Icewind's Ramblings

Key Largo Florida Keys US Highway 1 - Mile Marker 100 Key Largo Diving Headquarters was Carl Gage’s dive shop.  Carl was a colorful local character.  I recall he even had "Dive Instructor" in large letters down the arms of his wet suit.  There were lots of characters in the diving business in those days.  He was an interesting guy and I guess you would call him a "Man's Man".  If I recall, he was ex-marine and kept his head shaved.  He was physically fit and I think he must have been about 35 at the time.  He had a deep voice and really barked the orders out when he wanted things done.  He had two good sized wooden boats that he took out for reef dive trips - one was called the "Reef Queen" which we went diving on. I don't recall the name of the other. He kept them both backed into the end of the canal that comes in on the ocean side of US 1, right next to the Holiday Inn in Key Largo. Johnny and I were diving with him one day and...

The Blue Grotto and Devil’s Den Williston, Florida Highway US 27 Alt Johnny and I made several dive trips to the north-central Florida area in and around Williston and Ponce de Leon to The Blue Grotto and Morrison Springs.  In the 1960’s these were little more than farming pastures with friendly owners who would let people dive the clear water with constant temperatures.  I revisited The Blue Grotto several years ago on one of my Florida trips from Alaska.  Driving down Alt. 27 saw the sign and turned around and headed down the dirt road to the dive site.  I thought it would still be little more than a pasture but was pleasantly surprised to find a small store, dive headquarters, and several bunk houses and camp ground.  Things have changed over the years since we last dove there.  Devil's Den is near the small town of Williston; Florida this fern-draped sinkhole offers a unique geological setting and was actually once thought by early settlers...

Morrison Springs Ponce de Leon, Florida County road 181 Morrison Springs was one of our favorite dive spots on many of our Florida trips but it also had the most danger to it.  One of Northwest Florida’s best-kept secrets was known to more Georgia and Alabama folks than Floridians.  And they weren’t talking.  It had to do with the jewel of a Panhandle spring, a turquoise pool surrounded by stately cypress trees whose aerial roots stand taller than a man. Below the surface, clear, 68-degree water wells up from a spring cave source over 90 feet deep. Morrison Springs is just far enough off the beaten path in this sunny pine and cypress country to be special for any diver lucky enough to find and dive the site. The shallow pool reflects the overhead blue sky and if the water is clear and the bottom clean of silt, it resembles a giant sapphire.  Unlike some springs with a deep, black hole source, this one takes visitors gradually into its shallows from a gol...

Ginnie Springs High Springs, Florida US Highway 236 off Highway US 27 There are three things that I remember about our Ginnie Springs dive: a visit to my aunt and cousins, an alligator, and of course, the dives. We first drove down to my aunt’s house to spend the night and visit everyone before we started our adventure.  We stayed two nights with them in Pensacola before heading off driving down Highway 98 past Panama City through Apalachicola where we spent the night in a roadside pull off just off the water next to a marsh.  We were going to go to Crystal River to swim with the manatees but changed our minds the next morning after our gator encounter and figured we would hit the “big 3” of north central Florida; Morrison Springs, The Blue Grotto and Ginnie Springs. The roadside pull off clearly said “no camping” as we drove off the highway but since we were not going to put up our tent we figured it would be more like a few hours stay.  The debate was wheth...

Troy Springs Branford, Florida US Highway 27 Troy Spring is home to a beautiful freshwater spring that feeds the Suwannee River near Branford, Florida.  Johnny and I stopped here on our way to Pensacola to dive the spring and in the Suwannee River, enjoying the crystal clear spring water which ran into the river.  Like most rivers in northern Florida, the Suwannee River is tannin colored water with the clear spring water flowing into it. The Madison wreck on the bottom of the Troy Spring run is a stern-wheel riverboat built in 1850.  Owned by James M. Tucker, the boat was specially designed to navigate higher up the Suwannee than any other steamer then on the river.  The wreck of the boat remains on the bottom of the spring run to this day. Troy Springs is quite large, the open spring head drops off from a depth 15 feet around the steps close to the entry point to a maximum of 70 feet.  The spring empties into a...

