Patsy's Blog

Global Warming in Jacksonville?

Thu, 07 Aug 2008 08:21:56 -0500

Not since our first Florida summer in 2004 can I remember such heat and humidity. The national news reports La Nina as the culprit, but yesterday our local news reported lower than normal water temperatures off our coast. Isn't that the opposite of La Nina?

What has been conspicuously absent since 2004 was humidity, but this summer feels little different than any summer in Washington, and maybe worse. The good weather news, if there is any, is that we have thus far missed the tropical depressions that are hitting the Texas coast. Jacksonville has a history of dodging hurricane bullets, and there is evidence that topography, and our position relative to the mainland, and water currents have kept us safe for so many years. Let's hope it stays that way.

But whether it's a hurricane or just a daily thunderstorm with uncharacteristic humidity that the sea breeze doesn't dissipate, it's still uncomfortable and bad for the garden. Some neighbors have lost their grass, and our gardener just sprayed for mold so we don't lose ours. Four more weeks of this weather pattern and things should change. Hopefully next year will be dryer, and we can get back to our usual clear skies and good-hair days.

Patsy Ittner, Little Fox Realty, patsyittner@littlefoxrealty.com

The Parking Problem in St. Augustine, Florida

Mon, 28 Jul 2008 07:00:51 -0500

I understand liability issues and ownership. I also understand there is a finite amount of space within the city limits of St. Augustine to park. The streets are narrow. The carriages take up space (but are also a massive draw for our tourists) and Flagler holds summer classes. The bridge is under construction and from "old town" you have but one bridge to the island. Yes, several things conspire to make it difficult to have lunch and a stroll around St. Augustine, but now they've, whoever they are, made it untenable. We tried to have lunch last Saturday (July 2008) but couldn't find a parking space. We've know where the spaces are. We know all the signs and when spaces are loading zones and when they are not. We tried every trick in the book besides paying $8 to park for lunch. We just won't do it.

Meters are now $1.50/hr, coins only. All the $8 street lots were full even if we were inclined to pay. To walk from the main parking to our favorite restaurant would take 20 minutes. On a nice day, that's doable. In 100 degree heat with the recent humidity, it's not. For the average tourist, paying the parking price is part of the vacation, but as a resident, we felt very excluded. A dollar is a dollar, and I suppose if I was a merchant, I'd care little where that dollar came from, as long as it came in this economy. St. Augustine was teeming with people this Saturday. You could barely find a place to walk yet alone park.

So, during the summer at least, we will confine ourselves to either beach locations or head into Jacksonville. A1A is rife with restaurants, and downtown Jax has many neighborhood haunts that have great food, good service, and are very affordable. One of my favorite is The Brick Restaurant in Avondale. My husband orders the Cuban Panini, I get the Caesar salad, we split each, and for under $25 with tip we're comfortably full and ready to walk the local shops. The only thing missing here is the horde of tourists!

Patsy Ittner, Little Fox Realty, St. Augustine, Florida, patsyittner@littlefoxrealty.com

Who is Dudley Thompson

Mon, 14 Jul 2008 21:13:43 -0500

So he will be remembered, I am posting this on a special anniversary.

Who is Dudley?

Dudley Eugene Thompson, III. He's my son. He was born on September 29, 1980, in Arlington Hospital, Arlington, Virginia, and he died on October 20, 2006 in Alexandria, Virginia. He was handsome and strong, opinionated and smart, kind and gentle, and the best thing that ever happened to me.

His sense of humor knew no bounds. He was adventurous and intrepid. He went to Camp Seagull Sailing Camp in North Carolina for five years (a month each summer) and earned his Captain's license. His counselors there all agreed he was a leader.

He had his SCUBA certificate and spent a week in the Yucatan Peninsula diving with his father. He graduated from North Stafford HS in Stafford, Virginia in l991. During high school he had four years each of English, Spanish, and Latin. He lettered twice in track. He went to England in his senior year and met Gary F who eventually became one of our family. He graduated with an Advanced Studies Diploma and received early admission to Virginia Tech.

Unbeknownst to us, he'd developed epilepsy in high school, though it was not corroborated with medical tests. College life exacerbated his illness and he was definitively diagnosed in his freshman year and placed on medication. He dropped out his sophomore year.

The medication did not help and he stopped taking it about a year before he died. He died after a seizure while sleeping from respiratory arrest.

He played a great guitar. His greatest passion was music and friendships. He was a prodigious reader. He would talk to me about girls, politics, school, and the world. To be fair, I have to say he had a temper.

He had a Greek body; beautiful skin, and a birthmark on his right arm, right where a tattoo might be, in the shape of an "M." He said it was for "mother." He had a hard knot on the lobe of his right ear that was there when he was born. It was the size and feel of a similar knot I have always had under my left eyebrow. He had hammertoes like his dad.

Why am I writing this? If you are a mother, you know why. But if you are not, understand this. Once you have a child, everything changes. The world becomes more beautiful and yet more ugly at the same time. What was once important becomes silly. What was once silly is now important. You live for your child. You would die for your child. And if your child dies, a part of you, MOST of you dies.

I started painting within a week of Dudley's death. I'd painted before but never with passion. Dudley is in every stroke, every color, every idea of every painting. He is the beauty in what I see. He is the joy I feel when I look at my art. He is in each ray of sunshine and somewhere in the shadows. His heart is with me now. If you own one of my painting, you too have part of him. Please care for it. Please know why it was painted. This, as in everything I do, is for Dudley's memory. If you think of him, if you have read this through, then someone on the earth will know that he existed. That's all I want.

We sent Dudley off on his last sailing trip on November 5, 2006. His ashes were dropped into the ocean on Anastasia Island in St. Augustine, Florida at sunrise during a nor-easter. The sea was raging but the sunrise brought peace and closure to us. Drops of Dudley are everywhere in every ocean. The currents have taken him where life could not. When I am dead, I will be with him in the ocean. Hopefully we have found our souls at the place we were both born, deep in the tears of Mother Earth.

