Oil spill cleanup is under way

Oil spill cleanup is under way at many beaches along the Gulf Coast, and beach-bound travelers are keeping a close eye on coastal conditions.

Here are some of the latest updates from destinations affected by the oil disaster:

Florida’s Emerald Coast

Oil cleanup Coast, beach-bound conditions.

Here disaster:

Florida’s Coast

Small weekend, bureau. ” removed, spotted,” bureau’s website.

The area, Destin, Island, visit.

” white-sand emerald-green clear. addition, strong, water,” said.

Destin ” Sam” few, unusual.

” balls, we’ll few. That’s Mexico, said.

Beachgoers usual, said.

Pensacola Key, Florida

The fishing, Bureau.

The afternoon. Florida-Alabama Key, said. advised.

Mike McHugh, contributor, video Beach. ” Johnson’s in. 4:30 p.m., gone. balls, [they] find,” wrote.

James Amerson, iReporter, tracking oil Pensacola. Beach, inches, said.

” stuff, old, [on] sands,” iReport.com.

The precautions. ” [the Administration], person, up," said.

Gulf Seashore, Florida

All open, website. Tuesday, Florida, Key. areas.

Health spill.

Gulf Beach, Alabama

In Alabama, Shores, Morgan. open. sightseeing, Bureau.

The fishing.

Grand Isle, Louisiana

Oil coast, emergency website.

Grand beach, website.

Natasha Combs, iReporter, observe efforts.

" military. [hazmat] suits. beach, pools," said.

Perhaps you’ve seen him riding down the side of U.S. Highway 90 wearing a kilt and asked yourself, “Who is that guy and what is he thinking?”

He goes by the name Rob Roy McGregor, and he is riding his bike to help raise environmental awareness and save the world’s rain forests.

McGregor’s journey began in Orlando in January 2009 at the 32nd Annual Scottish Highlands Festival. The cultural anthropologist and father of four set off on a journey throughout Florida to spread his message.

After pedaling nearly 1,000 miles across the state, McGregor ended his ride on Feb. 7 in his hometown of DeFuniak Springs.

“I am biking and creating art to draw attention to our most critical global problem created by our daily decisions,” he says. “The current focus of my bike ride and art exhibition is global climate change.”

McGregor is currently riding across his ancestors’ hometown of Glasgow, Scotland, and working on a new exhibit, “The 13 Acacia Trees of Life Art Project.”

“The tree of life in art has been a mystical concept alluding to the interconnectedness of all life on our planet,” McGregor says. “In Egyptian mythology, it is said that Isis and Osiris emerged from the Acacia Tree of Saosis, the Egyptian tree of life. In the Hebrew/Christian bibles, the tabernacle and the Ark of the Covenant were both made of acacia wood, and the burning bush was an acacia tree.”

When completed, 13 acacia trees built completely from construction waste will be put on display for the exhibit. The acacia trees, one of the last remaining traces of the fading rain forests, serve as a metaphor for the degradation of an entire ecosystem.

McGregor recently talked with us about his passion for the globe.

ECN: Where did you study anthropology?

RM: I graduated from the University of Tennessee Knoxville in ’97 with a B.A. in liberal arts from the school of anthropology. I study how our culture lives. I study corporate culture and see how our material culture drives our spiritual culture. Our spiritual culture can be seen in our art.

ECN: What kind of bike do you ride on the tour?

RM: Right now I am riding a German mountain bike that I bought from Common Wheels, Glasgow, which saved me on the Rob Roy Challenge more than once. In Florida I rode a Giant 24-speed tour bike.

ECN: Do you prefer to ride a mountain, road or hybrid bike?

RM: I prefer a hybrid for Florida flats. When in Scotland, I use a mountain bike with lots of gears. The hills here are intense and Scotland is home to the best bike trails, routes and courses I have ever seen.

ECN: What is the most detestable action against nature in your opinion?

RM: I am most disturbed by roads.

ECN: What is the most amazing thing you’ve seen on tour in Florida?

RM: The tree I photographed out in front of the Frazier Museum in West Palm Beach. It was beautiful and the roots created rooms like a house. I thought to myself … I could live in this tree.

ECN: Do you have any relation to Scotland’s famous Rob Roy McGregor?

RM: Yes, through my mother, who was a Campbell. McGregor was an alias — his real last name was Campbell. My father is a McGregor.

ECN: What are your future plans?

RM: I am really thinking about making my next bike tour start in El Salvador and then biking down to Brazil into the rain forest. I am praying about it. I also want to bike in the Middle East, Russia and China eventually.

A relatively new concept of running has trained and beginning runners thinking differently when putting one foot in front of the other. “ChiRunning” combines the inner focus and flow of tai chi with the power and energy of running. This technique is meant to make the sport of running more comfortable and can prevent further injury.

Danny Dreyer, author of “ChiRunning Pain-free Marathon Training Program,” created this practice based on his study of tai chi with internationally renowned tai chi masters and his own 35 years of experience racing in ultra-marathons.
“I came up with the concept after taking my first tai chi class in 1998,” Dreyer says. “I had been a successful ultramarathon runner, but the addition of tai chi principles in my running movement sparked the idea that this was something worth developing.” Dreyer has written several books on ChiRunning, conducts workshops all over the United States and has certified training programs for those who want to become a ChiRunning instructor. “The basic principles of ChiRunning involve good posture, which most runners don’t have,” he says. “We use a lot of the principles of body alignment and relaxation used in tai chi. Posture is key to becoming an efficient runner and is a prominent principle in tai chi.” For instance, the “column position” teaches to set your pelvis forward and walk with your feet in front of you. Another common mistake among runners is not running flat-footed. In a mid-foot strike, runners should land flat-footed, letting gravity pull them forward. This method can help runners prevent shin splints, which are common when runners push off with their toes. When practicing ChiRunning, runners are instructed to listen to their bodies and pay attention to using the appropriate muscles. That means working the deep abdominal muscles, leaning forward while running and keeping feet pointed straight. Also, runners studying ChiRunning need to learn good cadence. Instructors recommend counting how many times your feet hit the ground in a minute. You don’t have to run faster, but be sure to pick your feet up. For people who don’t want to run, there is an alternative to ChiRunning. ChiWalking also was created to blend walking with the inner focuses of tai chi. It emphasizes proper biomechanics including good posture, loose joints and relaxing the muscles of the arms and legs. The technique also has five steps walkers need to keep in mind:     1.    Get aligned.     2.    Engage your core.     3.    Create balance.     4.    Make a choice.     5.    Move forward.
Like its sister program, ChiWalking makes walking easier on the body by eliminating the aches, pains and discomfort of walking incorrectly.

ChiWalking and ChiRunning also address another need of the body. Letting your body “go with the flow” sounds easy but is actually one of the more difficult habits to attain, because people’s bodies aren’t naturally taught to relax. This can be overcome by tapping in to your body’s reflexes; instead of tensing up, just keep your body in control. Think of it as running or walking down a hill. Instead of naturally breaking with your feet, just let your body roll down the hill.

To learn more about the ChiRunning and ChiWalking programs, or to find instructors in the Emerald Coast, visit chiliving.com or chirunning.com. Most instructors are willing to travel to various locations, and you can always find Danny Dreyer’s books and DVDs at local bookstores. See also Destin Yoga

It’s no secret that the Emerald Coast has staked its claim as one of the top culinary wonders of the world, with numerous renowned chefs now living and working in the area.

But in the heart of the Panhandle, there is a different sort of food service program that soars far above average expectations.

The motto of the dining facilities team at Eglin Air Force Base in Fort Walton Beach is “Excellence … Our Standard, Not Our Goal.” It’s the passion behind this motto that recently won them the coveted Hennessy Award, recognizing the team’s commitment to provide quality service and food to customers.

The prestigious honor is the oldest military food service award, established in 1957 to recognize the best of the best within the Air Force. According to the award criteria, “an operation must exhibit sustained excellence in food service management, force readiness support, food quality, employee and customer relations, resource conservation, training and safety” in order to merit the honor. The award is named after the late John L. Hennessy, a hotel and restaurant executive who served on presidential advisory boards to aid in the improvement of military food service.

Dave Mickler is the dining facility director who led the award-winning team, most of whom are now deployed overseas. Although his humility would never allow him to admit it, Mickler is known by his colleagues as the “godfather of United States Air Force food service.” After all, this is his seventh time to lead a team to the Hennessy — five times while working at Hurlburt Field Air Force Base in Okaloosa County and now twice at Eglin.

The accolades are impressive, but Mickler is adamant about one thing: “The Hennessy is never won by one person … it’s always won by a team effort.”

Enduring two intense days of judging was no easy feat. A four-person team composed of military personnel and civilian travelers arrived in February, and from 5:30 a.m. to midnight both days, a checklist of 150 items was evaluated, including the 17-plus specialty themed meal programs served throughout the year at Eglin. In April, Mickler received the long-awaited news.