The Empire Mica Wreck Panama City Beach, Florida History of the Empire Mica The British standard type Ocean tanker Empire Mica was built in 1941 for the Ministry of War Transport at Haverton Hill, Teeside, by Furness S.B. Co. of Haverton Hill on Tees.  She was 479 feet long, had a 61 foot beam, displaced 8,032 gross tons and was powered by 674 nhp triple expansion engines.  She was managed by Anglo-American Oil Co. Ltd. of London. On June 29, 1942, while en route from Houston and New Orleans to the United Kingdom with a cargo of 12,000 tons of clean oil, she was torpedoed by the German submarine U-67 and sunk off the west coast of Florida.  The next day one lifeboat with 14 men aboard was rescued by the vessel Sea Dream.  A total of 33 crewmen were lost. Today the remains of the Empire Mica lie 64 miles from Panama City and 20 miles south of Cape San Blas in 115 feet of water.  Her bow section is intact, and divers will recognize her two boilers...

Crystal River Manatees Crystal River, Florida US Highways 19 & 98 The first time Johnny and I went to Crystal River was on a dive trip with his dad towing the boat to Florida from Atlanta.  It was a combination trip as his dad wanted to swim with the Manatees in Crystal River and also dive the “Empire Mica” wreck off Panama City Beach, Florida.  We headed out over the long Thanksgiving weekend and drove first to the Tampa area to Crystal River.  We drove during the night and arrived early in the morning for our dive and snorkeling adventure with these big lumbering mammals. I remember when I first heard of manatees.  It was in elementary school, when we were talking about endangered species and what that meant.  I was more concerned about the gray wolves but I remember thinking manatees sounded pretty cool, too. During the winter months, the manatees that call the waters in and around the Gulf of Mexico home often have to seek warmer s...

Fast Cars and times in Atlanta, Georgia Both Johnny and I had a great work ethic and saved up money to buy our first cars, a Plymouth Fury and a Ford Mustang. I worked at the Colonial grocery store in Skyland shopping center and pretty much did it all.  I started out as a bagger and the ladies liked me since I did not put the heavy items or can goods on top of the bread.  I also double sacked everything as this was when you used paper bags to put the groceries before plastic bags came out for use.  I stocked shelves at night and worked every two weeks on a crew who stripped the wax off the floors then refinished them before morning.  Two things that paid better was being a cash register checker and working in the produce department.  I became assistant manager working there while in high school as the manager had a little drinking problem and management could not get rid of him because the union always stepped in.  I placed all the orders and rec...

Adventures with Johnny (A remembrance of good times and adventures with Johnny Kytle) Johnny Kytle and I were best friends in high school and over several of those school years had many adventures together.  We learned scuba diving, sky diving (after I got out of the Army), rode motorcycles and drove fast cars.  It was pretty typical for us “buddies” to share and do many things together, like join the U.S. Army on the “buddy plan” but as fate would have it Johnny ended up with a deferment since he had crashed his motorcycle several years earlier and had knee surgery.  We were going to fly helicopters together but after our physicals at the A.F.E.E.S. induction station I was left alone to do my enlistment. Johnny married my first cousin, Debbie whom he met on one of our many scuba diving adventures in Florida where we would stop by to see my aunt and cousins in Pensacola when we were in the north Florida area cave and sinkhole diving.  I wanted to w...

Life Observation # 197 One day two frogs were hopping in and out of a watering hole and accidentally hopped in an extremely deep hole. They tried to leap out, but to no avail had any success, so they began to yell and croak until other frogs heard them and came to help. The other frogs looked over into the hole and said the hole was too deep for them to help, but both frogs kept leaping up the sides of the hole. The other frogs, leaning over the hole and waving their front legs, began to yell to the frogs to just give up and die and that there was no hope of them getting out of the hole, but both frogs kept leaping and trying to get out of the hole. They leaped for hours and one of the frogs just gave up he was so exhausted and died. The other frog in the hole kept leaping, but the other frogs, leaning over the hole, kept yelling and waving their front legs for him to stop and give up, but the frog kept leaping trying to get out of the hole. Finally the frog leaped so high tha...