Please remember he existed.

PatsyIttner.com

Mon, 14 Jul 2008 19:55:26 -0500

Not that I found AR constricting, but I never knew where to put what. So I started a blog of my own: www.PatsyIttner.com. It will be more Saint Augustine localism, but also about longer trips, like my recent one out west, or my next one to China this spring. And there will be pictures. Lots of pictures.

Little Fox Realty is alive, though not well. The economy, especially the housing market, has forced me to return to nursing. It's been about four months, and I'm loving it, though my "dogs are barking." I'm also returning to school, and all this, and much more, will be available on my personal blog.

For those interested in this venue, a personal blog, GoDaddy is not the easiest to navigate, but I must say, they know their stuff. I imagine the picture uploads and links will be similar to Active Rain, and I will soon learn the nuances. I'm looking forward to the journey.

To my friends, especially in Virginia, please visit my new site, www.PatsyIttner.com. And you can still reach me at Patsyittner@littlefoxrealty.com, or call me at 904-687-3665. I'm not leaving AR; just expanding my presence and hoping for new business.

Patsy Ittner, Rn, Broker/Owner, Little Fox Realty, Serving the real estate needs of St. Augustine and Jacksonville, Florida.

OK, I'm back.

Sun, 13 Jul 2008 17:25:58 -0500

It's been months and months since I've blogged, and I've been nosing around looking for some fresh ideas. Then I found the addicts site. It would take me years to read just this group, but then I thought, I can't get addicted to AR again. It was too hard getting "clean."

Here's my suggestions, and yes, I do plan to take my own advice.

Call my former customers to say "hi." Write a new marketing campaign for the fall holidays. Reconnect with some of my old friends from AR. Reconnect with some old friends who aren't on AR. Sell some stuff on Ebay. Buy some stuff on Ebay. Get up out of this chair and lose some weight. Bake cookies.

As you can see, I'm conflicted too.

Patsy Ittner, Little Fox Realty, Serving Saint Augustine and Jacksonville, Florida

Saint Augustine Day Trip: Kanapaha Botanical Gardens, Gainesville

Mon, 10 Mar 2008 15:33:25 -0500

Gainesville is filled with things to do, albeit most of it is for University of Florida students. Lots of concerts, places to meet and greet, and then of course there is football. But Gainesville is not uni-cultural, but rather filled with all kinds of art, including the horticultural arts. The Kanapaha Botanical Gardens is just part of this.

It took us less than an hour and a half to get there from St. Augustine, though it's not that interesting a drive. There's a $6 fee for adults and it's open every day but Thursday according to the website; I'd call ahead anyhow. Just to enter the gardens, which are split in half by the main building/gift shop/exposition-event center, you must pass through a small garden shown below. Is that the Jabberwocky?

We walked the first trail which only took about 40 minutes. Here we found several sculptures and many gardens in progress. There is a new garden (not yet on the map) with an unfinished retaining wall covered in art and pottery. Because of the piled stones and works-in-progress, I believe this is a good spot for snakes because I saw two in a matter of minutes. Be aware of this whenever you look for a warm rock crop or ledge upon which to rest. The ponds have large, slow-moving and uninterested fish, and I was delighted that almost every plant was identified. One of my biggest complaints about botanical gardens is the monetary charge to get in and then the absence of ID labels. This inhibits learning which is basically why I pay instead of simply going to a park. But no problems here. I learned quite a lot about Florida flora in this garden.

It's our fault we picked a non-blooming time of year, but the plants all seemed happy given the amount of rain we've been having daily.

The longer trail, about an hour, takes you deep in some woods, near the lake, and has a bit more formal gardens. The oddity of some statuary kept things interesting (see the ship's anchor), and I loved the open, grassy area in the middle which brought everything into visual scale. My favorite was the herb garden and the African bottle tree. There's a wedding oak on the edge of the lake, and as luck would have it, there'd been a wedding and the attendees seemed oblivious to the onlookers, even with the reception in the main building.

This is not a wheelchair friendly garden. Some paths are narrow, and few are paved with other than crushed stone. But it's unique, interesting, a great place to learn, and we enjoyed our time spent here. Next time we'll bring a blanket and some food.

Patsy Ittner, Broker/Owner, Little Fox Realty, www.littlefoxrealty.com, 904-687-3665. Serving the real estate needs of Saint Augustine and Jacksonville, Florida.

Saint Augustine Day Trip: Lake City

Sat, 23 Feb 2008 21:28:02 -0600

It was in 1859 that Alligator, Florida renamed itself Lake City. Up I95 to 295 and west on Rt. 10, it's about a 100 miles and a fairly easy ride to the closest city to Ichetucknee Springs State Park, our real destination.

We headed out this morning, February 23, 2008, just to explore the area and find an interesting restaurant before heading to the springs. We didn't. However, Wendys was on the way and as any Wendys affectionado will tell you, there are good Wendys and bad Wendys. This one was very good. So no fine dining, but we did find Keith Goodson, a muralist at work and decided to stop and say hello. Keith is an artist with national recognition and has an extensive portfolio that you can visit HERE. We watched him paint for a bit, but with a canvas the size of the side of a building, it's hard to follow his brush. This particular work appears to be a triptych, the first part completed, and he was working on the second. I could see the sketches, or photos of his studies, in his hand.

Aside from being a fantastic artist, he's a very nice fellow, willing to talk about his work and friendly about my photographing his activities and art. He said this project would take about six weeks to complete, and coincidentally the mural is about the Ichetucknee River, a major tubing destination for all of north Florida.

We were sorry we missed any points of interest in Lake City but we had to ask directions a few times, and once again we were not surprised to find some of the friendliest people in America.