“I was super-happy when I found out we won the award,” he says. “It just proved that all our hard work paid off, and it’s recognition that our team has really done an outstanding job.”

In addition to being recognized as the top food service program in the Air Force, one airman in particular stood out to the judges for his culinary expertise and enthusiasm. Staff Sgt. Wendell Bowles II won the John L. Hennessy Travelers Award for being “the most outstanding food service person of the year.”

Because of his deployment to Iraq, Bowles was not able to travel with Mickler and some of the staff in May to receive the two awards at the National Restaurant Association Food Service Convention in Chicago. However, he did receive a $1,000 scholarship to be used toward furthering his education in the food service industry. Bowles also was awarded a week-long course of study at The Culinary Institute of America in Greystone, Calif.

After serving 26 years in the Air Force, Mickler retired as a chief master sergeant but continued utilizing his food-service training background as the restaurant manager of the Eglin Officers’ Club for three years, followed by a stint as dining facility director at Hurlburt Field for nine years. In 2005, he made another move to Eglin. And within a year, the base received the Hennessy for the sixth time.

Part of Mickler’s passion is to dispel the idea that military food service positions aren’t as rewarding as service as a bomb loader or jet mechanic — his career field isn’t one that most high school graduates voluntarily sign up for at the recruiting office. However, many people are surprised to learn that the Air Force does not have “chow halls” but rather embraces a modern, restaurant-like style, which may include an Internet café or a wall of flat-screen TVs.

“It’s not just about the food … it’s a full dining experience,” Mickler says. “A lot of these young folks are here for the first time away from home, and we try to make this like their home, where they can sit down and enjoy a relaxing meal. You’re only as good as the last meal you served! We have a lot of them that come back, and we get compliments from all branches of the military. That makes you feel like what you’re doing is rewarding.”

After serving 500,000 meals a year — about 2,000 per day — and with a 98 percent customer satisfaction rate, members of Mickler’s team grow to truly love what they do and, in return, learn that they are just as appreciated and needed as the next airman.

“What we try to do is keep the job interesting,” Mickler says. “It’s not like the old days when I came in the ’60s and we were thrown in the dish room and told not to come out, and we didn’t see the kitchen for a year. Now, these young folks are coming in and given an opportunity to be managers right off the bat … When they find out they are coming into food services, they don’t always like it, but I would say within a short period after they get here, they see the benefits.”

To continue efforts to boost morale in the military food industry, both local bases have taken advantage of the “Chef to Chef” program created by Kim Wintner, the chairman of the Destin Chamber of Commerce Military Affairs Committee. The program introduces airmen to some of Destin’s finest chefs for mentoring opportunities that encourage them to pursue a career in the food industry after their military duties are fulfilled.

“Each of our towns that surround the two bases, and Destin, is known for its top-notch chefs and restaurants, and we saw an opportunity to do something a little different,” Wintner says. “A lot of times, the chambers deal with the officer corps of the military, and in this case, we decided to focus on the lower-ranking airmen. We went to this group of folks who don’t often get great recognition for the job they do — they are not the people you see in the paper getting a Purple Heart.

“Our connection was we have this great asset, and it matched up to the folks that work on the two bases in very tough jobs,” Wintner says. “We thought the chance to meet great chefs would be beneficial to all concerned, and it was very much a win-win situation.”

Twelve chefs have participated in the year-old program, but Chef Tim Creehan, owner of the Beach Walk fine-dining restaurant in Destin, played a pivotal role in interacting with the young military chefs. His passion for the culinary arts and natural teaching talents were a perfect match for Mickler and his staff. Creehan also was named an honorary commander of the 96th Air Base Wing in March because of his integral role in the program, as well as to provide him with an opportunity to learn more about the Air Force and its day-to-day operations, particularly in the food service area.

On three occasions, airmen traveled with Creehan and his staff to various functions and worked side by side for 12- to 15-hour days. In return, Creehan visited Eglin to meet with Mickler’s staff for more mentoring and helped with an opening reception for the Hennessy judges.

“It was a very rewarding experience for me and my staff, and we absolutely took something away from the program,” Creehan says. “Their level of respect, their level of discipline and their level of education is at such a high standard, and it just reminds us of how it’s so easy to get lax and not do certain things.

“Their uniforms are pristine and their equipment and tools are in perfect condition, and everything they do is by the book — and that’s the way they have to do it,” Creehan says. “I think what we took away is that sometimes we are able to cut corners and take a shortcut, but they can’t. The standard is very, very high, and I think it’s important to always remember that and see that.”

Creehan acknowledges that every airman he worked with would have an “instant career” in food service because of the thorough training that puts him or her ahead of just about anyone entering the industry. Creehan also wouldn’t hesitate to participate in future programs.

“They have a foundation and background that they could go anywhere,” he says. “I think they all have a future if they want one. I loved giving back to the community, and I was honored to be asked and will never say no to any request they would have for me. Any way I can ever help, I’ll be there, because the payback is tenfold.”

Now it wasn’t so much the idea of the natural stone as such but the fact that my husband was insisting on travertine tile: what on earth was that?
I turned to a professional husband and wife team, the owners and contractors of Delphin Design ( www.delphindesign.com ), to assist me with this particular project. This couple, were introduced to me by a close friend of mine who had contracted them to re-tile her kitchen.
My friend was so thrilled with the result and the way they had managed the project that, when she found out I needed somebody to tile my bathroom she suggested I contacted them at Delphin Design.
With the help of my husband I came up with the list of questions I could use when I met with Arthur and Agata.

Q: What is travertine tile?

A: Travertine tile is a durable natural stone that has been historical used in buildings like the Roman Coliseum. Buildings such as this prove the long lasting durability of this beautiful floor tile.

 Q: But what is travertine?
A: It is a natural stone that is closely related to both limestone and marble. It is actually formed by underground water sources. This water is really rich in minerals – these build up into the stone that is used in travertine tile. The end result is a very dense but smooth stone that is noted for its durability.

Q: What travertine colors are available?
A: Most common travertine is naturally and beautiful shade of cream, but depending on place of origin( Turkey, Italy, Iran ) it can also be beige, brown, yellow, red, gray or pink. Each tile has unique color variations because of the way it was formed.
Look of the tile can be also changed by the way it was processed. A honed finish is sanded to appear matte, while a polished travertine tile is polished until it shines. There are other options available such as the size: square 4×4 to 24×24, rectangle 8×16 to 16×24, patterns: versailles pattern or as we call it French pattern and edge profiles: chiseled, cross cut or pillow edge.

Q: What about stone care?

A: We will seal your tiles to protect them from damage. Because the tiles are so durable, a good sealant is really all you need. You can damp mop the floor as you usually would.
Optionally we can use stone enhancer which will bring out deep colors of the stone.
By the end of the meeting, I knew that travertine was the only choice. The tile itself would last forever; I mean the coliseum is still around. It gave me a lot of confidence to believe the stone tile would last longer than my thirty year mortgage.

 I ended up have Delphin Design do my travertine tile installation and what a wonderful choice – Arthur and Agata were an absolute find: a true jewel. They transformed my ordinary bathroom into a convivial and tranquil space that is a true joy to spend time in. The whole remodeling experience went smoothly, from start to finish – no hiccups anywhere along the line. I was absolutely thrilled – it was almost as if Agata could read my mind. She identified key elements to
revitalize my bathroom such as simple designs that featured beautiful glass accents – something I knew would reflect my personality perfectly. Agata offered to help with shopping for materials and we visited a number of retail outlets that sold tiles.
Finally we located Destin Home Deport where, to my absolute surprise and delight, travertine was in stock. Not only that, but our expectations were fulfilled in the range of color and quality available – and, when I realized the killer price of less than $3 per square foot was well within my budget: well, I was sold and so were the tiles! We tagged one crate and thereon discussed the job schedule. The travertine tiles were ours and the work was on. As I mentioned earlier, the whole job went well and everything was totally straightforward. I have to admit, though, that prior to the start of the project there were two potential problems that I simply could not get my head round. The first was my two precious Weimaraners that usually had a free run of the whole house during the time I was at work. Now, during the bathroom alterations I envisaged both dogs to being confined to the guest bedroom when I wasn’t around.
The other problem was my concern at leaving my house in the hands of strangers:should I take a full week off work? In the end I discussed my concerns with Arthur and Agata who were immediately able to put my mind at rest on both counts. When Arthur and Agata offered to walk my dogs, while I was at work, I found the relief astounding.
I found that I trusted Arthur and Agata so much that, at the end of the project, when they asked me what color grout I would like I was amazed by my reply: without hesitation I told them “whatever you think is good in there. I trust you guys”. What better recommendation for Destin Tile Company can I give than that? They have proved themselves to be experienced professionals in every way. Their work is clean, top quality and very creative, showing enormous attention to detail. Everything was just perfect. An unexpected bonus was the new friends I made while planning our new bathroom – even my Weims seem to miss them as well! Best of all, my beloved husband will be coming home in two weeks and I am so excited! I just can’t wait for him to come home and see our new stone sanctuary – to experience the tranquility from this beautifully revamped bathroom.
If you are considering a new bathroom or shower, or have in mind remodeling a tile surface, I can honestly recommend a family business that I guarantee you can trust.
Every project comes with warranty on labor. For more details contact Delphin Design LLC, 850-4620-6506, www.delphindesign.com  – they are in my special book: even if you are not yet ready to renovate, my advice to you would be to take note of their contact details and put Arthur and Agata in your own special book for when you are ready to call them.

