Lighthouses And Living Along The Florida Gulf Coast

Death is a reality of life, yet not everyone has the ability to face its after-shocks of utter sadness, fear, loneliness and emptiness. Death is also a great teacher if we learn to face it ~ and not run from it. This book is a compilation of humorous, poignant, heart breaking and thought provoking vignettes about the life and death of her grandmother; their relationship during and after death; and the challenges a person must face when death sits on ones doorsteps. Writing about grief is similar to cleaning out an attic. Every so often you have to go up there, weed through the collection of memories and throw away that which you don't need any more. If you don't, the excess weight will eventually weaken the floorboards and send them crashing down on your head. She weaves a tapestry of love and loss that blankets her world as she shows people the valuable lessons a person's death can teach another about life ~ and how life is really a long series of little deaths. It shows how one can actually write themselves out of the clutches of grief and into a world of loving remembrance ~ and it reveals that love is indeed the greatest motivator. "In the Twinkle of an Eye" is testament that anyone who loves can write.

The beacon of the historic Cape St. George Lighthouse still guides mariners into Apalachicola Bay. Founded in 1831, the town of Apalachicola took its name from Creek Indians, to whom it signified a land of friendly people. Sheltered from the Gulf of Mexico by a string of barrier islands, the port flourished as the only site in Florida on a river that is navigable for over 300 miles to the fall line at Columbus, Georgia, Apalachicola's sister city. Generations of lighthouse keepers were bound to St. George Island and its great bay by an intense sense of duty to sustain seagoing commerce and a love for a place where they could raise their families in freedom. When the foundation washed away in 2005 after a very active hurricane season and a final surge from Hurricane Wilma, residents took action to salvage and rebuild the historic lighthouse. Visitors may still climb the lighthouse tower, surrounded by bricks that were first laid in 1852.

From Amelia Island to the Keys to Pensacola in the Panhandle, the coast of Florida is dotted with lighthouses of all sizes, shapes, materials, and - best of all – histories. The Florida Lighthouse Trail is a compilation of short histories, written by expert contributors from around the state. Each chapter has fascinating details about these great sentinels. Chock-full of information on dates of construction and operation, changes over time, and Fresnel lenses, this book also serves as a travel guide with directions and contact information for their support organizations. Paul Bradley's beautiful artwork richly illustrates each lighthouse. This new edition features substantially updated information, with the most up-to-date information for history buffs and prospective visitors. The Florida Lighthouse Trail also includes a history of the Florida Lighthouse Association, an extensive glossary, short biographies of the contributors, suggested reading, and an index.

A new look at the West Florida and Alabama Gulf shoreline, in the context of burgeoning development and revised coastal regulations.

Sporting the second-longest coastline in the United States, Florida has over 8,000 miles of sparkling beaches and waterfront property. This valuable landscape and the region's position between the Atlantic Ocean and the Gulf of Mexico made Florida key in the early expansion of American trade routes, but the state's several capes and dangerous reefs, rocks, and shoals made travel quite perilous to unwary mariners. When commerce and traffic began to grow between ports on the East Coast and along the Gulf of Mexico in the nineteenth century, it became necessary to construct aids to navigation along the state's long and treacherous coast. Lighthouses were the solution. Constructed in a variety of styles and sizes, Florida's lighthouses were erected on what, at the time, were some of the most desolate regions of the southeastern United States and included lonely offshore islands. Manned and inhabited by vigilant keepers and their families, these towers illuminated the dark seas and provided the beacon that guided lost travelers. Large brick structures watched over St. Augustine, Pensacola, and Ponce de Leon Inlet; iron skeletons towered over Crooked River and Hillsboro Inlet; and screwpile lighthouses stood as sentinels in the waters off the Florida Keys.

From the time the first humans reached the Florida peninsula more than 12,000 years ago through today's complex and diverse state, this timeline narrative sets Florida's fascinating history against the backdrop of world events. Learn how early native peoples, European exploration, wars, and transformative economic, social, cultural, and technological changes have shaped and continue to shape the "Sunshine State."

Thousands of fascinating facts and figures on all aspects of life in the Sunshine State. This book, a combination atlas, directory, tourist guide, and reference manual, covers everything you want to know about the state of Florida. The current edition has updated statistics on all of the topics found in past annuals, a hurricane survival guide, and everything from basic history to residential requirements to live in the state of Florida. A very good resource for Florida natives as well as those planning to visit the state.

A call to live with the coast, as opposed to living at the coast; unless Florida coastal communities conserve beaches and mitigate storm impacts, the future of the beach-based economy is in question.