Life Observation # 196       Need a little help my friends? In a rural area a farmer was tending to his horse named Buddy, and along came a stranger who desperately needed the farmer's help.  The stranger had lost control of his vehicle and ran it off into a ditch.  The stranger asked the farmer if his horse could somehow pull the vehicle out of the ditch for him and told the farmer that the vehicle was small.  The farmer said he would come, bring his horse, and take a look, but could not promise he could help if his horse might be injured in some way from attempting to pull the vehicle out of the ditch.   The farmer did see that the stranger was correct and that the vehicle was small, so the farmer took a rope and fixed it so that his horse, Buddy, would be able to pull the vehicle out of the ditch.  The farmer then said, "Pull, Casey, Pull," but the horse would not budge.  The farmer then said, "Pull, Bailey, Pull," ...

I really like this song by Kenny Chesney featuring Dave Matthews on my play list. "I'm Alive" So damn easy to say that life's so hard Everybody's got their share of battle scars As for me, I'd like to thank my lucky stars that I'm alive and well... It'd be easy to add up all the pain And all the dreams you sat and watched go up in flames Dwell on the wreckage as it smolders in the rain But not me...I'm alive And today you know that's good enough for me Breathin' in and out's a blessing can't you see Today's the first day of the rest of my life and I'm alive And well...I'm alive and well The stars are dancin' on the water here tonight It's good for the soul when there's not a soul in sight This boat has caught its wind and brought me back to life Now I'm alive and well Ice

Thanksgiving Turkey Recipe As everyone prepares for their Thanksgiving feast I thought I would give you enough time to try this tasty recipe. Here is a turkey recipe that also includes the use of popcorn as a stuffing ingredient -- imagine that.  When I found this recipe, I thought it was perfect for people like me, who just are not sure how to tell when a turkey is thoroughly cooked, but not dried out. Give this a try: 8 - 15 lb. turkey 1 cup melted butter 1 cup stuffing (Pepperidge Farm is Good) 1 cup un-popped popcorn (Orville Redenbacher’s Low Fat is best) Salt/pepper to taste Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Brush turkey well with melted butter, salt, and pepper. Fill cavity with stuffing and popcorn. Place in baking pan making sure the neck end is toward the rear of the oven, not the door. Check things and after about 4 hours listen for the sounds of the popping corn. When the turkey's ass blows the oven door open and the bird flies across ...

Life Observation # 195       Quote found in a little roadside stand “Remember that everyone you meet is afraid of something, loves something and has lost something. People take different roads seeking fulfillment and happiness. Just because they're not on your road doesn't mean they've gotten lost.  If you know someone who tries to drown their sorrows, you might tell them sorrows know how to swim...”       ―  H. Jackson Brown Jr. ,  The Complete Life's Little Instruction Book Ice

Life Observation # 194       Hearing Aids  Mama got hearing aids today and talking with her tonight in her typical style told me: “I probably should not say this but I can hear myself peeing for the first time in years!” Gotta love mama, at 89 she still tells it like it is. Ice

Driving south on Highway 1 past Fort Bragg on the coast of California overlooking the Pacific Ocean stands a monument to time and the perseverance of our fellow Americans.  The Point Arena Lighthouse was constructed in 1870 to help sailors navigate the rocky shoals along the Pacific Coast.     Point Arena is a narrow peninsula jutting about a 1/2 mile into the Pacific Ocean.  This sandbar creates a natural hazard to navigation, and hence the need for a lighthouse and fog signal here.  When I arrived there was a foggy mist in the area but as the day continued the fog burned off creating contrast between the lighthouse, the rocks and the blue green ocean. The brick-and-mortar tower included ornate iron balcony supports and a large keeper residence with enough space to house several families.  In April 1906, a devastating earthquake struck the light station.  The keeper's residence and lighthouse ...

Placido Flamingo and I on our trip back to the south spend a couple days in the California Redwood forests as we make our way down the Pacific Coast Highway.  The redwoods stretch from the Oregon border on highway 199 through northern California along highway 101 as it meets California highway 1 near Leggett.    There are several famous trees in the area, the Immortal Tree and the Chandelier Tree where you can drive a small vehicle through it.  The most famous redwood is the General Sherman Tree (world’s largest tree) which is located close to Yosemite National Park in Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Park.  I will have to see that giant on another trip since I am not traveling the inland roads this trip. As I approached the California Coast at Crescent City I turned into Jedediah Smith State Park to drive the Howland Hill Road an unpaved road through a mighty stand of Redwoods.  Placido and I stopped at one of the pull offs and walked the tra...