Adopting a “green” lifestyle usually brings to mind taking eco-friendly steps such as improving how you heat and cool your home or choosing a more fuel-efficient vehicle. However, you also can minimize your impact on the planet by maintaining your lawn with products that promote a more environmentally sound way of life.

Last year, members of our Test Drive Team decided to try their green thumbs at lawn care. Our mission was to determine if organic weed-and-feed products could produce vibrant, lush, pest-free lawns that matched up against other lawns treated with synthetic chemicals.

We created three separate test areas on a one-acre parcel of land on which we tried three organic lawn products: Neptune’s Harvest Organic Fish/Seaweed Blend 2-3-1 Fertilizer, Nature’s Turf 8-1-9 Complete Organic Lawn Fertilizer and the Cockadoodle Doo 4-Step Organic Lawn Care Program. Our test site had been chemical-free for more than two years.

After all was said and done, our top test product was Neptune’s Harvest. It was easy to mix, simple to apply with a standard liquid sprayer, and provided the greenest, most weed-free yard of all the organics. The blend of fish hydrolysate and seaweed ensured a complete fertilization program in one bottle.

We followed the package directions, mixing 1 quart of concentrate with sufficient water to cover 2,000 square feet, and fed the test plot monthly from early spring to the end of July and again in late October. The results were significant: The centipede grass flourished and stayed a brilliant green well into December. A gallon of the Neptune’s Harvest Fish/Seaweed Blend 2-3-1 costs $37.99 and is available online at greennationgardens.com or by calling (866) 496-2540.

Running a close second was Nature’s Turf 8-1-9.

This is a granular variety that provides key nutrients and enlivens biological activity in your lawn. This product is especially healthy for the sandy soils of the Emerald Coast. The 8-1-9 in its name indicates a high level of nitrogen (the first number), a low level of phosphorus (the second number) and an acceptable level of potassium (the third number). Since our 2,000-square-foot test plot was low on organic matter, we broadcast 24 pounds of Nature’s Turf at monthly intervals from April to October. We noticed significant greening of the test plot by the end of June, as well as minimal weed growth. A 50-pound bag of Nature’s Turf 8-1-9 runs $39.95 and is available at extremelygreen.com.

Coming in third in our organic performance trials was the Cockadoodle Doo 4-Step Organic Lawn Care Program. Step One is a pre-emergence organic herbicide labeled “Super-Premium Organic Weed Control.”

We applied this product when soil temperatures reached 55 degrees — late February in the Emerald Coast — using a rotary spreader at the rate of 45 pounds for our 2,000-square-foot lawn. Thirty pounds of Super-Premium Organic Fertilizer was applied 60 days later. In early August, we again applied the weed-control product. In late October, we broadcast the fertilizer, feeding our lawn over the winter and saturating it with vital nutrients, which jump-started early spring growth. Our centipede plot did well with this four-bag program, but the substantial cost and storage requirements resulted in its lower ranking. The Cockadoodle Doo 4-Step Organic Lawn Care Program runs $139.99 and can be ordered from purebarnyard.com/cockadoodledoo or by calling (877) 873-6742.

Compared to another nearby site that had been treated over the same time period with a well-known chemical-based product, our test lawns fared well, though they weren’t quite as lush or as green. In our testers’ opinions, however, the tradeoff of a healthy and safe yard is more than enough reason to recommend that any gardener should consider these planet-preserving products.

You’ve heard the term “staycation”? While many people are actually staying at home, others plan their vacation at a nearby location, reducing travel expenses but still taking a break from the daily routine.

An assignment to spend a night at the Henderson Park Inn, a romantic bed and breakfast on the beach in Destin, was my chance to experience the staycation phenomenon, but with an upscale twist — a suite ranges from $349 to $539 per night.

When innkeeper Ryan Olin suggested we come for the whole weekend to experience all the inn’s amenities, I thought, why not? Staying in B&Bs is a delightful way to immerse yourself in the local scene. The hosts are up to date on the best places to visit; whether you are looking for a specific type of restaurant, shopping or entertainment, there is ample time to talk with the staff about their favorite things to do — and they love to share.
All-Inclusive Inn Caters to Guests
Arriving at the Henderson Park Inn, a beachside bed and breakfast, my first thought was that someone from New England had built an inn to remind them of home. But whether returning from a walk on the beach or a day of sightseeing, the Henderson, with its turrets and rough-hewn siding, was a welcome vision.

Located at the quiet end of Scenic Highway 98 as it dead-ends at Henderson Beach State Park, the inn provides a secluded haven for its guests. With 30-plus rooms and no children allowed, it is a restful and pleasant spot for adults to enjoy.

Everyone there emphasized the adults-only aspect of the inn. Olin said that even during the busy July Fourth weekend when the roads are clogged with cars and the beaches packed with tourists, the private beach in front of the inn is never crowded.

On our arrival Friday afternoon, front desk receptionist Renee Phillips provided a tour of the main building and the grounds. The inn promotes its all-inclusive status, and every amenity she pointed out emphasized the attention paid to the wants and needs of guests.

We were encouraged to return to the dining room at 5 p.m. for complimentary beer and wine during the inn’s happy hour.

Olin said that over the years, he has learned that the happy hour is a special event that gives guests a chance to get acquainted. Some couples develop friendships as their vacation progresses, spending time together on the beach and going out to dinner in the evenings. Many schedule return visits at the same time each year.

“They may not see each other any other time, but when they come back here, they renew their friendships,” Olin said.

When the weather is warm, happy hour is held at the tiki bar on the back deck. However, as it was January and a bit blustery when we visited, we were happy to discover that we would gather near the cheery fireplace in the sitting area where there was room to visit with the staff and other guests.

The bright and airy dining room was the location for breakfast, as well as a place to visit each afternoon for lemonade and freshly baked cookies. And although there was a coffee maker in our room, coffee was available in the dining room all day.

A scrapbook in the sitting area supplied current menus from local restaurants for dinner ideas and also provided information on water sports, golf courses and local attractions.

Guests could select a DVD from the nearby shelves if they planned to stay in. Bikes and kayaks also were available for guests who wanted to cruise the bike path or try out the water for an active day in the sun.

One of the highlights for my husband was the fully stocked community refrigerator. Peeking inside, he almost swooned at the sight of Snickers bars on one of the shelves. A variety of chocolate bars, sodas and bottled water are replenished throughout the day. One staff member joked that keeping it filled was practically a full-time job in the summer when guests grabbed the bottled water and soft drinks before heading out to the beach.

A Bottle of Wine and …
The elegantly furnished inn provides the comforts many of us would love to have on special occasions, such as the bottle of wine, bunch of grapes and long-stemmed red rose all tastefully arranged on a tray on the bed that greeted us as we entered our suite.

There are several categories of rooms ranging from the Junior to the Executive Suite, with one identified as the Presidential Suite. We were ensconced in one of the most popular suites in the inn, a corner room that provided amazing views of the beach from the balcony, especially the sunsets, setting the scene for a relaxing and peaceful weekend.

From the four-poster, king-size bed with plush pillows, duvet and comfortable mattress to the oversized bathroom with Gilchrist and Soames toiletries and whirlpool tub, all of the luxuries made a great first impression.

And even though a gathering storm brought thunderous surf, that somehow soothed me as I luxuriated in the chaise lounge reviewing the local newspaper for weekend happenings.

Staying in an area we were familiar with made it easy to judge the responses to questions such as “What should we do today?” or “Where’s a romantic spot for dinner?”

We listened to all of the suggestions at happy hour and offered some of our own. New Yorkers Nick and Maura Balaban, celebrating their 10th anniversary, wanted to experience jazz music. We all agreed that the wildly popular Red Bar restaurant in Grayton Beach would make for a great first dinner at the beach. We headed to the Gravel Road restaurant that night to enjoy the great food and ambiance.

Checking Out the Area
With fresh-cut fruit and a vast array of juices at breakfast, there was ample opportunity to eat healthy at the Henderson, but the warming trays filled with cheese grits, bacon, sausage and sausage gravy made it hard to resist those sinful foods. There also were freshly baked pastries, including scones and biscuits, available buffet style. We enjoyed a ham and cheese omelet — the chef makes breakfast to order, including omelets, scrambled eggs and Belgian waffles — while we planned our day.

