Dedicated to Jimmy Buffet and Parrotheads Everywhere
On Pensacola Beach on Santa Rosa Island in Florida, Jimmy Buffet bought a half-completed hotel in 2010. After the Deep Water Horizon Oil Spill, tourism – the region’s main economy – went into a tailspin. Purchasing the hotel was Buffet’s gift of support to people of the Florida Panhandle he loved.
Beyond the Margaritaville Hotel lies the Gulf Islands National Seashore—seven miles of white sand beaches, swaying golden sea oats and translucent-green ocean. Way out on the tip end is Fort Pickens, one our country’s oldest coastal defense fortifications. The National Seashore is a place where sea turtles return to lay their eggs and sea birds migrate to raise their young, and where schools of fish, spotted eagle rays, and pods of dolphins hunt, mate, and play. People swim and snorkel in the warm gentle waves and sunbathe on white sand made of quartz crystals carried by rivers from the Appalachian Mountains into the Gulf.
Still other beach goers wear feathers and strut around on long, skinny legs, or beat the waves with a broad tail. Some soar above or dive into the waves for lunch or dinner. Beyond Margaritaville people, animals, beach and ocean all live and play together.
These are some of their stories. Some are for kids and all are for the “kid in you.” Read them together or alone to learn more about the lives of the people and animals that live in one of Earth’s most beautiful places. When you know about it, you’ll want to keep it for all to come.
[These stories are protected under U.S. Copyright Law. Read but seek permission to print. Contact me: susanleefeathers@gmail.com.]
Susan Feathers 