

I now have a new batch of chicks in my office. These little ones will grow to be beautiful hens. Some will stay with me and others will go to friends who are excited about fresh eggs for their family and friends. If you want to try fresh eggs, look for a farmers’ market near you. Once you try eggs from happy and healthy hens, you may want to raise some yourself. Maybe not in your office, but you never know.  Here’s a video to give you an idea of what is going on inside my office right now!

I wanted to highlight three more amazing artists from the Philadelphia Museum of Art Craft Show. I have a brochure from the show on my desk and I love picking it up again and again remembering what amazing talent there was at the show. Again, the variety of art in the show makes it a great trip to take with friends and the restaurants in Philadelphia are some of the best in the country.

Genevieve Yang – Genevieve is a third generation goldsmith and she creates individually handcrafted jewelry from various karats and colors of gold and silver. She then carefully selects each stone that goes into her pieces. She incorporates colorless diamonds, fancy diamonds and precious stones. She was also a delight to talk to during the show, her own enthusiasm and confidence in her work really shines through.

Martha Fieber – Martha is a former engineer and you can see her background in the intense attention to detail and planning in her work. She creates amazing landscape pieces that from a distance look as though they could be an oil painting. Only as you begin to walk up closer to them do you realize that her pieces are comprised of thousands of intricate stitches that allow for incredible depth and perspective. She works with only four types of stitches using single strand silk, rayon, metallic and/or hand dyed cotton threads on linen and silk backgrounds.

Jerry & Deborah Kermode – Jerry and Deborah have a love affair with trees and its shows in their wood turned creations. I made a small purchase from them and bought a beautiful pepper grinder that proudly sits on my kitchen island. Jerry hand carves each piece on a lathe, using the grain of the wood and its character traits as his guides. The vessel is rough turned to 1/2″ thick, allowed to dry for many months and then finish turned to a thickness appropriate to the design. Finally it is sanded to a 1200 grit finish and Danish oiled. Deborah administers the final finish: the piece is steel wooled and waxed. Jerry also offers classes at his studio in beautiful Sebastopol, CA and will share his gift with you.

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Grab a pencil and a pad of paper and get involved in the Great Backyard Bird Count from February 12 –15, 2010. The Great Backyard Bird Count is organized by the National Audubon Society and the Cornell Lab of Ornithology.  It is a way to take a snapshot of the kinds of birds spotted during February and to compare this information to bird populations from past years.

Whether you are an avid bird watcher or not, it is easy to participate in this free event and help track birds across America.  All you have to do is record the birds you see for 15 minutes on any of the four days on a tally sheet and then log the birds you saw online. You can also submit photos you take in your backyard. It’s up to you. At The Great American Bird Count you’ll find instructions on what to do and helpful tips on identifying birds.  So, mark it on your calendar and have fun!

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