I was thrilled when Tamee Gaddin, who was working at the front desk Saturday morning, suggested a drive down Scenic Highway 30-A, the popular beach road in South Walton, as the perfect first day excursion.

She has even written a guide for guests to use as they travel down the road.

The Balabans hopped on bikes and headed to Sandestin, another suggestion from Gaddin. Several guests were off to 30-A after breakfast, but we wanted to experience something a little different, so we asked for another option. I was a little surprised that she didn’t mention nearby Destin Commons, which offers shopping, dining and movie-going opportunities, until I realized that many of the shops and restaurants in the complex are chain stores and the inn’s staff was looking to provide visitors with experiences that were unique to the area.

Olin said they direct guests to popular local places rather than have them visit the more obvious tourist sites. Whether it’s dining at locally owned and operated restaurants or visiting artist-owned galleries, they want their guests to discover the best that the area has to offer.

To get a feel for a part of the Emerald Coast we had not visited in a couple of years, we headed west toward Emerald Grande and HarborWalk, a new entertainment center at the base of the Destin Bridge. It was a bit lower on Gaddin’s list but still a pleasant outing for many vacationers.

When we discovered the restaurants Commander’s Palace and Pat O’Brien’s, with the preponderance of New Orleans-based restaurants, I jokingly wondered if we had driven a bit too far. Since Hurricane Katrina, some of the New Orleans residents who took refuge in this area and were welcomed with such hospitality decided to relocate here and bring their businesses, especially restaurants, to our community. We have been blessed to become home to restaurants such as Fire, once based in Louisiana, while others, like Commander’s Palace and Pat O’Brien’s, have opened a second location in Northwest Florida.

While touring HarborWalk, the rain arrived and the temperature dropped, and we abandoned our tourist trek for the warmth of our suite. The inn provides gourmet box lunches, and while picking up our pre-ordered meal, we grabbed several of the fresh-baked cookies, selected a couple of DVDs and hunkered down for the afternoon.

Dinner Is Served
That cold and rainy Saturday night as we headed out to Camille’s at Crystal Beach for dinner, I wished there were an on-site restaurant for our convenience. The Henderson staff sought to provide every service, so much so that guests don’t need to leave the facility, except for dinner. Now, with the addition of BeachWalk Cafe, an upscale restaurant that relocated to the inn and opened March 1, they can stay in for dinner as well. With that addition, guests won’t have a single reason to get in their car until it’s time to leave.

Heading back home to do laundry and prepare for another work week, we agreed that it had been the perfect staycation, one that gave us the chance to relax and recharge. And isn’t that what a vacation — whether at home or far away — is all about?

Amenities:
• 24 hour on-site check-in
• Located on a quiet section of Scenic Highway 98, next to Henderson Beach State Park
• Close to Destin Commons and the Mid-Bay Bridge
• Private terraces/balconies overlooking the Gulf of Mexico (except Honeymoon Suite)
• Complimentary beach service and beach towels for use on site
• Cable TV, DVD players and DVD check-outs
• Wine and grapes in rooms upon arrival
• Rooms with mini-refrigerator come stocked with bottled water
• Small conference room for weddings, board meetings and other activities
• Free high-speed Internet access
• Some rooms equipped with fireplace
• Full breakfast and boxed lunches included
• Beer and wine happy hour
• Suites available
• Private baths (most with whirlpool tubs)
• Golf privileges and preferred rates at nearby Kelly Plantation
• Community refrigerator stocked with beverages and candy bars
• Adults only

Nearby Restaurants
Seasonal hours, call to confirm

Camille’s at Crystal Beach
2931 Scenic Highway 98, Destin
(850) 337-8860
Lunch: 11 a.m.–2 p.m. daily
Dinner: Sunday through Thursday, 5–10 p.m.
Friday and Saturday, 5–11 p.m.
Reservations recommended.
camillesatcrystalbeach.com

Gravel Road Restaurant
50 Uptown Grayton Circle, Grayton Beach
(850) 534-0960
Lunch: 11 a.m.–3 p.m., Monday through Saturday
Dinner: 5–9:30 p.m.
gravelroadrestaurant.com

Restaurant Fire
55 Clayton Lane, Grayton Beach
(850)-231-9020
Lunch: 11:30 a.m.–2:30 p.m., Tuesday through Friday
Dinner: starts at 6 p.m., Tuesday through Saturday
Sunday Brunch: starts at 11 a.m.
restaurantfire.com

It was a long weekend from school. My roommates and I were so excited! We had rented a beach house in Destin, Florida and being that Destin photography was our major course of study, we packed up our camera gear and were ready to explore this beauty for ourselves that we had marveled at on television and in books.

As we came off I-10 toward Ft. Walton Beach, we knew the type of experience we would soon have. It was like being back in time to a simpler life in the old days of Florida. We took photographs of fishing shacks and houses that seemed to have been there forever.

We were then on the most beautiful stretch of beach I had ever seen. Immediately I knew why this was called the Emerald Coast.
The beaches had the whitest sand that looked like grains of sugar! I have been to other parts of the state, to other beaches, but none so hypnotizing. It felt like it only belonged to me and my friends. It was clean and unspoiled and devoid of crowds. The waters were blue-green with gentle surf, and we found them a pleasure to photograph.

 Could this really be as good as all the pictures by the famous photographers in all those magazines?
The photographers we learned so much from in our class? It was all that and more. The next few days we spent relaxing, taking plenty of photographs of course. We learned how to use underwater cameras in some of the clearest waters I have ever gazed in. The wildlife beneath the Gulf was as colorful and unique as on dry land. We spent our evenings using our tripods taking dramatic photographs on brilliant sunsets and feasting on some of the freshest seafood around.

 We all took some of the best work we ever did back to school with us from this trip. Other classmates were amazed at our photographs, and we encouraged them all to take a trip and see Destin for themselves.

They transformed a scrubby beachfront into a new symbol of community, gave new life to the almost forgotten “cracker house” and popularized the idea of building homes in harmony with their environment.

Meet Robert and Daryl Davis, the boy from Birmingham, Ala., and the girl from Brooklyn who have been hailed worldwide as “true architectural connoisseurs.”

Together, they turned a grandfather’s vision into reality, transforming what some considered scrub wasteland and worthless sand into an architectural mecca. And they introduced the world to Scenic Highway 30-A and its world-class beaches.

Together, the Davises gave birth to Seaside and a movement called “New Urbanism,” the concept of living in a community where most of life’s daily needs are a short walk away and where children can bike to school, the bookstore and the ice cream shop. It was a return to a “Leave It to Beaver” style of life, the antithesis of the construction mania gripping the rest of Florida — sprawling suburbs and high-rise condominiums that cut off the view and access to one of the Sunshine State’s greatest treasures, its beaches.

Today, along Seaside’s quiet streets, behind white picket fences, stand quaint wood-frame cottages with expansive porches and names such as “Nana’s Sunshine,” “Bonny Dune” and “Smitten,” all painted in warm hues of yellow, blue, pink and green. All streets lead to the sea, with pavilions serving as a public gateway to the azure waters of the Gulf of Mexico.

“It’s a place where you can experience serenity, safety and beauty,” says Annette Newbill Trujillo, who runs a quaint local gallery that sells one-of-a-kind jewelry, wind ornaments and sculptures. “It’s a very special place.”

Of the couple that made it a reality, longtime friend and employee Erica Pierce says, “Once you meet the Davises, you get caught up in their dream.”

In 2011, they’ll all celebrate the realization of that dream as Seaside turns 30.

An Unlikely Match
Robert and Daryl Davis come from different worlds, but their lifetime experiences are what provided the spark to make Seaside a reality. He’s from the South, she’s from the North. He is precise, rejecting the “mindless experimentalism of modernism” for the tried and tested. She adheres to an opposite philosophy of “invent it yourself.”

He is quiet and somewhat reserved, although his hobby and passion is driving his two race cars. She is creative and vivacious, teasing him into poses for the camera, often finishing his half-completed thoughts, lovingly giving him hugs and kisses.

Robert Davis grew up in a Jewish family in the Edgewood section of Birmingham, where bagels looked more like doughnuts and (to Daryl Davis’ continued amusement today) he topped them with jelly because “it made sense.”

“As Birmingham goes, Edgewood was rather urbane,” he says. “But as Lenny Bruce would say in his comedy skits, if you’re from New York, you’re Jewish. If you’re not, you’re not.”

Robert Davis vacationed on Northwest Florida’s Gulf shores with his family, enjoyed the subtropical climate, majored in history at Antioch College in Ohio and then earned a graduate business degree from Harvard. He had all the tools to become the CEO of a large, multinational corporation. Instead, he became an architect of renown in Miami.

