While I’ve breezed through this salty strip of land many times in the past decade, searching for places to hike, eat, and sleep, this is the first time I’ve sat staring out at the sea and Sanibel since I was a kid. We came to the beach and played on the shore, delighted at the sandbars that emerged at low tide and the ripples left behind by the waves, the treasures washed up by evening storms. Memories flooded back as I walked the beach to Bowditch Point, light waning as the sun slipped behind Sanibel, playing across the rippled sand as sandpipers and stilts raced along the glimmering waves. Not just of decades ago on this very beach, but of sunsets shared with Sally on the Arabian Sea, hues of orange and pink against the blue sky and blue water, framed by silhouttes of coconut palms.  It was a night for memories.

Wall cloud spun off from Ike

Even though Hurricane Ike isn’t headed for Florida, it’s affecting our weather here in Southwest Florida and scratched my hiking plans for this morning, thanks to the tornado warning that came bundled with this wall cloud in Punta Gorda.

Spending the day on travel research instead, with hopes for a break in the weather later today.

As in Old South Bar-B-Que! The new owners of the Clewiston Inn have found the chef and recovered the recipes from one of Clewiston’s other long-time traditions, the Old South Bar-B-Que, and it’s being served right now at the Clewiston Inn’s Colonial Room.  The cornbread is soft like it’s made with cake flour, the ribs are smoky and succulent, and the 12-cheese macaroni and cheese could be a meal onto itself. Don’t wait, get to Clewiston and savor this Florida original again…I know I will!

I received a press release today with some very unsurprising facts and figures regarding stress and time off. For those of you who aren’t aware, I stepped down from my full-time job at the end of May as part of a larger strategy to reduce stress and improve my health. I’m now freelancing again, and my health has improved significantly. From the press release, I quote:

Recent studies published in the British Medical Journal and featured in Time magazine reveal strong evidence that time off is good medicine. For example:

• Chronic work-related stress caused can nearly double your risk of heart disease and diabetes
• Long-term exposure to stress at work appears to have a direct adverse effect on the autonomic nervous system
• An annual vacation of at least two weeks can cut the risk of heart attack in men by 32% and in women by 50%

“These are startling statistics,” says Marilyn Downing Staff, founder and owner of Asia Transpacific Journeys. “People are beginning to view travel – like a gym membership — as an investment in their health. When you consider the long-term costs associated with stress-related illnesses, travel is very inexpensive by comparison. And let’s face it, a lot more fun.”

And that’s true, even when doing research for a story…as long as the itinerary has some breathing room!

I’ve been busy buzzing around Myrtle Beach for nearly a week now as part of my Society of American Travel Writers Freelance Council Meeting. Tomorrow’s the last day of exploration. Our workshops earlier this week were what brought me up here, including an excellent day-long session on podcasting by podcasting guru Dave Slusher. After being one of the first to start podcasting years ago, he’s just debuted a new podcast, Reality Break, drawing on interviews he did a decade and more ago with serious sci-fi and comic greats. Episode one is one of my husband’s favorite storytellers, Will Eisner. Tune in!

Today was the first day I spent any significant time on or near the beach, some of which was at Myrtle Beach State Park, pictured here with its popular pier. It’s a lovely slice of nature amid a sea of waterfront condos, hotels, and homes, the beach shown here backed up by a dense maritime forest with plenty of salt-spray sculpted sand live oaks and wax myrtle.