Beverly Hill's Blog

Posted by Beverly Hill

For starters, I really wish I had more time to do all of the things I'd love to do. I've written about so many fascinating hobbies this year that I'm finding myself a tad bit jealous of not having the time to do them all. Wood carving, for instance, can be very time consuming and I'm having a bit of trouble grasping the finesse required to make the fine cuts. Then again perhaps I just choose too intricate of a carving to begin with.

I'd also really like to have a go at the RC helicopters that I've been seeing everywhere. There's a gentleman that flies one regularly in the ball field near our house and he can get it to do the most amazing things. His helicopter runs on a fuel mix that gives about 10 minutes of flying time before being forced to land (or crash.) I'm not sure how I feel about only 10 minutes of flying time, but I seem to remember the battery operated RC cars only lasting about 10 minutes.

My biggest recent project is the addition of two Southern flying squirrels into my home. The first was a rescued orphan and the second I purchased from a breeder so that the first wouldn't get lonely. They are the most amazing and fun creatures I have ever had in my life and have such wonderful personalities. They do require a long term commitment, but they are definitely worth it.

Last but not least I'd like a reliable laptop computer. My first laptop, an Acer Aspire One, died on me. I just replaced it with a Dell Vostro a little over a week ago and it stopped working as well and I am having to return it to be repaired. Is a working laptop too much too ask?

Posted by Beverly Hill

This past weekend we loaded up our kayaks and took a three hour drive over to Port St. Joe, Fl to try our hand at scalloping. I'd never gone scalloping before, and I'm even more embarrassed to say that I had never eaten them before either. But I knew I liked oysters and having done a bit of research, I was pretty sure I would like scallops.

It was a nice clear day when we arrived at St. Joseph Bay. There were already a few boats out in the bay, so we lost no time launching and paddling out to the the thick beds of eel grass where we dropped anchor, donned our snorkels and mask, and into the water we went. Gliding silently over the eel beds I was met with a variety of sea life; starfish, sea urchins, salt water catfish, lizard fish, and of course, scallops!

I gathered all of my scallops by hand without benefit of a net and can attest to quite a few small cuts where the shells pinched my skin. Next time I go I'll either wear gloves or have a dip net to help avoid that aspect of scalloping. We collected our limit within a couple of hours and then spent the next couple cleaning them. There's an art to it, and after a couple of hours cleaning you start to figure it out.

How did they taste? Awesome! There were worth every little nick and cut I endured and I'd do it again in a heartbeat. I'd heard that the scallops in St. Joseph Bay had a somewhat sweet taste to them and it's true!. They were absolutely delicious. Even better, my first attempt at cooking scallops seemed to come out flawless. They were perfect!

So if you ever find yourself in Port St. Joe during scalloping season, give it a try.

Posted by Beverly Hill

This past weekend I got to take a kayak down Econfina Creek and explore its hidden crystal clear springs.

We got a bit of a late start. We didn't actually get to put our boats into the water until 10:30. The people we were supposed to be meeting decided to cancel their plans, so it was just me, Kris, and a friend. The creek was up a bit due to recent rains, but still easy enough to paddle comfortably, and it wasn't long before we'd paddled into the first spring area.

We continued downstream to visit as many of the springs as we were able to find. There are 11 springs with 36 vents along the creek, and the highlight of the trip is a large spring system that has several vents. It is a great place to stop for lunch and a swim, which is exactly what we did. After about an hour exploring the spring, we set off for our pickup point at the Hwy 388 Bridge. Total trip time was about 4 hours.

If you'd like to visit Econfina Creek and explore the springs, contact the Econfina Creek Canoe Livery. Their information is contained in the link above.

Posted by Beverly Hill

The weather was literally perfect this last weekend of April, so we threw some gear in the back of the truck and drove out to Anderson Pond on the Eglin Reservation this past Saturday night so that we could test out our hammock tents before committing ourselves to a week of hiking on the Appalachian Trail. We tried this with a conventional tent last year and hit a few snags.

The first thing I have to say about the hammock tent is that it's amazingly light and doesn't take up any space at all. I picked out a couple of trees just a few feet from the water's edge and had the tent up in under two minutes. I added an inflatable mattress on the advice of another friend who said that it provided some stability, and laid back to enjoy, and I must say, it was awesome.

After a two minute set-up, we had time to kill doing other things like checking out the local hiking trail and finding wildlife to take pictures of. After an evening around a crackling fire I retired to my hammock tent and was again amazed. As I lay there swaying gently between the trees and gazing out across the pond I saw a shooting star through the mosquito netting. I rocked myself to a very restful sleep feeling as snug as a bug in her own little cocoon.

I can't wait to get out on the trail with this. I'm loving the idea of not having to look for level ground to put the tent on, or having to compete with other hikers for prime tent space. I'm loving my hammock tent.

Posted by Beverly Hill

When I first started researching model trains for a series of articles pertaining to model railroading, I naturally turned to Google, which immediately supplied me with over 27,000,000 hits. Then I decided on "why not go to the source?" So, with an address in hand I headed just a few blocks over to a local model railroading club and started asking questions there.

The Miracle Strip Model Railroad Club makes its home in a small building nestled between a Greek restaurant and a gas station in the small town of Shalimar, Florida. Inside of this building is a two-tier railroad platform complete with everything a train enthusiast could hope for. It's here that I got the opportunity to meet with the members of the club and get a crash course in model trains.

During our first meeting I watched as member Ray Follacchio demonstrated how to build a berm, paint it, landscape it, and craft custom trees for it. These techniques will appear in a future article. Other members were on hand to offer their knowledgeable advice and answer questions. I wish to extend my heartfelt thanks to the club and its members for all of their help with this first article: Model Trains and Railroads.

Special Thanks to:

Bob Fretina

Bob Scheer

Ray Follacchio

David Brown

and to everyone else who assisted.

Thanks everyone!!