Daryl Rose Davis was born in Brooklyn, where she developed a sense of community from the front stoops of her neighborhood. She loved going to Coney Island and was highly artistic and creative. She worked at a methadone clinic while earning a master’s degree in counseling from the University of Miami and wondering what her future might hold.

They met on a “second generation” blind date.

“Daryl’s former boyfriend had been a blind date,” says Robert Davis. “He suggested I give her a call. If it had been a friend of my mom’s, I wouldn’t have bothered. But he seemed like a pretty cool guy, so I figured his old girlfriend couldn’t be that bad.”

It was pretty close to love at first sight, though she was angry he showed up late.

“He picked me up 45 minutes late in a car that had no floorboards on the passenger side,” Daryl Davis remembers. “How impressed was I? Then he said to me, on our first date, ‘I’m going to take you to my house and cook dinner for you.’ And I’m thinking, ‘Who’s going to be dessert?’”

That first date was in February 1977. It turned out that he was a pretty good cook. They were married in 1983 at Seaside’s Tupelo pavilion.

“He inherited Seaside, I inherited a Southerner,” she jokes.

The Beginnings
It all started with Joseph Smolian, a Birmingham department store owner who loved to bring his family to Florida’s Gulf beaches for vacation. He was Robert Davis’ grandfather.

In 1946, Smolian bought 80 acres — at $100 an acre — to build a summer camp for his employees. But that plan never worked out, and family members chided him for buying worthless sand from country boys who saw him coming. He put the deed away but, as Robert Davis remembers, vowed, “One of these days, it’ll be worth something.”

The family continued returning for their beach vacations, and each time Smolian would hike through the underbrush to see what was there.

“My grandfather would gesticulate and say, ‘This is going to be a great place one day,’” Robert Davis recalls. Smolian even came up with a subdivision name, Dreamland Heights.

Smolian was a builder. He would dig holes in his yard and then fill them up. He constantly put new additions on his house. He built stone walls. At the age of 95, he rebuilt a stone wall in his Florida house. A week after finishing, he died of a heart attack.

But Smolian passed the desire to build on to his grandson, who remembers creating his own castles out of the fine, sugar-white sand of Northwest Florida at the age of 3.

In the late 1970s, Robert Davis inherited the 80 acres of beachfront land “along with a lot of childhood memories of staying in very simple, primitive beach shacks not too far away.” It didn’t take long for the building gene to kick into high gear.

It Wasn’t Easy
Armed with their youthful enthusiasm and a red 1975 Pontiac convertible, Robert and Daryl Davis cruised the back roads of Florida to get architectural inspiration from old towns and buildings. They took lots of notes and photographs as they began planning what Seaside would become. They even traveled to southern Europe — coastal France and Italy — to study the compact towns there.

“All of a sudden, we’d be going down a lovely little street, like a ‘Leave It to Beaver’ street, and he’d jump out of the car while I’d be sitting there thinking, ‘What is going on?’ ” Daryl Davis remembers.

“He’s looking at the curb, taking measurements, looking at the trees, studying everything in detail,” she says. “There is a certain proportion that makes an urban center feel good, comforting. But I didn’t know what he was looking at.”

Pausing, Daryl Davis looks at her husband and then says, “You oversimplify, but it was all those details that you captured that made Seaside what it is.”

Taking the next step took a huge leap of faith for the young couple, who were now faced with building a town and selling their dream to others.

“We weren’t really selling houses. We were selling an idea for living in a neighborhood,” says Robert Davis.

They started out in 1981 with two houses on Tupelo Street. One was the sales office and the other served as both their residence and the Sunday model home. On Saturdays they held an open-air market, fashioned after those they had seen in southern Europe’s town squares, hoping to duplicate the sense of community found in those gathering places.

“It was excessive-compulsive,” Robert Davis now says of the fruits and vegetables they bought to make their market appear attractive to passersby.

“Most of it went home with us because we didn’t have much of a market,” Robert Davis says. “On Sundays we’d be making strawberry jam or spaghetti sauce with the leftover produce. So the house always smelled pretty good. But we did discover that smell is a proven technique for selling.”

The houses were sufficiently different from anything else being developed along Florida’s coast that the Davises thought people would be enthralled by them. Every house was required to have a porch, be built off the ground and have deep roof overhangs with southern exposure to capture the breezes. They were basically passive solar houses — a good idea that was probably 20 years away from becoming a saleable one.

People did drive out to look at the homes, located in what Daryl Davis describes as “the middle of Podunk.” But it was hard to seal those first deals.

“Robert would walk them up the street and he would explain to them the vision of the town that was in his mind and how it would one day look with the school, the downtown, the church,” Daryl Davis recalls. “But then it came time to get the check. We couldn’t figure out how to get the money. There was no sense of urgency. These people thought, ‘Hey, you’ve got 80 acres here, what’s my hurry?’ We just didn’t know how to close the deal.”

As those potential customers left, Robert Davis remembers thinking, “It’ll be a long time before these dreams come true.”

When they finally hired a salesman, he sold six lots in the first week. Enthusiasm began to build, and Seaside took off.

Andres Duany, the Seaside planner and founder of the Congress for the New Urbanism, credits the Davises’ vision with being the driving force that turned the town into reality and helped to intercept, if only temporarily, the profusion of high-rise coastal condominiums. The Miami architect also credits the couple with helping to raise the standard of housing and workmanship throughout much of Northwest Florida.

“Robert and Daryl Davis’ fanaticism gradually raised the standard of craftsmanship, proving bit by bit, over the years, that people will pay for quality design and construction,” Duany writes in “Views of Seaside: Commentaries and Observations on a City of Ideas,” published by the Seaside Institute in 2008.

“The crews that started Seaside’s first buildings could hardly hammer a nail or hang Sheetrock,” Duany writes. “Twenty years later the construction crews not only at Seaside but also throughout the Panhandle have become masters unsurpassed anywhere in the United States.”

Town Center
The heart of a town is where its community gathers. For Seaside, that is the town center, a place filled with unique small stores and the town green — a wide expanse of lawn that hosts concerts, movies and children at play.

This is where Daryl Davis has poured out her heart, using her creativity and retail skills to establish a variety of stores that sell clothing and home items.

“Robert does the structure of the town and I feel like I’m the infill person, like I’m the visual arm for what the Seaside style is,” she says.

In a place called Perspicacity, a word that Webster’s Dictionary defines as “acute mental vision,” Daryl Davis has strived to keep alive the concept of the Saturday outdoor market.

“When it was still hard to get people to buy homes here, she felt it was important to develop retail, to create a sense of community, a buzz. And it worked,” said Erica Pierce, who has worked for the Davises since 1988 and manages five stores owned by Daryl. “It started to develop a real town feeling.”

All of the businesses in Seaside remain mom-and-pop operations — there are no chain stores. That makes Seaside an anomaly in the area.

As Daryl Davis worked to develop the commercial heart of the town and the Seaside “style,” she also focused on trying to convince people to come out and visit.

“We tried to create a social milieu to make it fun,” she says. “We held watermelon-pit spitting contests. We had a pig roast — with two guys drinking bourbon in the town center for 24 hours while the pigs were roasting. Robert even dressed up in drag, as Miss Seaside.”

Eventually the tourists came, as did universities, writers and museum curators interested in the concept of New Urbanism. Live music, including a New York City Opera touring company and the Birmingham Symphony, and foreign films were brought in. The Seaside Institute was started in 1982. And the town’s starring role in the hit movie “The Truman Show” brought more national attention.

The Irony
While Seaside is a town that was built to be lived in, few people actually do live there. It remains primarily a resort where those who do own homes rent them out for much of the year. There are fewer than a dozen permanent residents.

Laura and Michael Granberry are artists who moved from Atlanta to become permanent Seaside residents in 2005. They only have one car. And there are days when the car sits unused by either of them.
“I love the community aspect,” Laura Granberry says. “You have a town and you don’t need a car. After coming from Atlanta, where you can’t get anywhere walking, we fell in love with everything.”

Adds Michael Granberry, “I love the fact that I can walk out the door, be at the market and they know my name. But in the middle of summer (with the tourists), it can be a circus outside.”

The Granberrys were attracted by the idea of an artist’s colony where shops would be on the ground floor and the artists would live above. It’s a concept common in Europe but not in the United States.

But the artist colony on Ruskin Place has not caught on quite as many had hoped. And the Granberrys are among the few homeowners who are not retired or self-made millionaires. There has also been friction in the homeowner’s group between the permanent residents and those who own homes but show up only intermittently on vacation.

“At one point about two years ago I got very frustrated with Seaside,” Laura Granberry admits. “It’s a town, but not a functioning town. Maybe as more people retire it will be.”

Yet as Duany points out in “Views of Seaside,” the fact that Seaside is mostly a resort town is what helped spread the new-urbanist concept.

“Many people (developers included) have taken the Seaside experience back home and implemented what they have lived and learned,” he writes. “The idealism of a resort can give clarity to a concept. Seaside, with sequential residents, has become a propaganda machine. A full-time community of everyday living cannot be quite as effective.”

