Another great area for hiking and biking in Manatee County is the Perico Preserve.

 Blanket Flower

 Narrow-Leafed Sunflower

 Moorhens

Snowy Egret

Robinson Preserve

Robinson Preserve in Manatee County is a great place for biking, hiking, kayaking, and photographing local wildlife. 

Yellow-Crowned Night Heron

Great Egret

After the hurricane

Like many Floridians we evacuated due to Hurricane Irma. We were very fortunate that our home was not damaged. The only casualty was a palm tree in our front yard.

We evacuated September 9, north on Interstate 75 and drove 400 miles to Warner Robins, Georgia which was the first place we were able to find a motel room.

By Wednesday Sep 13 the hurricane had passed through Georgia and we planned to return home the following day.

Warner Robins, Georgia is twenty miles south of Macon, so I took the opportunity to visit Rose Hill Cemetery.

Duane and Gregg Allman and Berry Oakley are buried at Rose Hill Cemetery and as someone who has been a fan of the Allman Brothers for 46 years I could not leave without visiting their burial site.

At the Anna Maria city pier

This is a juvenile Brown Pelican

and this is another working hard to get a meal

 

these are adult Browns

 

 

 

This guy is just trying to get a meal and the gull, who are notorious food thieves, landed on his head and would not give up the fight

 

 





 

 

 







Thursday December 27

Our Jack Russell Terrier, Emmie loves her new hoodie. But I'm very concerned about letting her go outside, after all this is Florida.

 



Sunday December 16

There isn't much to say that has not been said about the horendous events in Newtown Connecticut. Hopefully the people of this country will finally demand that our elected representatives develop a backbone and do what is right.

We were in need of a quiet evening at the beach.

 

 



 





Good blues on the Manatee River

 

Saturday December 1 was the first annual Bradenton Blues Festival . This was an excellent event, the venue on the Manatee river was perfect and the entire day went very smoothly, congratulations to the organizers.

 

 

All of these performers put on a great show. The first band we saw was an outfit called Southern Hospitality, which featured

J P Soars

 

Damon Fowler



Victor Wainwright



The Johnny Sansone band from New Orleans

 

Dave “Biscuit” Miller and his band

Kenny Neal group, another New Orleans band

Ruthie Foster

 

Just a really great day.