First game of the year

I finally got a chance to use my new membership at the St. Joseph Bay Golf Club. The course opened in 1969 and reminds me of the Mars Sand Hills track back home in Manitoba. Replace the Mars jack pine with longleaf pine and you have St. Joe. It's a little rough around the edges, the greens were slow and inconsistent and the fairways were quite muddy. I'm not sure if that was due to recent watering to ensure they don't dry out or if that is the aftermath of above average precipitation along the Florida Panhandle this winter. However, for $7.50 how could you go wrong? What I like about the course design is that every hole is right in front of you. What I mean by that is there are no gimmicks or tricked up holes; nothing goofy. What you see, is what you get.

Henry Suman (14) busts one down the 496 yard par 5 16th

One of the beautiful things about golf is who you meet. The pro shop suggested I start on #10. So I trotted out to the tee box where a couple of young fellows were just getting ready to tee off. The older boy comes over and says, "Would you like to join us sir." 'Sir,' he calls me. Talk about polite. He introduces himself as Henry Suman from Houston, Texas along with his brother Knox. They're just finishing up their spring break and will be heading back to Texas the following day. I watch his practise swings intently and then he steps up to the ball and smokes it. Wow! "When did you start playing Henry," I ask, "five or six?" He says, "Last year." "Last year! Are you kidding me." Yikes, this kid is good.

Knox Suman (10) aka 'The Doc'

We complete the back nine and I've been noticing Knox's smooth tempo and solid contact. I take note and hit my best drive of the day on #1, my 10th hole. Knox, my 'swing doctor,' has me sorted and I open my back nine, par - par - bogie - bogie - bogie. Thanks Knox.

(l-r) Henry, Ken & Knox

We just might see the name Suman on a leader board in eight to 10 years time. Thanks for the round boys. It was a most enjoyable afternoon at St. Joe.

Oh and by the way, I'm sure you're wondering what I shot; 95 on nines of 49-46. I'm afraid the 9 on #6, my 15th, did me in. Should I start with the excuses...

KP

Parks, Beaches and Birds (part 1)

Magnificent! Spectacular! Amazing! Hackneyed expressions of greatness perhaps, however, I've had the good fortune to visit two special places in the Florida State Park's system; St. George Island and St. Joseph Peninsula and there are not enough superlatives to describe these wonderful protected areas. The Florida Park Service is the only two-time National Gold Medal Winner honouring the best state park system in the United States in 1999 and 2005 from the National Recreation and Park Association. It was also a finalist in 1997 and 2011.

1999 & 2005

Bobbie, Arnie and I visited St. George Island on Wednesday. About an hour's drive east of where we are staying on Cape San Blas it is one of Florida's Gulf Coast barrier islands. Last year, the beach was ranked #4 in Dr. Beach's Top 10 in America, which includes Hawaii. No small feat, (http://www.drbeach.org/top10beaches.html). And no wonder, the park offers nine miles (14.5 km) of pristine beaches, four located along the main drive and five in a special use area accessible only by foot or by vehicle with a special use permit.

St. George Island - Just me and a lone fisher

And guess what I found (scroll down to find out)

Banded Piping Plover

You could have knocked me over with a feather (no pun intended). As many of you know, I am a member of Manitoba's piping plover recovery team, so I was thrilled to find this one. Only 8000 were counted during the 2006 international census. Preliminary results for the 2011 census, indicate that that number has dropped. In terms of bird numbers that is a critically low figure. So you can imagine my surprise when I walked across the boardwalk over the sand dunes from the parking lot and spotted this one straight off. I have sent the band combination to my colleagues and await more information on where he/she was banded. Stay tuned. I also identified two other unmarked birds.

For more information on how Manitoba's piping plovers are doing follow my plover blog at:

www.peep-lo.blogspot.com or follow the plovers on Twitter @peep_lo

KP

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An Afternoon with Samuel Clemens

I was walking down the beach when I met this guy fishing. He says to me, "Do not tell fish stories where the people know you; but particularly, don't tell them where they know the fish."

Fishing on Cape San Blas

I have Arnie, our Portuguese Water Dog, with me and he gives the dog a stern look and says, "The dog is a gentleman; I hope to go to his heaven, not man's." I say to myself, I recognize this guy, but I can't quite place him. I'm intrigued. We have a great conversation, discussing all matter of subjects. I ask him if he's done any golfing in the area, and like the dog earlier, he gives me a stern look and says, "Golf is a good walk spoiled." Eventually, we introduce ourselves, and he tells me he's Sam Clemens. And then it hits me, I've spent the afternoon with none other than Mark Twain. You might have heard of him.

