Wow, SpringFest was stupendous with all those tremendous OC musicians (Kevin Poole & local band jam, Randy Lee and Capt. Quint, reappeared after too long an absence and others...  The hub of the wheel for me is the power/meter island where, I can watch all the people and hear all the music. This year’s mix of entertainment included a variety of types of music from local musicians and new comers like soulful DejaGroove. It confirms this is the best resort on the east coast and makes me glad I returned from my meanderings.
    My day started with a Radford’s éclair while listening to the Sunday services accented by Buffett tunes by Capt. Quint.  Then back home in time to hear Batman on Seacrets Radio as I wrote this, then off to hear John LaMere’s Band at Coconuts, capped off by a Margarita by Suzy at Mother’s. It’s good to be home! The next couple articles will pick up from the first (it’s @ coconuttimes.com) which was a thumbnail sketch of my Best of…. experiences and will give a little more detail. 
    (written 01/30/11) I didn’t take the time to look at the tide table, the smart thing to do. Then I’d know where and when there’d be enough water to paddle my kayak. This is my last day here in Islamorada and the Florida Keys for 2011.  Kayaking is the way I want to spend it and I’ll go where the tides allow. The advantage of kayaking over a boat is I can go into inches of water and really see the bottom critters; boats can’t. I have my favorite places; most of them start at the bridges between T Table Key and Robbie’s Restaurant (MM78.5).
    At the top of the list is a football field sized lagoon at the end closest to the bridges of Lignumvitae Island (http://www.floridastateparks.org/lignumvitaekey/default.cfm). You can’t see it from the open water and I have to hunt for the opening in the mangroves every time that allows my kayak, no boats, to slip through.  Of course that’s my choice for the day. It was fantastically scenic when I was there a couple weeks ago. The water was mirror flat and crystal clear. I could include fish swimming several feet deep in my photos of the lagoon, mangroves, and sky.  Incredible, but today there’s not enough water to get there, the tide is too low and it’ll be hours before there’s enough water.  HH starts at 4pm at the Lor E Lei and I need to keep my priorities straight! I could get out of the kayak and drag it to the lagoon, but I’d sink to China, worse than the muck in an Eastern Shore Marsh. I remember on the Key West side of the island there is a sandy bottom and the remnants of a coral reef. I can beach the kayak and walk in the shallow water and see what I can see, eat the shrimp I steamed that I bought at Three Captains Seafood on Coco Plum Blvd (MM 54) in Marathon, and sip a couple cold ones, a grand plan B.
    I always wear an old pair of sandals to protect my feet from whatever I may step on, that isn’t friendly. There’s broken glass, coral, and shells. I don’t need an injury to impede my fun. There are sponges, hermit crabs, a few little fish, sea anemones and lots of aquatic organisms that might be plants or animals or may have characteristics of both, that I don’t know what are, but no casiopeias. The cold got them, killed them all, last January when it snowed in Miami for the first time ever, was in the upper 30s in Islamorada, and lower 40s in Key West, where most homes don’t have any heating systems!
    It was much warmer this January. I was seeing the regular cast of characters, although no starfish, blue crabs or large fish, but I’d seen those weeks ago. Then, what’s that, an ornate piece of glass? It’s too big for a shell. It’s round, brownish, purplish and gorgeous. I reach down in the water to gingerly pick it up not knowing if it was broken glass or something else that could snatch a finger or more. I was surprised to find it was stuck fast. It’s a shell, so I work the critter’s hold on the bottom loose. I’ve never seen a shell like this before except in a store. I used to see small ones like this on the beach in Okinawa, but never this big. It’s as big as my fist.  Should I keep it? I know in a State or Federal Park collecting anything is illegal.  I’m in the water, though, not on the island.  That’s the park right? I place it on a rock out of the water and walk on. About ten steps away I see another one. Well, if I’ve stumbled across two of them, they can’t be rare. I go back and get the other, place them side by side, and take several photos.  I’ll show the photos to the locals at the Lor E Lei and find out what they are.
    They said, they are cowries and were surprised that I found them. What a way to end my meandering in the Keys for my Adventure 2011. This may be the top find and discovery of the trip and it’s just starting. To me the shells are every bit as special as a rock collector finding a gem!  Every day I’m in the wilds, nature shows me something most people never see in a lifetime. More photos at http://picasaweb.google.com/o.c.fotoguy2009.
    It has happened again! We can create a Family Photo on the beach of you and yours that you can display like a gem, too, here in OC. Give me a call (410-289-733), send me an email (ocfotoguy@aol.com) or go to PhotosAsYouWantThem.biz.