Birds and Berries

The cloudy skies and heavy breezes didn't stop a very large flock of robins and cedar waxwings from scarfing down the last of the winter berries. It sure doesn't look like it was 80 degrees today but I'm here to tell you that we were loving it. So were the birds.

Local Pirate?

This painted-toe pirate on the side of the hardware and paint store bears an uncanny resemblance to Andy, the building's owner. Coincidence? I think not.

An Early Concours Arrival?

This person may have come a little early for the Concours d'Elegance car show coming up in a couple of weeks. Maybe so that they won't blend in with the crowd later? It's hard to believe that a car like this could just blend in but it sure will. I'm not much of a car person but the eye candy that weekend is absolutely amazing. I've actually heard people say "once you've seen one Duesenberg..." If you're a classic car buff, it's the show to come to. And if that applies to you, you may want to note that - although we were sold out a year in advance - we've had a recent cancellation.

The Gauzeway

A new store, The Gauzeway, opened up in town last week in the old Partin Shoe Store location. They were still setting up when I went by. Featuring island weight gauzy dresses, separates and accessories, it's sure to see some pretty good business from our friends up north who don't want to pay that extra bag charge and can load up with lightweight things when they get down here and then roll them up into a tube for the flight back. I honestly haven't shopped prices but they appeared to have a lot of cute things in there. And we're quite appreciative of their investment in our community right now. Best wishes, Gauzeway!

A Fish Called...

Amelia? For sale at Front and Centre Warehouse at Ash and Fifth.

Lucky Boy

Bill certainly enjoyed his hosting duties over the weekend. And our Minnesota/ Illinois/ Missouri girls seemed to appreciate his efforts. A fun time was had by all.

Big Day

It was a busy Saturday. Our Fernandina Farmers' Market started their Tale and Taste of Eight Flags,
The second annual Chili Cook-Off took place on Third Street,
complete with fire station,
and the Pirates on the Run race continued on through the day and finished in our foyer after social hour where our guest, Mary Beth Wiig, was the overall winner of the Spongebob Squarepants Division. Congratulations Mary Beth. Excellent form. (Make sure that you click on the race results - you won't believe the winner in the women's division. No... not me.)

The Jumpers are Back

We've got lots of girls' groups booked over the next couple of months and more calls coming in by the day. I guess we all need a little de-stress time, don't we? Our Connecticut sisters pictured here had to head home today so they bundled up for the trip up north but had one good jump left in them before they faced the music (and the flight). Thanks ladies. We're here when you need us.

75 Degrees Today

And the azaleas are starting to do their thing. Perfect weather for doing just about anything.

Another Great Sunset

Still not getting old for me. You?

Visitor

We keep a bowl of cat food on our front porch for the strays in the neighborhood, but they're usually cats. This guy, however, has become a regular and frequently visits at the same time as the cats. There seems to be quite the symbiotic relationship between cats and raccoons, at least around here. They'll sit together on the porch and contemplate the day's events. The fun ends though when the raccoon uses the rest of the drinking water to wash his face.

Dog Walks Into a Bar

and...??? Finish the thought in the comments section. Keep it clean.

Update 2/18: Okay, I've received some great submissions but it's apparently too hard to keep this one clean so we'll change it to a caption event. I'll start:

Max and his faithful mascot, Doodle, just knew that this would be the year that they'd beat that obnoxious Fifi in the pet parade.

Tony

My favorite sushi chef is preparing for his evening at Bonito. Extra tempura flakes in the spicy tuna roll, please.

For All You Valentines

Hope you had a good one.

Somebody's Working Late

Lights still on in the courthouse window after hours. Hmmmmmm....

Charming Lady

Sarah, the charming owner of Celtic Charm (and mother of Hamish, the dog), welcomes one and all to her shop filled with things that could all have been personally selected for me. I love everything there: earrings, sweaters, Balik porcelain, scarves, pashminas, cd's, Irish chocolates - just everything. It's always been one of my favorite shops here and Sarah helps make it that way.

New Neighbor

This is our new neighbor, Tiger Lily, born last week to parents Sarah and Song across the street from the inn. You're sure to see her out and about when you're visiting here because - rumor has it - she's going to be a surfer and a dancer.

A Little Color, Anyone?

I think that the major cold snap has passed up north but I'm sure that you still don't have too many pretty colors going on outside so I thought that I'd provide some for you. In fact, it's been 70 degrees the past couple of days here and trending warmer. Hard to believe that we had a freeze just five days ago (or, at all).

Shameless plug: My cousin, Dave Clair, has a film on the National Geographic channel tonight at 10:00. He spent several weeks last year filming "Monster Fish of the Congo". Looks to be vedy, vedy interesting.

Not Abbey Road

But a nice crosswalk none the less. And it leads to one of our new pocket parks, little spaces of green between buildings on previous officially vacant lots. When we have festivals or other "happenings" you might find a band set up in one. Otherwise, just a place to eat your ice cream, drink your coffee or people watch.

Now That's a Bed!

This be, through the window of Amelia Interior Design, always catches my eye. They've got beautiful things in every window and the displays change frequently. Great eye candy that threatens to slow down my walk. I don't mind.

Free Entertainment

Panther, one of our many "strays" spends cooler days scaling every tree on the property providing free entertainment not only for herself, but all of our guests and the other neighborhood strays and not-so-strays. Bill walked into the parking lot one day to find four cats around the base of one of our palm trees all staring straight up at the top of the tree - apparently in amazement - watching Panther hang out in the fronds at the top. Another time we had to rescue her from the roof of our four-story inn. She had apparently climbed the tallest tree next to the house and made the leap to the roof with no exit plan. Quite the athlete.

Ice in Fernandina

Here's something you don't see every day... or every year... or every decade. We got down to 28 degrees last night. And we're beside ourselves. Massive panic. People in the streets. Not really, we're just out taking pictures and saying a lot of "can you believe this?" and "I don't own gloves, do you?" Big event. But we'll be back near 70 by Saturday.

Nice Window Display

Everyone's getting ready for Valentines' Day. Are you?

Fuzzy Choices for Valentines

These soft and cuddly guys were looking out at me as I passed "Suzi" formerly known as The Snack Shack on Centre Street. Besides these fuzzy friends, there's a pretty gosh darn good selection of candy too. One-stop shopping.

Bug-Eyed Pete

Peg Leg Pete appeared to bit a bit bug-eyed today. Maybe due to the really, really ominus clouds behind him? No storms but another semi-steady rain. Just what we needed. We're still behind in a big way. I'll make sure he's okay tomorrow.