Patsy Ittner, RN, Broker/Owner, Little Fox Realty, 904-687-3665, www.littlefoxrealty.com, Serving the real estate needs of Saint Augustine and Jacksonville, Florida.

Saint Augustine Day Trips: White Sulphur Springs

Mon, 11 Feb 2008 13:30:45 -0600

Just because the springs dried up doesn't mean there isn't anything to do in White Springs, Florida. Hmm? I wonder why they left off the word "sulphur" when they named the town? Either I75 or I10 will take you almost to the front gate of this sleepy town of about a thousand people.

Reminiscent of one of those sulphur spring towns in West Virginia that we used to frequent when we lived near D.C., White Springs is complete with hills, twisted roads, and Victorian architecture. And this picturesque town has more than a few attractions. Of course there's the Suwannee River, the Stephen Foster State Folk Cultural Center, and The Historic Telford Inn and Restaurant (which inexplicably has no website). But we also found the Visitor's Center to be as commodious as anyplace else in the entire town. Staffed this day by two very knowledgeable and friendly people, the building is flanked by huge porches. One to keep an eye on the non-existent road traffic, and the other to watch the lazy Suwannee River float by. We chose the latter and spent the better part of an hour reading some of the voluminous amounts of local cultural, historical, and sightseeing literature offered for free. There are locally-crafted quilts and other artistic exhibits. The hanging porch swings are the nearest I've come to perpetual motion machines, with just the right height and angle for some serious "sitting-up" sleeping. Just listening to the river will knock you out quickly.

The biggest draw here are the Big Shoals of the Suwannee River. Purported to be the only Class III whitewater in the State of Florida, raft and canoe enthusiasts from around the region migrate here like geese in the wet spring.

There's a wild azalea festival in March which we have every intention of attending. So come back to my ActiveRain localism site for an update, and perhaps then I can provide more information about accommodations and dining at the Telford Inn.

Patsy Ittner, RN, Broker/Owner, Little Fox Realty, www.LittleFoxRealty.com, 904-687-3665, serving the real estate needs of Saint Augustine and Jacksonville, Florida.

2/09/2008

Saint Augustine Day Trip: Dudley Farm Historical Park

Sun, 10 Feb 2008 16:54:33 -0600

Due west of Gainesville, and about an hour and a half drive from Saint Augustine is Dudley Farm Historic State Park, (DudleyFarmHistoricStatePark) a working 19th century farm now owned by the Florida Park Service. What drew us to this day trip was the website definition of "working." There were a few cattle, a mule, a small horse, and four turkeys, but I couldn't find anything yet growing, purposefully planted, or otherwise viable on this farm.

What I did find were very friendly people, probably volunteers; one of whom was feeding hay to the horse and mule, and another who was shelling pecans on the back porch of the original farmhouse.

There is a visitors center that has a running video loop of the history of the farm, and that was very interesting. The main gatekeeper was also knowledgeable about the farm, and the picnic tables out front were the perfect spot to put our basket after our drive. We probably spent as much time eating, reading the Sunday paper, and taking in the quiet as we did touring the farm. Everything was on the honor system, and self-guided, but the map provided could have been clearer and more comprehensive.

These inadequacies were eclipsed by the beauty of the area. Note I said area, and not the farm in particular. The house was not in great condition, and the pecan sheller indicated they intend to keep it "original" and "true to the era". I agree, except for the fact that I was tripping over fallen branches and obscured fence-wire everywhere, and there were nails sticking out of boards on the sides of several buildings, inexplicable in their function and dangerous for anyone who ventured near them. The kitchen building was the highlight with a fantastic and authentic cook-stove. The photographs illuminate some of the obsolescence, and we simply chalked it up to lack of funding and advertising. Having said that, in the two and a half hours we were there on this picturesque 70 degree and sunny Sunday (February 10, 2008), there were about 10 other cars in the parking lot when we left. At $4 per vehicle, well, you can do the math.

Was it worth the drive? I think the drive itself is worth the trip to the farm. We took back roads to Gainesville, and then circumvented some of the high traffic areas to get to the farm. With the right weather, it's a great drive. Is the park different in the summer? I imagine it's hot, and hope they will spruce things up for summer visitors. Did I enjoy myself none-the-less? Yes. I just wish they'd removed the decrepit farm vehicle dumped in one of the sinkholes, and instead turned both sinkholes into the park-like, geological treasures they could be.

Patsy Ittner, RN, Broker/Owner, Little Fox Realty, www.LittleFoxRealty.com, 904-687-3665, Serving the real estate needs of Saint Augustine and Jacksonville, Florida.

Day Trips From St. Augustine: Spirit of the Suwannee Music Park

Sat, 09 Feb 2008 21:05:34 -0600

Stephen Foster never set foot in Florida but he wrote our official state Song: Old Folks At Home (Swannee River). There's an interesting story about how he dropped a syllable to make the cadence of the song more viable, but this is not my story.

A bit over 100 miles from St. Augustine, The Spirit of the Suwannee Music Park qualifies as a day trip, and is an excellent destination point. The park itself, when not hosting a festival or jam, is quiet, friendly, and easily negotiated by car. If you're interested in this park and its events, visit www.musicliveshere.com. However, if it's quiet, not music, you have come to experience, this section of the Suwannee River can be a great place to unwind.

Banks of soft white sand interspersed with limestone crops make the water color even more surreal than advertising photos portend. Like southern sweet tea, the Suwannee River begins its 266-mile journey to the Gulf of Mexico in the Okefenokee Swamp, owing its rich, almost black color, to the tannic acid left by an inestimable number of rotting leaves and Palmetto roots. We watched as a canoe caused a small wake that, when illuminated by the winter sun, turned the water a dark purple. It's a sight my camera could not quite capture, but it was mesmerizing to see.