Mark Twain (aka Emmett Doiron)

I said, "You can't fool me, you're Mark Twain, the great American humorist, but you've been dead for...like...a hundred years." Where upon he turned to me and gave me the 'look' and says, "Look here sonny, the reports of my death have been greatly exaggerated."

'The' Mark Twain

KP

Sharks (part 2) ... or Bill has the Last Laugh

When Bill waded into the water today, they laughed at him. They mocked him. "Hey Bill, don't drown yourself." "Bill, watch out for sharks." Bwahahahahahahah.

Bill wades into the Gulf of Mexico

And then this happened...

Bill Hetrick (65) of Benson, Minnesota, 86 miles west of St. Cloud, reeled in this Sandbar Shark, five feet in length, off the shoreline of Cape San Blas, Florida. A beautiful creature which he released after we got a few photographs for posterity. Shore fishing is a popular pastime here on the Forgotten Coast. I guess so!

Bill Hetrick (left) assisted by Emmett Doiron

Look who had the last laugh?

KP

Sharks...nobody said anything about sharks!

There's a lot of shoreline fishing on Cape San Blas. Guys and gals stick a little piece of shrimp on a hook with a two ounce weight attached to the end of the line and cast it as far as they can. Then they grab a beverage and wait. We were surprised when this fisher reeled in a small Sandbar Shark.

Fishing on Cape San Blas

Sandbar Shark

Apparently, they are part of the recreational fishery along the Gulf Coast. He told us he caught a 67 inch monster a few weeks ago.  They can reach 7 1/2 feet long and weigh as much as 200 pounds. That evening as we had Arnie out for a walk with his new-found dog friends we spotted the tall dorsal fin and tail of a Sandbar just beyond the breaking waves. It looked to be three to four feet in length.

Only one shark attack has been recorded in the area and that took place in June 2005. The culprit was identified as a Bull Shark, one of the three most dangerous sharks in the world along with the Great White and Tiger. It was not a Sandbar. A teenage boy was wading out to cast his rod, however, he had his bait attached to the side of his shorts. Not a good idea. He lost his leg.

KP

Indian Pass Raw Bar

This is one of those quaint local establishments you just love to discover while on vacation. The Raw Bar is about a 12 minute drive east of where we're staying on Cape San Blas. Best known for its oysters, served raw, steamed or baked, the cooler in the back works on the honour system. Just grab a beer or pour your own draft and watch the various characters of Indian Pass come and go. As the leaflet says - Simple But Good.

The Raw Bar actually traces its roots back to the commissary/company store for the turpentine operation which began here 110 years ago in 1903. Turpentine is obtained by the distillation of resin obtained from live pine trees. Florida led the nation in pine gum production from 1909 until 1923.

Arnie and Bobbie in front of the Indian Pass Raw Bar

When hurricane "Kate" hit in 1986, it virtually wiped out the wholesale oyster businesses in the area. So the McNeills, having more oysters than they could eat themselves, but not enough to continue wholesaling, opened this little gem on the "Forgotten Coast."

Simple But Good

KP

First Impressions

After four days and 2000 miles (3150 km), with a short detour to the home of The King, we arrived at our cottage on the Cape. And if I didn't know better I'd say someone had dropped us off at Grand Beach. The texture and colour of the sand is identical. From our balcony deck you'd swear you were looking out over Lake Winnipeg and not the Gulf of Mexico.

The Mississippi delta was shining 
Like a national guitar 
I am following the river 
Down the highway 
Through the cradle of the civil war 
I'm going to Graceland 
Graceland 
In Memphis, Tennessee 
 - Paul Simon

Arnie & Ken with 'The King'

Cape San Blas is a seventeen-mile long barrier peninsula that curves around St. Joseph Bay like a giant arm. In 2002, it was ranked as America's #1 beach. No kidding...it's spectacular! Remember when Playboy magazine ranked Grand Beach in the Top 10 beaches in North America. Port St. Joe, the nearest community, and the surrounding coastline received the dubious nickname, "Florida's Forgotten Coast" when state tourism officials left it off the map in the mid-1990s. And to some extent it has retained the name due to the financial collapse of 2008. However, there are signs of a comeback with new construction interspersed between the For Sale signs. We're just pleased to have discovered this 'forgotten' paradise.

Photo taken from the balcony deck of Gone Catchin',
our cottage on Cape San Blas

the Gulf of Mexico, not Lake Winnipeg

KP