Even the Davises don’t live in Seaside. While they come back several times a year and keep constant vigil over their town via phone and e-mail, they now live in San Francisco.

“We decided on a sabbatical,” Daryl Davis explains of the move 10 years ago when their son was 11. “We wanted Micah to have a Bar Mitzvah, and it was difficult in this area. I think there were five Jewish people, and we were three of them.”

They were also burned out by living and working in the same place. Micah even dubbed his father “Sir Talks A Lot” because, even on his days off, people would constantly stop Robert Davis on the street or the beach to talk.

“People didn’t realize that might be the only time we had allocated for family time,” Daryl Davis says.

One year in San Francisco turned into another and another. They liked the idea of having distance from their work. They got out of micromanaging, says Daryl Davis, and came out better managers.

Still Work To Do
Robert is 65 and Daryl is 58, but there is no sign the Davises are slowing down. They want to continue the work of the Seaside Institute, which has nurtured the cultural offerings at Seaside. They want to help in the development of 30-A as a “larger civic entity” and a recognized brand. And they want to continue telling the story of Seaside. Hundreds of new communities across the globe already have incorporated some aspect of New Urbanism, and they hope to see it applied to more.

In the meantime, those who live in Seaside and those who don’t say they will still enjoy what Robert and Daryl Davis have given them.

“It’s a small town that brings you tranquility,” says gallery owner Newbill Trujillo. “People are looking for spaces in our universe that are calm.”

But the waters below this airspace are also coveted for their rich oil and gas reserves by a country seeking energy independence.
F-15/F-22 image Courtesy United States Air Force
The USAF’s  F-15 and F-22 are used extensively in Gulf exercises. Photo courtesy United States Air Force.

Eglin Air Force Base’s Air Armament Center conducts test and evaluation missions of new weapons involving full-size target drone aircraft in the skies over the 130,000-square-mile test and training range in the eastern Gulf – an area larger than the state of New Mexico. Between Oct. 1, 2007, and Sept. 30, 2008, more than 3,400 test missions were flown in this airspace.

Any civilian encroachment on this training area could reduce the military value of Eglin’s mission to test and evaluate new weapon systems. It isn’t the type of testing that can be efficiently performed anywhere else in the continental United States.

“The Eglin Water Test Range has more airspace available for testing new and legacy weapons than the combined airspace of all U.S. land ranges,” said Bob Arnold, chief of Eglin’s Mission Enhancement Committee. “This is important due to the increasing safety footprint size of our new fighter aircraft conducting air-to-air missile tests and training missions. The increased speed of these aircraft, coupled with the added range of the missiles, requires larger ‘clear areas’ for target debris resulting from our testing.”

This range provides training areas for military pilots sharpening their combat skills from Air Force runways at Eglin, Tyndall Air Force Base and Hurlburt Field. And the future addition of the new F-35 Lightning II, a state-of-the-art supersonic fighter scheduled to arrive at Eglin in 2010, will demand even more use of the airspace. The Naval Surface Warfare Center at Panama City also uses the Gulf waters for testing and evaluation in the areas of mine warfare, special warfare, diving and life support.

The combined economic impact of these four installations is $8.9 billion for Okaloosa and Bay counties, according to the Florida Defense Fact Book published by the University of West Florida’s Haas Business Center.


Oil and gas drilling operations in the waters of the range cannot co-exist with ongoing Air Force testing without coordination and a firm understanding between them. These behemoth rigs cost upwards of $1 billion and incorporate a logistics lifeline to the mainland.

“Our concern over oil/gas activity is related to the possible damage to oil/gas platforms associated with permanent production activity,” Arnold said. Moreover, the additional boat and helicopter support activity would require safe passage, and the radio emissions from the oil and gas platforms could interfere with military missions.

As part of Eglin’s test and evaluation mission, a fleet of 50 Vietnam-era QF-4 fighter jets are used as remotely piloted, full-sized target drones, along with smaller drones for missile training and evaluation by the 82nd Aerial Targets Group operating from Tyndall Air Force Base.

“Above-surface oil/gas platforms are incompatible with our military operations in areas of the Gulf of Mexico where we shoot down things like unmanned drone aircraft,” Arnold said. “Debris from these types of operations pose a serious safety hazard for the platforms and personnel who operate them, so obviously, this is not a situation we can allow to occur.” According to Arnold, the downing of a 25-ton QF-4 can produce tens of thousands of pieces of debris, with the wreckage hitting the water with the force of a minivan collision at 45 mph.


Eglin has been working with the U.S. Department of the Interior’s Minerals Management Service – the agency that manages offshore drilling – for 25 years on the issue of offshore leases. In a June 2008 meeting, with the Minerals Management Service, the Air Force agreed to reassess its needs in the test and training range in the eastern Gulf to accommodate oil and gas exploration, according to a September article in the Bay Beacon.

“We recognize the importance to national security provided by oil/gas energy and are working with (the Minerals Management Service) to accommodate new exploration without impact to our mission,” Arnold said.

In 2005, Eglin created the Military Mission Line, a demarcation of its airspace extending south from Hurlburt Field. Military officials say drilling and exploration on the west side of that line would not affect training and testing.

A ban on permanent, above-surface structures east of what is now the Military Mission Line was agreed on in 1986. This affected 95 previously granted exploration leases sold by the government in that area. For those leases, Eglin allowed five temporary blocks of time for exploration, one area at a time. These time blocks shifted every three months while the military test missions were temporarily moved to other areas.

Should oil companies want to produce oil or gas platforms resulting from exploration, they would require a different kind of lease from the Minerals Management Service that has been coordinated with the military, according to Arnold. To date, no such requests have been approved.

If production is ever permitted, the Air Force would prefer to see subsurface technology like that used off the Alabama coast, where above-surface platforms act as hubs connected to subsurface wells by pipelines and do not pose a risk to test and evaluation missions.

“We’re perfectly OK with subsurface activity,” Arnold said.

Eglin allowed construction in 2001 of a 36-inch diameter, 419-mile steel pipeline on the sea bed between Mobile, Ala., and Tampa – a path that took the project directly through Eglin’s water ranges. The $1.6 billion project provides Floridians with 1.2 billion cubic feet of natural gas per day without interfering with military missions.

As the debate about drilling in the eastern Gulf continues, the coordination and communication between the Air Force and the federal government will continue as it has over the past 25 years as they work to balance competing needs for exploration and the critical test and evaluation requirements that serve our national security needs.
QF-4 Image courtesy U.S. Air Force/ Master Sgt. Shaun Withers
QF-4 Image courtesy U.S. Air Force/ Master Sgt. Shaun Withers.
Testing the QF-4

The supersonic QF-4 is a reusable, full-scale target drone modified from the F-4 Phantom. It provides a realistic target for air-to-air weapons-system evaluation, development and testing for Eglin’s Air Armament Center.

The QF-4 is a remotely controlled target that simulates enemy aircraft profiles and maneuvers. The aircraft is launched from a runway separate from the main operating runway at Tyndall Air Force Base.

The drone can be flown by remote control or with a safety pilot to monitor its performance. It is flown unmanned when missiles are fired at it, and only in specific over-water airspace authorized for that type of flight.

When unmanned, an explosive device is placed in the QF-4 to destroy the aircraft if it becomes uncontrollable.

The aircraft is equipped to carry electronic and infrared countermeasures to fully evaluate fighters and weapons flown and fired against it. Full-scale drone aircraft can be flown totally by computer using the Gulf Range Drone Control System, or controlled manually during takeoff and landing using a mobile control station located at the drone runway. As a safety precaution, a chase plane trails the drone during critical periods of flight.

The F-4 was the primary fighter-bomber aircraft in the U.S. Air Force throughout the 1960s and 1970s. F-4s also flew reconnaissance and “Wild Weasel” anti-aircraft missile suppression missions and saw considerable action in Operation Desert Storm. Production of the F-4 ended in 1979.

The drone fleet is operated and maintained by the 82d Aerial Targets Squadron, located at Tyndall Air Force Base. The squadron is a subordinate unit of the 53rd Weapons Evaluation Group at Tyndall. The 53rd Weapons Evaluation Group reports to the 53rd Wing at Eglin Air Force Base

“Prescribed burns help us preserve, restore and manage fire-dependent and maintained habitats containing rare wetland species on over 206,000 acres purchased for public water resource protection,” says William O. “Bill” Cleckley, director of the state Division of Land Management and Acquisition. “Warm-season controlled burns will create a low-density woodland that produces an understory rich in species. This area supports an amazing 60 to 70 species of plants.

“We are conducting wet-prairie restoration research with Dr. Richard Snyder of the University of Florida to monitor habitat response after fire cycles,” Cleckley says. “We are also thinning planted pines, planting wiregrass plugs and directly seeding wet-prairie wiregrass and other species.”

