By the Beautiful Sea

Want an escape? A trip to a paradise by the beautiful sea? Then come with me to Seaside, an idyllic planned community located on Florida's panhandle, beside one of the most beautiful beaches on earth. It is a place for dreams, romance, fun, and relaxation. If you think you are in a movie set, you aren't wrong; for Seaside first became famous when it was chosen for the set of the movie 'The Truman Show', released in 1998.

Earlier this week I returned from a visit to Seaside, and I have been reliving the experience, going through over 200 photos I shot over my four days there. We stayed in a delightful cottage named Natchez House, and it was only a short walk to the beach. The weather was cold, but the charming architecture more than compensated for that. Natchez House is shown in the first photo below:

Most of the cottages are vacation rentals, but there are some year round residents. Below is the community school and the interfaith chapel, where we attended church on Sunday:

Except for some common areas in the town center, there are no lawns in Seaside. All plantings are native vegetation. Among them are live oak, yaupon holly, coco palms, and loblolly pines. Also included are non-poisonous sumac, pampas grass, creeping fig, and, of course, sea oats. The orange fruit on the bush in the second row below are kumquats. Tasty! There was one tree I couldn't identify. It is shown in the last two photos. It reminds me of a sweet gum, but the balls aren't prickly. Could it be an osage orange tree?

(Follow-up note: Thanks to my fellow garden blogger, Floridagirl, who has identified the mystery tree for me. It is the American Sycamore!)

Of course, there would be no Seaside without the beach! Even in winter, the beach is extraordinary. White sands like this come from quartz and can be found in only a few locations around the world:

The sea was calm, and I did not see any evidence of last year's Gulf oil spill. I was amazed by a group of ducks paddling in the salt water, something I have never seen. I think the duck I saw is the Common Merganser, also called Saltwater Fish Duck and Sawbill Duck. Probably they are attracted by the marshes of nearby Topsail Hill State Preserve and Grayton Beach State Park. I also saw the more usual sandpipers. The photo of bird tracks in the following group shows the prints of both the mergansers and the sandpipers, together in the sand:

Every main street in Seaside has access to the beach through a pavilion, and each one is unique. I must have taken thirty shots of the Natchez Pavilion before I captured the following image at sunset. The beaches along the Gulf coast are famous for their sunsets:Such was the perfect ending. Pleasant dreams to you all!   Deborah

A Good Day For Healing

I was sick all last week, and about the time my fever broke, so did the weather. Fortified with antibiotics and steroids, I was able to poke my head out the door for the first time on Friday. The sultry, oppressive heat was gone! Warm still, but bearable with a pleasant breeze, and the sky was lovely with puffy clouds. 

I got a book, my camera, and a glass of ice water and settled onto the patio for some outdoor therapy. I didn't get much reading done as I soaked in the sounds and sights that refreshed my spirit and body. I wasn't up to wandering the yard, but there was plenty going on nearby to catch my attention.

There was the view through the rose arch:

The Zephirine Drouhin rose on the right has been cut back and is not blooming now. It will put out more blooms as the weather cools. The larger plant that is taking over the arch is jasmine. The purplish tree seen through the middle of the arch is a Japanese maple growing on the other side of the front lawn.

I noticed how much the rosemary has grown. This plant loves where I have put it, near a concrete walk, so that some of the lime leeches into the soil there, counteracting our normally acid soil. The little Christmas tree in the middle is a dwarf Alberta spruce, growing in a pot:

Here are a few flowers blooming near the patio:Clockwise from top: Knockout roses have bloomed through the summer heat; caryopteris, also called bluebeard; a plant that looks like a perennial hibiscus but is not.(I have forgotten its name!); cosmos

I was delighted to see this beautiful tiger swallowtail butterfly:

There were lots of hummingbirds, but their arial maneuvers were too fast for me to capture. However, my dog Lily was happy to cooperate for a photo.Matted and wet, Lily was glad to see me and wanted to climb in my lap. We have had some rain, and she had been rolling in the mud. She is collie mixed with some sort of mountain dog, and she really belongs in Alaska or Canada. Although her fur was cut very short at the beginning of summer, already it is growing long. The stuff was thick and warm and sticky. Poor Lily. She sheds almost year round and needs constant grooming.

I sat on the patio for several hours, until the sun began to set behind the chimney.The sky was layered with black and gold and rosy clouds.  

Can you see the two cloud people dancing in one of the photos above? The day came to a close, and I was feeling better.