This river, which meanders at an average of 2.5-3 miles/hour, changes in size, configuration, and depth, depending upon location. All of it has alligators, and all of it is dark and foreboding while simultaneously eliciting calm and contentment to anyone who rests on its shores.

Home to over 60 springs feeding the Suwannee, to me the highlight of the river, and any who journey down it, would be the sense of going back in time. Not quite to a primordial epoch, but instead to a time of the discovery of Florida, when the banks of this stunning river were home to Timucuan Indians.

Canoe rental outfitters are aplenty, but most are hidden to protect the beauty of the experience. Enjoy these pictures taken 9 February 2008. And take my word for it. If you tire of our First Coast beaches and want to try something different, this was one of the best day trips we've ever taken. Enjoy.

Patsy Ittner, RN, Broker/Owner, Little Fox Realty, http://www.littlefoxrealty.com/, 904-687-3665, Serving the real estate needs of Saint Augustine and Jacksonville, Florida

Saint Augustine and Skybus, Together At Last

Mon, 04 Feb 2008 17:54:00 -0600

Moving from Washington, D.C. to Saint Augustine, Florida changed my life in a variety of ways; ninety-nine percent of them good. But do I miss walking to the Metro from my Arlington apartment and the next rental car I'm in is in Europe? You bet I do. Jacksonville's airport is efficient, clean, consumer-friendly, and filled with nice people and fast-moving lines. So what if I have to "connect" in Atlanta or New York. That's the price I pay for yesterday's weather (February 3, 2008) of 75 and sunny making every moment of waiting in a connecting airport worth it.

But some of that waiting may change. Not that we'll ever have direct flights to Europe, Skybus is in town and there are some future destinations in their hopper that we'll definitely take advantage of. For instance, Richmond, Virginia. Unless you take the train, and get a sleeper if you're smart, you have to drive. Either way, it's long, boring, expensive, and if you are driving, dangerous.

Skybus will soon offer flights, non-stops we hear, to Richmond, and that can't happen soon enough. I got so excited, after I signed up for their email newsletter with tips and trips, I went to our little Saint Augustine airport just to get a look-see myself. And the Skybus (Airbus 319) was there waiting to pick up a record crowd of about 15 people. Makes me wonder how long this will last. The attendant at the counter was less than forthcoming. Her answer was the same to every question I overheard asked: "Go online. That information is on-line." But who cares?! Air service to somewhere, right from our own little airport, that's progress.

Our terminal building is made of cloth (really) but the security was conspicuously evident, there are plenty of seats in the waiting area, and parking is cheap ($5 a day).

If anyone reading this is thinking of traveling to Saint Augustine, try Skybus and the Saint Augustine Airport. If we don't use it, we will, of course, lose it. Oh, and yes, there was a cab parked nearby, and three car rental agencies. And a coke machine! What more could you want!

Patsy Ittner, Broker/Owner, Little Fox Realty, 904-687-3665, www.littlefoxrealty.com Serving the real estate needs of Saint Augustine and Jacksonville, Florida

Saint Augustine and Jacksonville, Florida's Theatre Season

Wed, 30 Jan 2008 10:27:05 -0600

Many visitors to the First Coast are surprised to learn how many theatrical venues there are. For instance, my husband and I saw David Copperfield at the Moran in the Times Union Center last night. Not only is this a comfortable, well-situated theatre with great acoustics, it's easy to access from all parts of the city as well as Saint Augustine. Parking is cheap with out-front lots at $10, and a one-block walk will bring it down to $5.

Our personal season continues with Michael Buble, The Lord of the Dance, and Spamalot. But these are a small sampling of what's available, and that's just in Jacksonville. Saint Augustine is rife with theatre and concert productions. We have several comedy clubs (without smoking!) that attract a large following and get some great comics.

And we don't just catch the small stuff. We may not get to see Bruce and his new CD, but there's plenty of rock and roll to go around, and the main venues, Orlando (1.5 hours from Saint Augustine) and Tampa (about 4 hours) are doable for a big event. So don't think a move from a major city will cause you to give up the night life, music or dance opportunities. What you will notice is that the ticket prices are conspicuously less than those you might find in the Big Three of the East Coast (Boston, New York, and D.C.).

Now, that Copperfield show last night... we howled. He's a great performer and his bag of tricks appears endless. One particular trick involving a car had the audience on its collective feet. A trip to a beach in Australia was an ad for Photoshop, but the kids liked it. If I had any complaint at all, it was the sense that he's done this particular show too much. The staccato nature of his speech, and how he turned from the audience before he finished many of his sentences gave me, personally, a feeling he was a bit bored with himself. Also, neither my husband nor myself appreciated watching film footage of 30-year-old performances. We came to watch him live. We own a television and have seen those performances before. We felt this was a production error.

The consummate entertainer he is, you will have a great time if you get the opportunity to see him, and I recommend everyone do this at least one in your life (and his). That we didn't spend a fortune, we zipped in and out of town and the parking lot, and there was virtually no traffic getting there and getting home, made this show all the more enjoyable. I love Jacksonville. What a great place to live!

St. Augustine's Version of Snow

Sat, 22 Dec 2007 22:30:39 -0600

There is nothing like it on earth. It is bitterly cold, it has just snowed a foot and now the sky is so clear you can see far beyond the boundaries of our Milky Way Galaxy, or at least you believe you can. But most of all, and what makes this moment so unforgettable, is that you can't hear a thing other than the beating of your own heart. The silence is palpable. It is like the world has simply stopped moving, stopped revolving, and everything on it is now motionless and thus unable to create sound. Then a piece of ice falls from a tree and you know that what lies before you is, indeed, real.

Moving south meant those surreal moments were behind me, or at least I thought they were.

I am not a meteorologist. Neither am I a physicist. But I know what I know, and what I saw and felt tonight has to have some connection in a physical sense.

