• Month: July 2022

    Still rockin’ on Florida’s Gulf Coast after all these years

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    Still rockin’ on Florida’s Gulf Coast after all these years

    (Photo: Catching waves at Saint George Island, CJ-style) A little more than 34 years ago, I went down to Panama City Beach for my senior trip with my also-graduating cousin and a few friends with all intentions of being wild, loud and obnoxious. Wait … hang on a second. That can’t be right. Can’t be 34 years. That’s like multiple decades. Let me see. You got 2022 minus the, um, carry the one, multiply the fractional exponent. OK, maybe I am that old. I’m certainly too old to do math. Anyway, it was our senior trip. It appears that we […]

    Let’s reconsider a few poorly used words and terms

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    Let’s reconsider a few poorly used words and terms

    Mark Twain once said the difference between the right word and the wrong word is the difference between lightning and a lightning bug. That’s kinda true. Of course, it’s not the only difference. No one ever ran out to catch a lightning bolt in an old Mason jar with holes in the top. Well, except maybe Ben Franklin. He drank a lot and had some weird fascination with electricity. In fact, I doubt Mark Twain ever said that — he wrote that. Today’s lesson is about choosing the right word, for there is a huge difference between saying something and […]

    Travel vlog and gallery: Apalachicola and Saint George Island, Florida

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    Travel vlog and gallery: Apalachicola and Saint George Island, Florida

    We just spent three nights in Apalachicola, Florida July 14-16, and here’s a sampling of what we experienced on our first trip to the “Oyster Capital of the World” and nearby Saint George Island, rated one of the top 10 beaches in the United States … for a reason. Check out the video and photo gallery from the trip and then see links at the bottom of this post.   Captain Jack Frye The Bowery Inn Frost Pottery Garden

    Can you picture Elvis blowin’ out a flip-flop and steppin’ on a pop top?

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    Can you picture Elvis blowin’ out a flip-flop and steppin’ on a pop top?

    More than once I’ve been told, “Enough with the Jimmy Buffett mess! You’re a Parrothead! We get it! Don’t you have a hobby or something you can write about?!” Nah, not really. Today’s article is about Jimmy Buffett. Well, actually it’s about Elvis. Well, specifically it’s about Jimmy Buffett and Elvis — two folks I rarely think about simultaneously. Elvis has gotten a lot of attention lately because of a new movie that has gotten rave reviews. My wife and mom are both huge Elvis fans, which means I’ll see it eventually. Hopefully I won’t have to watch it in […]

    I’m that smelly cat Phoebe was singing about

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    I’m that smelly cat Phoebe was singing about

    So, I was in Wally World on my lunch break and … I can see in your eyes that you’re thinking, “Oh this is gonna go well.” It’s like when a story begins, “So, this one time, me and Bubba’d been drinkin’ all night and then …” “Lemme guess, Chris: Then you went to Wal-Mart?” However, this story is completely different because I hadn’t been drinking, I haven’t even seen Bubba since his picture ran with the story about the beef jerky heist ran in the paper, and, again, I was on my lunch break. I barely even had time […]