Florida and a look at 2025

I finished the year with a short trip to Florida with a couple stops in Georgia. My first stop was to visit long-time friends near Eatonton. We met in 1990, we were living on our boat and we were among the first boats at the newly built marina at the Ramada Inn, now Bridgepointe.

During my visit we stopped to see a woodworker’s yard near the town of Bradley. Chap Nelson is the carver, and his yard is fabulous!

Macon

Our next stop was at an old camellia garden in Macon.

From their website “The Dr. William Green Lee Camellia Garden is a five-acre public camellia garden administered by the Parks & Beautification Department of Macon-Bibb County. The garden celebrates one of the founders of the American Camellia society, and includes a large collection of both Camellia japonica and C. sasanqua varietals planted by Dr. Lee. An additional section contains a trail with access to Jackson Springs Park from the Ocmulgee Heritage Trail and provides views of the many camellias in the privately held portion of the original 12.5-acre garden.”

Did you know there is a Camilia Trail in Georgia? There are 29 gardens listed on the trail. Click here to go to the website.

Our last stop was at Ocmulgee Mounds National Historical Park in Macon. The park preserves thousands of years of Native American history with large earthen mounds built by the Mississippian people, featuring trails, a museum, and artifacts. The site showcases vast archaeological finds and offers a chance to explore ancient settlements, with plans to co-manage the land with the Muscogee (Creek) Nation.

The museum is quite extensive telling the history of these people which dates from as far back as 12,000 years. There are several mounds, one being 55 feet high. The disturbing part of it to me was the recent history of these people who became part of the Trail of Tears when white settlers forced them to leave their land. Some of Michael’s ancestors were forced to leave as well and ended up on a reservation in Kansas.

Ft. Myers, Florida

After that short visit I continued to my friend’s neighborhood in North Ft. Myers. If I added it all up, I’ve probably stayed there 7 or 8 months. So there isn’t much I haven’t seen and done. This is my first visit since Hurricane Milton in 2024. I was pleasantly surprised to see downtown Ft. Myers. In previous visits I was never too impressed with i,t but it has really changed with lots of new restaurants and shops.

I was curious to see Sanibel, and was happy to see the beaches on the causeway were back. The biggest difference is now there is just a handful of trees on it. It was always my favorite beach to visit in the area, one reason being you could always find some shade. There is still a lot of construction happening on the island and you can still see acres of trees burned by the saltwater but all in all things looked pretty good. I drove through Ding Darling and was able to get a few bird photos.

Ft. Myers Beach was very busy, I didn’t drive all the way down the beach but as far as I drove about every third building on the right was gone, and most of the rest had repairs going on.

Another day we headed to Naples, it’s such a beautiful city. We visited my friend Rani and her gallery, Random Acts of Art, and stopped at Artis. It is a lovely Art Center with a museum and auditorium where the symphony plays.

I LOVE the scarf on the painting of the woman below. If you look closely, it is painted with deliberate brush strokes. Put a stroke down and leave it alone. Something I have not mastered yet with my oil paintings. I’m just not that sure of myself. I’ve been painting in watercolor for 30 years but only a few in oils.

My favorite visit to Artis was when they had the display of Isabelle de Borchgrave and her paper dresses. It was amazing, if you didn’t see my post about it before here is a link.

Burrowing Owls

I’ve written about the Burrowing Owls in Cape Coral before as well. This time I managed to get photos of pairs sticking their heads out of their burrows.

They came to the area when it was developed. ll the vegetation had been knocked down, the canals built, and the land was covered with sand. What was left was wide-open spaces of sandy soil, and not many trees, making it an ideal place for the little birds. As the saying goes, build it and they will come! They are, however, being threatened by all the building. Their burrows are easy to spot, you’ll see 4 white stakes and a small perch by each burrow. You will even see a burrow in the middle of a private yard. There are over 5,000 birds nesting in the small area.

The Trust is purchasing lots to help preserve the habitat.

We went on a great boat ride leaving from Pine Island which is just across the bay from Sanibel. Again, we could really see the vegetation that had been burned by the saltwater.

Sarasota

I made the mistake (hate to complain) of stopping at the Marie Selby garden in Sarasota. It’s always been a favorite place but right now is not the time to go. They are still recovering from Milton and the greenhouses are closed. There is one tiny display of their orchids set up. I’m not cheap, but $28 was steep for what there is to see. If they would tell you upfront what is going on and say “we have not reduced the ticket prices because we are using the money for the restoration,” I would get it.

But I did get this great shot!

As many times as I’ve been to the are,a I have never been to the Circus Museum at Ringling. It is really neat with the amazing model of a circus.

From their website, “The Howard Bros. Circus Model consists of more than 42,000 pieces and spans 3,800 square feet. Created by philanthropist and circus lover Howard Tibbals, the model is a historically accurate rendition of an early twentieth-century circus. Marvel at the logistical engineering required to move the circus’s entire “tented city” from town to town each day, peek behind the scenes to learn what it was like to work for the circus, and relive your own memories of the big top.”

Tibbais worked on the model for 50 years. The scale and detail are astounding.

Savannah

Then it was time to head home. I had a quick stop in Savannah. I visited the shop at SCAD to look at students work. They were getting ready to do a presentation about the founding of the school and a look at it today, which I attended. I never researched how it was started, I only knew that when I first visited in the early 1970s the town was literally rotting away.

By my next visit in the 1980s the transformation was already starting. And today the school occupies 67 buildings in downtown Savannah. It was the dream of an elementary school teacher named Paula Wallace.

One of my all-time favorite bookstores is around the corner – E. Shaver Booksellers – I stopped in to get my kitty fix and saw 2 of their 4 shop cats. Across the street from the SCAD shop I had a quick lunch at Gryphon. This is a restaurant that is owned and operated by the school and it employees SCAD students.

2025 Recap

Despite all the political turmoil I had a great year! Lots of travel – Key West; Greenville, SC; France; Michigan; Colorado; The Pines; Charleston; Florida – and I created a lot of artwork. I have no clue how many pieces of pottery I created but I know I did 38 paintings. Here are a few of my favorite pieces from the year.

And I finished this one on December 31.

I’m looking forward to another great year of travel and art. So far I have on the books, Palm Springs, then renting a car and driving to Carmel, CA; two weeks in France in June; and maybe a return trip to Ft. Myers to spend a week working in clay. I’m sure there will be more to come as the year progresses.

Happy New Year!