We live 8 miles from the St. Johns River to the west, and 13 miles from the Atlantic ocean to the east. We get our fair share of fog. Normally it's in patches, sometimes so small that the fog might clear from block to block. But tonight's fog, abnormally dense and widespread, impeded our evening walk. It was difficult to see and made our movements edgy and unsure. But the similarity with walking in this fog to walking after a snowstorm occurred to us both and it took us awhile to figure out why. It was the silence. We couldn't hear a thing. The normal whir of I95 was gone. The hum of the air-conditioners, heaters, and fans was absent. We couldn't hear a dog bark, or street light buzz. It was so quiet, had we not been together, we might have thought we'd been struck deaf.

That I don't have to jump in a hot bath after my walk is a good thing. That I have to endure "Larry Hair" (my descriptive referral to the Three Stooges - the one with the 'fro') is a bad thing. But your snow is my fog, and I love it. If there is a scientific explanation for the connection, it is lost on me. I don't care. I'll take my peace and quiet anywhere I can get it.

Patsy Ittner, Broker/Owner, Little Fox Realty, www.Littlefoxrealty.com, Serving the real estate needs of St. Augustine and Jacksonville, Florida

A St. Augustine Christmas

Fri, 21 Dec 2007 13:54:47 -0600

By definition, acclimations require time. It's been three years going on four that I've endured the heat of Florida, and I dare say, or should I dare say, that I'm finally getting used to it.

Getting the Christmas spirit in 80-degree temperatures (with a thunderstorm looming on the horizon) has been a bit more difficult. I'm shuffling through Michaels today, trying to get a jump on next year's ornaments, and everyone is in shorts and flipflops. I saw flipflops today with jingle bells on them. Now that's pushing the envelope.

But alas, I'm fairly sure that we, meaning my neighborhood, is visible from the space station at night. St. Johns Golf and Country Club, at the very northern tip of St. Johns County, has done more than its fair share in growing Florida Power and Light stock. My husband and I frequently walk in the evening, and now that evening is around 6 p.m., all the Christmas lights are on and illuminating our way. The shear variety of the displays is amazing, but there is a common thread in here that has me puzzled. I would guesstimate that less than five percent of these displays have colored lights. Most are white or clear. Why is that? Would that be considered garish? Is that a bit too much Christmas for our little neighborhood? I doubt it, because what there is, when color is present, is big plastic animated holiday venues such as Santas peering out from behind lighthouses or bobbing in and out of chimneys. Sadly, after walking the entire neighborhood, we didn't find the massive blow-up Homer Simpson, who for our first two years here waved stoically in the wind. They must have moved. Doh!

I'd say there's plenty of holiday spirit here in North Florida, and certainly in my neighborhood. But it's not in the form of apples nailed to wooden circles, dressed in fresh-pine garland and hung on the front door. Nor is it in the form of real holly draped around mailboxes. And forget snow. That's a meteorological improbability, if not impossibility.

But everyone's waving hello (as they do year 'round) and little cookie bags are being left by Secret Santas on doorsteps. All the golf carts are decorated, and this year's holiday celebration at the club was a massive success. I guess it doesn't have to be 28 degrees with snow on the ground to celebrate the season. So if you are thinking about moving to St. Augustine, I promise you won't have to leave Christmas behind.

Patsy Ittner, Broker/Owner, Little Fox Realty, www.littlefoxrealty.com, Serving the Real Estate needs of St. Augustine and Jacksonville, Florida.

The Truth Behind Our Christmas

Sun, 16 Dec 2007 20:17:59 -0600

A family member of mine reminds me every single year that Christmas (in America) is a by-product of an advertising campaign Coca Cola, the very same company that used to put cocaine in it's soda-fountain drink, started back in '0-something. He winces at the reports of "sales" and "Black Fridays" and how our retail economy is attached to this holiday. He mutes anything on TV about Christmas and judiciously avoids Christmas music both in and out of our house. He has the same look, which I've seen a hundred times, when any commercial with an expensive car, wrapped in a big red bow, appears during his football game. It is the look of "Who are they kidding?!"

Of course he doesn't complain when I bake a trillion cookies, or read him the cards that pile up on our mantle. He dutifully watches The Grinch (on Christmas Eve) which we first taped 20+ years ago, complete with commercials which are almost as fun to watch (Remember that Santa on the electric shaver? That's on there.) The tape is so old we can barely see it. And our taped version of A Christmas Story (also watched on Christmas Eve) and also with commercials. I keep telling him we can buy either of these on DVD for $5 at Wal-Mart. But he always refuses.

And then it occurred to me why he "passes" on upgrading our movies, and why he even listens, sometimes half-heartedly to some lengthy, typed Christmas "letters" in the cards. I think my little Grinch family member does have some Christmas spirit, but it has a key and a card that both read: "Don't open until the week before Christmas." He's not opposed to Christmas. He's not opposed to traditions. He's just opposed to 4 months of it. There's plenty of Christmas in this house this year, especially this year, but I think I've just realized that it, like the fruit on my counter, has a window of time within which it must be consumed, or shall I say, celebrated.

Merry Christmas Everyone. Patsy

A Christmas Wink!

Mon, 10 Dec 2007 16:45:19 -0600

Jingle Bells, Silent Night,

There's just too much to do.

With buying, baking, wrapping, packing,

I think I have the flu.

Trim the tree, cook the bird,

Coordinate those flights.

Get all the family in one spot

Before it's Chrismas Night.

Secret Santas, office parties,

I think I'll go insane,

But one more thing before I do,

Merry Christmas Active Rain!