To set aerial fires, Steve Brown, assistant lands manager for the Northwest Florida Water Management District’s Western Land Management Region, contracts with a helicopter service and uses a plastic sphere dispenser, a so-called “ping pong ball machine.”

“The ping pong balls are actually plastic balls filled with potassium promanganate,” he says. “The machine injects the balls with glycol as they are dropped from the helicopter. This creates a delayed thermal reaction, producing a flame that consumes the ball and ignites the ground fuels.

“With this method, we can control the density of the balls and intensity of the fire,” Brown says. “Spot fires flare up, run into each other and burn out. Helicopter burns allow the district to put a lot of fire on the ground in a short time.”

Aerial prescribed burns are especially recommended near urban areas, where smoke could disturb residents and motorists and present safety hazards. To minimize disturbances, fire crews take advantage of the right weather (a passing cold front, as well as adequate rainfall, humidity, temperature and cross winds) and vertical rises in atmosphere at midday. For added fire safety, ground crews conduct downwind test burns and begin firing baselines to consume fine tinder and reinforce fire breaks. When the downwind ground is adequately blackened, the ground crew sets fires upwind along burn-area flanks. The helicopter can then run strips perpendicular to the wind, from the downwind side up.

“Smoke management is top priority,” Brown says. “Careful planning involves assembling a team of experts, getting permission and approval from numerous agencies and calling off a burn if adverse weather arises. A burn day can take everything you’ve got.”

To walk through a well-managed wet prairie, such as the Northwest Florida Water Management District’s 3,235-acre Garcon Point Water Management Area, take Exit 22 off Interstate 10, turn south and drive about four miles. There, beside the 2.7-mile Garcon Point Trail, flowering ground orchids and white-top pitcher plants tremble in the breeze among ashes of a recent burn. Since the district took ownership, the preserve has undergone several seasons of prescribed burns to encourage sun-loving species once shaded out by fire exclusion and the resultant dense understory of shrubs and small trees.

“Many of the historic native wet-flatwood and wet-prairie species require open, sunlit wet meadows to thrive,” says district environmental scientist David Clayton. “So any controlled burn is a good burn. However, there is a critical date past which you don’t get flowering of some species.”

The Garcon Point Trail crosses a mostly flat plain where moisture changes gradually, creating varied wetland zones and allowing space for many species. Above and within the ground, water flows laterally above a clay layer or organic hardpan, which slows downward percolation of water and keeps the area moist.

“One square meter of herb bog contains the highest species richness of any such area yet inventoried,” according to “Priceless Florida: Natural Ecosystems and Native Species,” a book by Ellie Whitney, D. Bruce Means and Anne Rudloe. “Botanists travel to Florida from all over the country to see (pitcher plant prairies) in their season.”

Clayton kneels in the soot near a delicate pale grasspink orchid whose petals flutter like butterfly wings.

“Grasspinks exhibit deceptive pollination strategies,” he says. “Insects are attracted to the hair-like structures, which mimic flower anthers and attempt to gather pollen. But the weight of the bee causes the lip to fall, and bees land on the column of the flower where the pollen packets can attach to the bee. These are then deposited at just the right place to pollinate the next orchid flower.”

Nearby, a cluster of white top pitcher plants is rooted like strawberries on rhizomes (runners) that rise from loose charcoal. Dating to the dinosaur age, pitcher plants are a keystone species, attracting insects and even harboring predators. Flies, ants, grasshoppers and other small animals explore the flower-like leaves and nectar-like secretions.

Inside, hoods lined with downward pointing hairs cause insects to fall into the pitcher and drown. Over time, the animal is digested by a mixture of water and plant enzymes and absorbed by specialized cells. In this way, the pitcher plant has adapted a way to obtain nutrients even though soils are leached of nitrogen and phosphorus.

“Scientists have cut open a pitcher plant and counted dozens of partially digested bug carcasses,” Clayton says. “Pitcher plants hybridize easily,” he adds, pointing to several butter-hued pitcher plants, a cross between white top and yellow pitcher plants. Inside one of them, an opportunistic spider tends its web. Pine woods tree frogs also hide inside pitchers to snare a meal.

“This is high-quality wet flatwoods and wet prairie,” Clayton says. “These ecosystems are becoming rarer as development encroaches or are in decline from years of fire exclusion.”

As he leaves the trail for an upland bog known as the Carter tract, sparrows flit among mid-story trees, maintaining a preferred flight level. The Garcon Point tract has preserved important habitat for the increasingly rare Henslow’s sparrow, which migrates to marshes and pine woods, builds a cup nest on the ground and feeds on insects.

Beside the road, white top pitcher plants proliferate in roadside ditches, many smashed in the muddy tracks of all-terrain vehicles.

“That’s a loss for the people of Florida,” Clayton says. “Threatened and endangered plants do not receive the same attention and protection as listed animals. Yet it’s the diversity of plant species, including rare species, that often provides quality habitats for animals to thrive in.”

At the Carter tract, strange cylindrical flowers that look like miniature yellow drums grow in a circle around a central stem.

“Drumheads,” Clayton says. He easily identifies Rhexia lutea and R. alifanus – yellow and Savannah beauty – and Lachnocaulon – bog button. But it is the large, knee-high yellow pitcher plants that impress him most. Bronze flies flit around glistening leaf hoods designed to keep rainwater out so that trumpets don’t fill with too much water and fall over.

“High-quality wetlands are not as easy to find as they were years ago,” Clayton says.

In the Northwest Florida Water Management District’s Central Land Management Region, on the Econfina Creek Water Management Area, the district has also restored critical wetlands by harvesting planted pines, employing prescriptive burning and planting more than 8,000 acres of native longleaf pine-wiregrass habitat. The district also has terraced and seeded old logging roads and restored erosion around the Sand Hill Lakes, which seep into the Floridan Aquifer and recharge Econfina Creek springs. These low-nutrient ponds are critical habitat for the globally imperiled smoothbark St. John’s wort, quillwort yellow-eyed grass, thread-leaved sundew and Crystal Lake nailwort (an herb that grows roughly in the shape of a cross). Showy mountain laurel, Panhandle meadow beauty and flowering rosemary all are preserved on the Econfina Creek Water Management Area.

Also preserved are the Ashe’s magnolia, pyramid magnolia and silky camellia, all endangered species in Florida. The rarest of the Florida magnolias, Ashe’s magnolia is limited to six counties in the Panhandle.

“You very rarely see this in the wild,” Clayton says.

The small tree begins flowering early in its life cycle with large 10- to 12-inch blossoms. Creamy petals are purple-rimmed at the base, and flowers often appear in pairs.

“At the district, we are required to convert lesser-quality habitat to higher quality,” Cleckley, the Division of Land Management and Acquisition director, says. “Also, we hold and manage these lands in perpetuity and encourage public recreation and enjoyment that does not harm the resource.”

Time to Telecommute?

As gas prices and stress soar, more Emerald coast residents consider working from home

Most folks would agree: The morning commute to work in rush-hour traffic produces a pain specific to the posterior region. Now, with the price of gasoline continuing to climb, workers are feeling it in the pocketbook, too.

And the anguish is spreading.

“People concerned with the effects of gas prices were significantly less attentive on the job, less excited about going to work, less passionate and conscientious and more tense,” according to Florida State University College of Business Professor Wayne Hochwarter, who surveyed more than 800 full-time employees this spring when gas prices hovered at about $3.50 per gallon. “These people also reported more ‘blues’ on the job. Employees were simply unable to detach themselves from the stress caused by escalating gas prices as they walked through the doors at work.”

Looking for some relief? Maybe it’s time to leave the bumper-to-bumper traffic behind and steer your career along the Information Superhighway. If you’re tired of congested roadways, concerned about air quality and fed up with high prices at the pump, telecommuting could be your answer.

The Value of Virtual Venues
Even before fuel costs began to spike, workers and employers around the globe began embracing the telecommuting or “telework” phenomenon. “Telecommuting is second only to ‘casual days’ as the fastest-growing shift in traditional working patterns,” reports the American Telecommuting Association, which defines the practice broadly as “any method for working productively while away from the traditional office.”

In the three decades since the term “telecommute” was first coined, academia, state and federal governmental agencies and countless individuals have sampled and studied the work-at-home option for a broad spectrum of jobs and industries. “One of the most pleasant surprises about telecommuting is that it’s a win-win-win situation for the individual telecommuter, the employer, and society as a whole,” according to the ATA.

Notorious for its red tape and bureaucracy, the U.S. government reportedly has outpaced private employers for years in adopting telecommuting – by as much as a 3-to-1 margin in 2007.

On the state level, fully a decade ago, after conducting two three-year studies, Florida embraced telecommuting as an official option for its employees.

