Various and sundry

What a nice week - Jimmy's the best he's been in ages and ages, and we've had a ball, rambling around and exploring. Yesterday we went to Fort Clinch on the north end of the island.

Jimmy checks out the accommodations in the enlisted men's quarters,

and one of the latrines.

We were amused by a macabre flier, advertising the services of an undertaker. I especially liked the option of professional mourners for 30 cents a funeral. Jimmy told me to take a picture of it so he could email it to his old friend Tyson McLane, owner of Valdosta's funeral parlor.

This is the junk store to end all junk stores; I think it's called "The Swamp House." Suenelle Scruggs took me to several antique shops and art galleries the other day, all interesting places, but this one was in a category of its own. There, in the middle of all the rubble, I unearthed a couple of large egret paintings that are perfect for our porch here at the beach: $100 for the pair, which made me love them all the more.

Shell art abounds at the beach: boxes and picture frames, lamps and mirrors, but by far the best around is the mirror Suenelle made herself and has hanging in her foyer - spectacular. When told that it was her creation, Jimmy's response was, " I always knew you were crafty, Suenelle."

T.Ray's

"Stick with me, Kid," growled Jimmy in his best Bogart voice, "and I'll take you to all the best places." Today it was T. Ray's Burger Station, an old Exxon filling station, with pumps still intact, in downtown Fernandina. The restaurant's motto is "Eat Here and Get Gas." Quirky place, great food.

Ciao,baby

Ciao Italian Bistro, located in a small shopping center right past Lowe's before you go over the bridge to Amelia Island, has THE BEST authentic Italian cuisine we've had outside of Italy.

Jimmy raved about his salad, but I was much too engrossed in my own to pay any attention to his; his was endive and romaine, while mine was arugula with hearts of palm, fennel, avocado, and fresh mozzarella: a gastronomic delight.

We'd both already had too much to eat when our entrees arrived: veal piccata for him and eggplant parmigiana for me. Divine, and the tiramisu that Jimmy had the audacity to order was so light it almost floated off the table.

If you're anywhere in the vicinity of Fernandina Beach, go. It's a Five Star experience.

...if happy little bluebirds fly...*

After a thunderstorm passed through late this afternoon, a perfect double rainbow formed over the ocean. One is easy to see in the photograph, but if you look closely, another is visible on its right. Maybe it's a harbinger of good things to come.

(* in case you didn't catch it, it's part of the lyrics of "Somewhere Over the Rainbow" )

Beach time

The Seef: an American original

Fat raindrops were beginning to pepper down, but that didn't faze our buddy Joe Singletary this afternoon as he clipped deadheads off the rose bushes at Macadoo's restaurant, one of his many enterprises. This meticulous attention to detail is one of the reasons Joe has been so successful all these years.

Sleep eating

I took an Ambien last night. I slept well, but at some point got up and ate a whole bowl of vanilla ice cream with chocolate syrup - maybe two. The evidence was on the kitchen counter this morning, and I also have a very hazy recollection of doing it. This is especially appalling because (1) I'm lactose-intolerant, (2) it blew about a bazillion Weight Watcher points, and (3) I ate all that ice cream and didn't even get to have any fun doing it.