To all my friends on AR, have the best holiday ever, and a very Happy (AND SAFE) New Year! Patsy

America the FREE

Tue, 06 Nov 2007 09:14:37 -0600

A larger portion of my posts espouse the advantages of living in St. Augustine, Florida. I love this place! But a recent trip to Washington, D.C. reminded me of what I am missing. Though it was an extraordinarily beautiful week in the City, with a conspicuous absence of all that traffic I remember so clearly, (they must have been on Skyline Drive looking at the leaves) there are things about D.C. that can't be replicated anywhere, and I am not speaking of center-of-the-universe-megalomania politics.

Except for parking and food, everything is FREE. The museums are free. The parks are free. The zoo is free. The monuments are free. Unfortunately, plane tickets to D.C. are not. And therein lies the problem.

So I was thinking about what my Utopian government would be. Because I am a major proponent of a flat tax and the short-lived Line-Item Veto, there would be plenty of money around for this project, so not to worry.

Here it is...

Every Congressional District would have a government-sponsored educational venue, like a museum, gallery, planetarium, aquarium or zoo. No venue would be replicated within the state, and efforts would be made to make as many different venues close to as many people as possible. And everything would be free, including parking.

If you think this is a pipe dream that couldn't happen, you have not done the math. Remember, we're working with a flat tax here. Everyone would pay 12%, with no deductions either personal or corporate. No government subsidies either here or abroad, and ideally a President with a heavy-veto hand would occupy The White House. Absent any war, we'd be swimming in cash and looking for places to build these venues. And every single weekend for the rest of my life I (we) would be wallowing in ecstasy, like I was last week, enjoying my (our) tax money while learning and loving American life.

Until three and a half years ago I lived close to Washington and unfortunately lost the spirit of why these educational opportunities are called "The National...." like the National Gallery and the National Zoo. They belong to all of us. We pay for them. But the reality is that "all of us" "can't get there from here." With government funds these museums and galleries could float the exhibits to our mini-museums, our FREE mini-museums.

So let's stop paying a tobacco farmer in Kentucky to stay in business, stop building "bridges to nowhere", stop subsidising the oil industry, and let's build these instead. We'd all be better off (except for maybe the tobacco farmer).

Patsy Ittner, Broker/Owner, Little Fox Realty, www.littlefoxrealty.com, Serving the real estate needs of St. Augustine and Jacksonville, Florida.

Saint Augustine Day Trips: The Ravine Gardens

Mon, 22 Oct 2007 09:45:03 -0500

Not far from the middle of Palatka, Florida is an unusual garden, topographically speaking. Built in the 30's as one of the WPA projects, The Ravine Gardens has 95,000 azalea plants in 64 different varieties, 11,000 palm trees, and a whopping 250,000 ornamentals. It's terraced and not wheelchair friendly, and I wouldn't take grandma unless she's in tip-top condition. It's Grand Canyon-like, with the first part of the hike easy and downward. Then when you're tired, you still have to get back up. There are formal gardens and statuary, and the pathways are well-maintained and clear. Some of the steps are not "code" but rather quite steep. Two suspension bridges span the ravine and they provide a great view of what's down under is you wish to avoid the very bottom. You can circumnavigate the entire garden in the car. There's also one of those outdoor exercise gyms for those inclined toward that kind of thing, and several overlooks and pull-offs, though the views were very similar. The conclusion of the driving tour puts you at Lily-padded lake with park benches for a picnic. There is also a building for rent that overlooks the gardens. I imagine getting married on the first tier, then having your reception right there, either inside or out. Indeed, they were setting up for a wedding while we were exploring the interior. And it was a perfect day for a wedding. That lucky bride!

Patsy Ittner, Broker/Owner, Little Fox Realty, http://www.littlefoxrealty.com/, 904-687-3665, Serving the real estate needs of St. Augustine and Jacksonville, Florida.

Doesn't that look like an alligator in this spring? It's not, but rather a rock formation.

Don't be afraid. I walked it, swaying and all, and I hate heights!

Saint Augustine Day Trip: Palatka

Mon, 22 Oct 2007 08:29:50 -0500

When my husband is returning from out of town, he's likely to take back roads. He's an adventurer at heart, but he's also looking for places to take me on the weekend. We both like a good Sunday drive.

Palatka is not far from St. Augustine, an easy commute if you are inclined, and it's not Disney World to be sure. But it has it's strong points, and some of them are the murals.

In their attempt to become the official Mural City of Northeast Florida, the Conlee Mural Committee orchestrated over 30 murals on the sides of downtown buildings depicting various historical events or places, including such notables as The Battle of Horse Landing, and Cattle Drive to Paynes Prairie (neither depicted here). Varying in both size and quality, some of these are quite good. Would I make them a reason to drive to Palatka? No. But combined with the Ravine Gardens, it is an easy drive on scenic roadways along the St. Johns River and, like the Ravine Gardens, you won't have to get out of the car if you don't' want to and you'll still see most of it.

So why do I even mention this? Because I like the idea of community pride. Palatka, for whatever reasons there are, refuses to roll over. It's a town with almost as many natural resources as there are empty store fronts. It was clean. Except for a high-rise apartment building right smack in the middle of the most scenic spot in town, a high-rise, I might add, in dire need of exterior renovation, it's an interesting town. I'm not on top of Palatka politics, nor do I know the reason for it's apparent recession, but I imagine a day when Palatka will be a destination point. It has too many things going for it not too.

Patsy Ittner, Broker/Owner, Little Fox Realty, www.littlefoxrealty.com, 904-687-3665, Serving the real estate needs of St. Augustine and Jacksonville, Florida.

Southern Womens Show in Jacksonville, Florida

Thu, 18 Oct 2007 16:21:49 -0500

The Prime Osborne Convention Center is host to The Southern Womens Show which started today. I picked a great day for my first experience with this, as it was not "as crowded" as I heard others discuss, yet I thought it was plenty crowded and a bit difficult to negotiate around certain aisles.

