Tag Archives: #Madeira Beach

Johns Pass Seafood Festival

Posted on by
2

I was reading the latest National Geographic Traveler magazine and I happened to notice an ad in the back for the Johns Pass Seafood Festival.

It caught my eye because I grew up there. They just started having the festival when I left to go to school and then moved to Texas.

Johns Pass Florida

Johns Pass Florida

It looks like it’s grown quite a bit. I wonder if any of my old friends would still be around? I used to know all the fishermen. I wonder how many of them are still left? The city was doing an awful good job of clearing them out when I left. Not ‘appropriate’ for the tourist trap they wanted to create. 🙁

The Seafood Festival is kind of like the St Patricks Day Parade is here, everybody comes back from wherever they’ve been to have a good time and catch up with old friends. At least we do still have a real community to gather together at Surfside. I can’t say the same for Johns Pass. They destroyed what we had- a REAL community, of REAL fishermen- to replace it with nothing but condos and fake shit! All for the sake of the tourists.

I’m glad someone’s making money off it. (NOT)!

It’s from October 27-30 this year. I don’t have anything planned then. I keep hoping like hell I’ll get some real work, so I’m not planning much very far ahead of time. Also, I’ve already planned a couple of budget busting trips. I think I’ll skip Florida again this year. It makes me more sad than anything to go there now anyway. 🙁

 

The Daily Post: Beach

Posted on by
2

I haven’t posted the last couple of days. I needed a break after finishing up the A to Z Challenge. I’m not used to posting every day and it was exhausting. It was fun and a great way to meet other bloggers, but I’m glad it’s over.

Today I’m back with a post for the Daily Post. The first one in a while I feel like I can respond to. I don’t really like what they’ve been doing lately with their ‘one word’ challenges. But I do know a lot about the beach. 😉

I’m from Florida. I spent a lot of time on the beach where I grew up, around Madeira Beach. It used to be so nice, quiet and peaceful. It was very relaxed and we were able to enjoy it pretty much every day.

I was never into sun bathing. As a redhead, I get sun burned easily, so I try to avoid just roasting myself. I liked to go swimming and snorkeling, shell hunting, observing the plants and animals, and just walking along the water. Friends would start up a game of frisbee, touch football, or volleyball. Sometimes we would have a BBQ with a bonfire.

I remember going out to Egmont Key, just outside Tampa Bay. We would head out in the Island Girl and raft up with a bunch of other sailors. We would spend the weekend out there, playing with our friends (all ages- from babies to oldsters). We had some really great times.

When I moved to Texas, I used to spend a lot of time on the beach at Surfside and Bryan Beach. My class would go down there to practice taking sights for our celestial navigation. We would go camp out for the weekends, have a bonfire where we’d cook out, sing songs, tell sea stories and play music.

I still like to go to Surfside. I love to go in the Winter when it’s quiet. I like to sit and watch the water, listen to the wind and the waves, watch the birds, look for shells, and just enjoy the peace away from everybody.

I travel a lot and there’s usually a beach involved at some point there too. In Thailand, it’s Phuket. In Indonesia (Bali), it’s Kuta. In Mexico, it’s Cancun, but I have to say Puerto Vallarta is hard to beat. 😉

Do you have a favorite beach? Which one? Why?