Moses Creek Conservation Area - The Yellow Trail
Mandarin, Fla., Jan. 24, 1872. YES, it is done. The winter is over and past, and " the time of the singing of birds is come." They are at it beak and claw, — the red-birds, and the cat-birds, and the chattering jays, and the twittering sparrows, busy and funny and bright. Down in the swamp-land fronting our cottage, four calla-lily buds are just unfolding themselves; and in the little garden-plat at one side stand rose-geraniums and camellias, white and pink, just unfolding.
~~ Harriet Beecher Stowe, Palmetto-Leaves
At 5:30 a.m. it's 67° at Moultrie Creek. No, winter is not over, but after surviving the longest cold spell northeast Florida has seen in 100 years, we'll gladly enjoy whatever break we can get.
This is a shot of the Daytona Beach boardwalk looking south from the bandshell to the pier. The photo was taken in late December and while it was chilly to us, there were quite a few people splashing in the pools at the resort just north of the bandshell. The boardwalk itself is being rehabbed with nice pavers and new stairs to the beach. All should be ready in time for NASCAR to kick off the winter/spring season with the Daytona 500 on Valentines Day.
via flickr.com
This monument at the Mission of Nombre de Dios represents Father Lopez, who arrived with Menendez to found the settlement at St. Augustine, as he celebrates the first mass for the new colony.
An early January morning on Tolomato Lane in the historic district.
This plaque, found on the grounds of the Mission of Nombre de Dios in St. Augustine, commemorates the Spanish mission network. These missions extended from Pensacola in the west, south to the Florida Keys and north to the Chesapeake Bay. The first mission is here at Nombre de Dios. The mission era ended when Florida was ceded to the British in 1763.
via flickr.com
At the end of the promenade is the Castillo de San Marcos - the oldest stone fortification in this country. Which, by the way, was never captured in battle. They tried, but they couldn't do it.
This photo of the rotunda was taken in 1891. The large staircase leads to the dining room. This hotel is now Flagler College. From the Florida Photographic Collection.
via flickr.com
This manatee was photographed at Blue Spring near Deland. In the winter, manatees congregate in the warm waters of Florida's springs and near power plants. This unusually cold weather has hit them hard with an AP story describing the large massing of manatee and other sea creatures at Tampa Bay's Big Bend Power Plant trying to stay warm.