Did I have fun? You bet I did. There was quite a variety of vendors including plastic surgeons, travel, jewelry, cooking paraphernalia, clothes, and numerous other very entertaining booths. My favorite was the "anti-microbial necktie for men. Using MRSA, (Methacillian resistant staph aureaus) as their villain, two women tried to convince me that my husband's tie was injurious to his health, (I am not making this up) and I should buy one of their anti-microbial ones (not one of which I was fairly sure my husband would would wear out of the house) for his safekeeping.

A $10 psychic "vibe-reader" sitting told me my favorite numbers, that I was happy, I would live a long life, but she couldn't quite grab my vibration on the death of my child last year. This was a test run for me, as I was thinking about going to a psychic in New Orleans with the intent of contacting my son, so she's likely saved me quite a bit of money, and time with her "inabilities."

The perfume people were everywhere, and I found some for me as well as my husband. The prices were the same as the department stores, but the gifts. My oh my, I got as much value in the gifts as I got in the perfume. That was certainly a great stop.

Everyone had a gimmick; everyone had the "best"; or the "cheapest." For instance, they had a teeth-whitening fellow, with the infrared light and all the bells and whistles for a ten-minute teeth-whitening session for only $120. Aside from the fact that there were women laying in these chairs, under these lights, with their mouths held open so wide they looked like characters in a Tim Burton movie, I happen to know that you can get the same treatment for one hour at your dentist for about $80 more. So $120 for 10 minutes, or $200 for one hour. I did the math.

Yes, there were vendors of value and vendors of no value, but overall this is a very good show, with tons of freebies, and lots of good information for all us southern women. It's well worth the $8 admission, and here's my advice. Bring a page of your mailing labels (with your name and address) to instantly enter all the contests. And most importantly, pack your own lunch (the food was very expensive), and bring something that you can pull on rollers, like an overnight bag. I saw many women with these small, rolling suitcases, and they weren't lugging the bags around like me, the schmo who wasn't smart enough to think ahead.

And have fun.

Where You Live Means What You Pay

Wed, 17 Oct 2007 09:33:29 -0500

We've been lulled into complacency about our gas prices. I think this is akin to Pavlov's dog, or maybe Skinner's mice. They pull up the price; we scream and yell and worry for awhile, then they bring the price down a few cents and we're "relieved." But then it goes up again, and each time it's up a little more, then a little more, and before we know it, we'll be looking at $5 a gallon or even higher. Anyone who thinks this will not happen is asleep at the wheel. It's only a matter of time.

Ethanol refineries are laying off and going out of business. The demand is not there, and I can only guess why. How many cars on your block burn ethanol? And who among us can afford to dump their current car and go out on a whim and buy an ethanol-burning vehicle?

A Google search turned up an interesting statistic about fuel prices. Clearly living on the east coast is cheaper, energy wise, than the west coast. Are there more refineries here? I don't think so. Is it taxes? Probably. But California is not the place to be living on a fixed income. And there are places in California that get plenty cold and require not just air-conditioning in the summer, but heat in the winter. How many places in America have such a climate that you can turn off the air-conditioning for four months and not turn on the heat? One of them is St. Augustine, Florida.

If you had the opportunity to live anywhere you wanted, you should consider Northern Florida first. Our energy costs are consistently lower than any of the northern tier states, and our weather, unlike southern Florida, is very mild in the winter. Of course the ocean temperature goes down, so you won't be swimming sans wet suit, but you can get a winter tan. Add to this the absence of traffic keeping your travel time to a minimum, and an abundance of natural gas, you will be looking at a different energy bill than anything you would find out west or up north.

Energy costs are a small fraction of the "Why you want to live on The First Coast" equation. The biggest reason is the shear beauty and livability of St. Augustine. Contact me and I'll give you a hundred more.

Patsy Ittner, Broker/Owner, Little Fox Realty, www.littlefoxrealty.com, 904-687-3665, Serving the real estate needs of St. Augustine and Jacksonville, Florida.

Day Trips from St. Augustine, SAVANNAH

Tue, 16 Oct 2007 10:56:03 -0500

Less than three hours from St. Augustine, Savannah is close enough to us to be considered a day trip. For others, this may be a bit too much driving. We're from D.C. Three hours can be a one-way commute!

Savannah is a fabulous town, with wonderful people, great food, and so many tours to take, we could have a month of day trips and still not see it all. The horse and buggy ride is a must. We found ours at the market, right near where "Chablis" (the famous cross-dresser from Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil) has her show. By the way, Chablis is playing October 20th. She/He only has a few shows a year, and I hear they are spectacularly wild!

The parks (squares) all have a story, and we heard several. There's no park bench upon which to sit and wait for the bus as Forrest Gump did, but it was fun looking for it. We took a tram ride and were more than disappointed. Now I can't think of the name of it, but it's the WHITE tram bus. They didn't provide maps. The driver was rude to the extreme. AND they don't tell you they stop at 5 p.m., while the others go until 9 p.m., and you're stuck down at the river with nothing but a cab ride or your feet to get you back to the parking lot. Stay away from the WHITE. We thought they were terrible.

Dinner at the Chart House was pricey but worth it for the food and the view. Don't forget to see the new modern art museum, which apparently is being snubbed by the locals because they don't like the architecture. I thought it was great. The Bonaventure Cemetery is worth a look see, though the statue of Bird Girl is now in a museum, and not out in the open for people to pick at like crows.

Another wonderful thing about buying real estate in the northern part of Florida is the easy access to other extremely interesting cities. And if you can't do the turn-around, use your hotel points and stay at any number of good hotels. The "mid-town" hotels are very close and about half the price.

Patsy Ittner, Broker/Owner, Little Fox Realty, www.littlefoxrealty.com, 904-687-3665, Serving the real estate needs of St. Augustine and Jacksonville, Florida.