Working from home is a voluntary option for state employees with amenable jobs, says Anna B. Gray, manager of work-force development and benefits in the Florida Department of Management Services’ Division of Resource Management, which oversees the state personnel system. By law, “All agencies have to identify and maintain a list of positions appropriate for telecommuting,” Gray says.

“Initially the focus of the program was in terms of work-and-life-balance issues, and initially it was designed to be a recruitment or retention benefit,” Gray says.

“(Telecommuting) was an alternative work arrangement primarily to meet the needs of employees and to show some flexibility.”

During the most recent legislative session, the state’s program was on the agenda once again, and its mandates were tweaked.

“In today’s world the emphasis, of course, is now on energy savings and gas emissions and energy conservation,” Gray says.

In the earliest days of the state program, the logistics commanded much attention.

“At the very beginning, personal computer technology was still very new,” Gray says, “so there was a lot of emphasis devoted to how to set up a home office, what sort of technology and what type of dial-up technology and additional equipment was needed.”

“Nowadays, it’s so fluid because a good percentage of employees already own personal computers or have wi-fi access,” she says.

Couching a Career
Some of the nation’s most prominent employers have embraced telecommuting – and continue to expand their initiatives. For Elizabeth Beazley Corriveau of Santa Rosa Beach, the office is wherever she boots up her computer.

“I’m a little bit nomadic,” says the Walt Disney Co. scheduling manager, whose home office is 412 miles away from the Magic Kingdom. “I can work in Panera. I can work on my porch … when I look at telecommuting, the technology has advanced so far that your options are truly vast, with broadband connections, wireless cards, cell phones. I think that’s the amazing thing.”

Corriveau loves telecommuting.

“I absolutely do,” she says. “I love the fact that I have a very flexible work schedule. I usually work five hours in the daytime and then a few hours in the evening. I have a lot of reports I do, so that I can do at any time.”

There are challenges, of course.

“You have to be somebody who is extremely well disciplined to work from home, because you don’t have somebody standing over your shoulder,” she says.

“I think, one of the great things about my situation is that is has allowed me to continue to stay with the company even though I don’t specifically live in Orlando,” says Corriveau, who supervises a team of 40 exclusive telecommuters scattered across the country, all of whom apparently wouldn’t have it any other way.

“Life changes, and you may move to a different place, and a lot of the folks who work on my team have had children and have decided to opt out of the full-time work force. My entire team works part time. I actually have zero full-time people,” Corriveau says.

And, she has very little attrition, too.

“The only attrition I have is (when) I promote people … My team is actually one of the largest (at Disney) that is strictly telecommuting,” she says.

Corriveau didn’t start out as a telecommuter. About nine years into her tenure with Disney, she had mainly worked in marketing and public relations in Orlando for Disney Vacation Club and Disney Cruise Lines and a couple years as a recruiter for the Disney College Program.

“We were moving out of state to Washington, D.C., so I left the company,” she says.

Later, Corriveau found out through close business contacts that in its recruitment efforts, Disney was going to start experimenting with interviewing college students by telephone. In September 2005, she rejoined the company and started doing this new work as an Interview Partner.

“That’s when I started telecommuting,” she says. “We actually have all of the candidates’ application on file electronically. I started out doing telephone interviews” and working with scheduling the interviews,” she says.

“We actually just do phone interviews, so we call the candidate and do the interview on the phone with them. For a large percent of our candidates, they don’t interview in person,” Corriveau explains.

Last October, Corriveau was promoted to manager of her Interview Partners team, who she says live as far north as Boston, as far south as Orlando and as far west as Boise, Idaho. After the team conducts phone interviews, they transfer the data directly to Disney’s employment database.

Work Without the Watercooler
Now that she’s a veteran telecommuter, Corriveau has found the transition to telework requires more than a mere change of venue.

“There’s a different type of communication you develop remotely,” she says, noting that her team communicates heavily through e-mail, conference calls and instant messaging.

“There’s a different way of developing relationships because you don’t have that face-to-face interaction, and you’re not able to go down the hall and ask a question,” she says. For instance, facial expressions are “something you forgo and something that you learn to find a way around. Sometimes it is much easier for some people to relate in person than just over the phone or via e-mail.”

The reliance on technology makes effective communication skills all the more important, Corriveau contends.

“You have to be very honest. It’s almost better to over-communicate than under-communicate.”

For all the benefits of telecommuting, there is a downside with computer-based work, Corriveau admits.

“You’ve got to have a really good Internet connection,” she says. “If you don’t, that really puts a crimp in your day.”

Potential Benefits of Telecommuting

• Icreased performance
• Increased productivity (25 percent or more)
• Increased job satisfaction
• Reduced absenteeism
• Lower employee turnover rates (by up to 25 percent)
• Reduced energy consumption
• Reduced demand on our transportation system
• Helps with compliance for the Americans with Disabilities Act
• Empowers employees to operate at their full potential
• Employees have more control of their work environment
• Encourages flexible working hours, and potential savings in time and money
• Reduces the frequency and distance of commuting to work
• Potential savings in utilities, office rental and parking
• Reduces pollution
• Saves energy resources
• In an emergency when employees may not be able to get to the office, work can continue.

Source: “Telecommuting: A Guide for Managers and Employees Considering Telecommuting,” Florida Department of Management Services

The thought of eating disorders typically conjures up the image of emaciated women obsessed with being thin at any cost. The truth of the matter is that eating disorders are more common than you may think and don’t always involve people starving themselves.

Even with the recent interest in eating disorders brought to light by the increasing number of super-skinny starlets appearing on red carpets and the covers of magazines, major misconceptions about eating disorders persist. Among those misperceptions are what causes eating disorders, who can be affected and how dangerous an eating disorder can be.

While unhealthy relationships with food and unrealistic body images seem to be at the heart of eating disorders, the reality is that most are physical manifestations of deeper issues. According to the National Eating Disorders Association, eating disorders are caused by an amalgamation of behavioral, emotional, psychological, interpersonal and social issues.

“Many patients I have seen with eating disorders are females who have been abused, neglected or have had a traumatic life experience,” says Megan Putt, a registered and licensed dietician at Sacred Heart Hospital on the Emerald Coast. “They feel that they have lost control in their lives and take that anger and lack of control out on themselves. The weight loss is often viewed as a sense of achievement and self-discipline.”

Women of all shapes and sizes battle eating disorders such as anorexia nervosa, bulimia nervosa and binge eating disorder.

“Many patients battle with more than one type of eating disorder, and many are left untreated or never tell their story,” Putt says. “Only one in 10 people with an eating disorder actually receives treatment.”

In fact, anorexia and bulimia are the most well-known eating disorders, but a national survey released in 2007 in the Medical Journal of Biological Psychiatry showed binge eating disorder as the most prevalent.

According to Putt, a binge eater would be someone who finishes a full dinner, has a piece of cake and then opens a pack of cookies and finishes the bag without being able to stop.

“This type of consumption is similar to an alcoholic who may just plan on having a few beers and ends up drinking the whole case,” she says.

It is true that females are more susceptible to eating disorders than males, but many young men still wrestle with the disease. In the United States, the ratio is about 7 to 1, with 7 million women and 1 million men struggling with eating disorders. Males are more likely to engage in unhealthy eating behavior during preadolescence than at any other age. In some cases, young men are obsessed with gaining weight.

Eating disorders can be incredibly destructive physically, socially and emotionally. Putt says that eating disorders have the highest mortality rate of any mental illness and that 20 percent of people suffering from anorexia will die from suicide or heart problems.

Each disorder has unique health risks. Anorexia causes the body to slow down and ultimately shut down as it tries to compensate for the nutrients missing from a regular intake of food. Bulimia can result in digestive issues and malfunction of major organs. Binge eating disorder has similar risks to obesity, including issues with blood pressure, cholesterol, heart disease, diabetes and gallbladder disease.

Putt warns that most individuals with an eating disorder are in denial and may resist being confronted. She says the best way to address the situation is to “confront them with your concerns, expressing how much you care about them.”

Parents should be aware of their own eating and diet habits and should be involved in what their children are watching on television, Putt advises.

“Children are so influenced by their surroundings and the mass media, which can alter their perception of what society thinks is ‘normal,’” she says.

To learn more about eating disorders and treatment options, visit nationaleatingdisorders.org. Visit Destin Yoga Classes for help relaxing and gaining back your confidence.

The film school offers a BFA and MFA.
The Film School is regarded as one of the most accomplished film schools in the world and is well-known for selectivity in admissions.^[1][2] FSU Film students won more Student Oscars (2) and College Television Awards (5) in one year than any other film school.^[3] The college is one of the only film schools in the country to be recognized by the Directors Guild of America for “its distinguished contribution to American culture through the world of film and television”. It is also the only film school in the nation to pay for all undergraduate and graduate students production costs, creating an environment in which students can concentrate on the artistry of film. With the help of unusually active alumni and a mentorship program, virtually 100% of the students find a meaningful job in the film or television industries within 12 months.

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