Saturday, July 24, 2010

One Love, One Ocean

On a hot summer Saturday night, the front door of Surf Burger on Pensacola Beach brings a smile to my face... the hula fries were top notch, as always!

Thursday, July 22, 2010

Taking Comfort



What does a 13-year-old do while waiting for her breakfast? Why, take pictures of course! With all that is changing around us, it's nice to know some things never change. You can always count on the Waffle House in Gulf Breeze to be consistently ... Waffle House!

Wednesday, July 21, 2010

A Gorgeous Mid-Summer Day

This morning, the water felt wonderful. The sand felt wonderful. The air smelled wonderful. But...



Once the oil from the Deepwater Horizon disaster began washing ashore in June, my enthusiasm for taking photos took a vacation. However, this morning I wandered out to Pensacola Beach just to see how things were going. On July 21, on a beautiful, warm morning at around 10:00 a.m., I witnessed water as clear and beautiful as I'd ever seen here. Sand clean and soft, and bright white. And a surreal almost complete lack of people to enjoy it all.



Sadly, with health warning signs posted everywhere and BP clean-up crews still here, this community is suffering in a huge way. The unknowns are frightening people -- both locals and tourists -- away. Even though the water and beach "look" great, and the air is salty and fresh, no one seems to know if there are unseen dangers in the waters, the air, and buried just under the surface of the sugar white sands. Some are taking their chances and enjoying themselves anyway. But most others are staying away. And Gulf Breeze, Pensacola Beach and the surrounding communities are hurting. Badly.