Day Trips from St. Augustine, A1A

Mon, 08 Oct 2007 20:40:47 -0500

It was a purposeful trip to Orlando today, not for Disney, but rather to pick up a few tiles that our local store did not have. Imagine, 120 miles (or 240 miles round trip) for 5 tiles. I must really want those tiles.

We decided to make a day of it and wound up early in Winterpark, Florida. I went there last year, during a weekend dog parade, and the place was festive; hopping with crazy dogs and their crazy owners. All the restaurants had outdoor dining, sidewalk sales, and it was a 10 on the people-watching scale from beginning to end. But today it was like Winterpark had turned to Summerpark, everyone was indoors, and it looked liked a ghost town. We saw nothing, did nothing, and bought nothing.

Trying to salvage the day, we took highway 4 straight to the beach, which in this case happens to be Daytona. Now that's a happening town. Next weekend is three days of some bike business (like bike week, but not quite) and according to the shop owners, they can't wait for the revenue. It was a sunny day and though the surf was too high for swimming and too close for beach driving, it was just right for the surfers. What fun watching them flip around like feathers, and none looked the worse for wear when they came shore-side. In fact, I think these kids live for this.

Something I haven't done in 30 years; I bought a beach t-shirt. Now I need to find a place, other than bed, to wear it.

But the best part of the day was driving back to St. Augustine. We're on the northern tip of St. Johns County, near I95 and Rt. 210. But we decided to take A1A from downtown Daytona, right near the boardwalk, all the way home, and we didn't get off A1A until we crossed the Bridge of Lions in downtown St. Augustine. It was a wonderful trip. We couldn't believe how much of it was unobstructed views of the ocean. Little villages with shops, lots of communities with beach access, and piers and footpaths to the ocean were everywhere. The speed limit ranged from 35 to 55, so it was leisurely, but worth it. We stopped for taffy and then paid a visit to Anastasia Island State Park. All in all, we turned a mundane trip to pick up tile into a nice start to a short vacation. I would imagine this trip should be done mid-week or it might be longer than you'd like. But if you get the chance, try it. We certainly enjoyed it.

Patsy Ittner, Broker/Owner, Little Fox Realty, www.littlefoxrealty.com, 904-687-3665 Serving the real estate needs of St. Augustine and Jacksonville, Florida.

Things to do in Jacksonville, The Home and Patio Show

Sun, 07 Oct 2007 22:54:28 -0500

Maybe it was the 20,000,000 consecutive days of rain we've had lately, and my mood may have had something to do with my disappointment at the home and patio show at the Prime Osborn Convention Center in downtown Jacksonville this weekend. Ordinarily just being at this venue makes whatever it is you're doing fun. The Prime Osborn is the old train station, and it has much of the decor around to remind you of this fact.

But this show! Home yes. Patio, hardly. Unless we missed a room or even another building, this was mostly appliances, and garages. There were so many ways to spend from $2000 to $3000 on the floor of your garage it was silly. First of all, anyone with that kind of money doesn't go to a home show to buy the stuff. And secondly, who in their right mind spends $3K on a garage floor? It's a floor. In the garage. What am I missing?

The guy with the over-priced cookware was there, hawking cookware for thousands of dollars. That would buy a lot of dinners in a fine restaurant, and then you wouldn't have to wash those pots and pans. And the massage lady, with her chairs lined up to have anyone come for the demonstration. Now, I have to say, those magic fingers have come a long way since my last synthesized massage in a mall. But at $129 and "made in China", I'm going to stick to my husband. His fingers are still magic and are free. Furthermore he uses lotion with his backrubs, something the machine won't do.

The food was crummy. I got a muffin which had to be a week old for $2.75. Most of the exhibits we went to, in my opinion, except for one, were unworthy of anyone's attention. And you'd think that a rainy Saturday would have kept the crowds down, but it didn't. The place was packed.

We did find one booth, and it made the $9 admission to the show worth the trip. Someone there was giving flu shots for $30. No waiting. We both got ours and now feel safely immune from this year's flu. Unfortunately there's no shot for making bad decisions about which home shows to attend, and which to avoid like the plague.

Patsy Ittner, Broker/Owner, Little Fox Realty, www.littlefoxrealty.com, 904-687-3665, Serving the real estate needs of Jacksonville and St. Augustine, Florida.

Things to do in Jacksonville, Florida, San Marco Art Festival

Sun, 07 Oct 2007 19:58:25 -0500

St. Augustine usually has the bragging rights for art festivals, but every year the small village of San Marco, right across the bridge and south of Jacksonville, has a good one. And today was the day.

Surprisingly, there was more jewelry art than anything else. The booming beading industry has made a jewelry artisan out of a lot of people, and today illuminated many of the best there is in the area. Silversmiths, goldsmiths, and simple beaders were in great number. There were many fine photographers, watercolor artists, and oil painters selling both their originals and giclees, a reproduction process making the copy difficult to tell from the original.

My favorite today was an artist from Israel, Smadar Livne. Not present at this show, her works of both originals and giclees were really drawing attention because of the unusual nature of their composition. Using fabrics, jewelry pieces, paper, and oils, the vibrancy is the colors could be seen blocks away. You had to look carefully to see stories and themes, but that's what was so interesting about these pieces. They inspired you to imagine what they meant. And imagine I did.

I imagined, like I always do, that I wish I could be that creative. But alas, my participation in these festivals will remain, for the moment, as a patron.

Fusion played some amazing jazz, and the weather held, for the most part. Actually the clouds provided a nice respite from the unusual heat for this time of year. Enjoy the pictures. As you can see, even San Marco's "finest" from Fire House #13 took a break to enjoy the music and do a little people watching.

Patsy Ittner, Broker/Owner, Little Fox Realty, www.littlefoxrealty.com, 904-687-3665, Serving the real estate needs of St. Augustine and Jacksonville, Florida.