Florida Rescues Baby Manatee

Florida state biologists have found an orphan manatee calf.

Bbiologists with the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission’s Fish and Wildlife Research Institute rescued the small female manatee calf from the Withlacoochee River in Yankeetown on Thursday, April 2.

The tiny calf is one of the smallest manatees ever rescued by the FWC Marine Mammal Stranding Team, measuring just over 3 feet in length and weighing only 50 pounds. Biologists rescued the manatee calf because there was no sign of her mother in the area. Since the calf is so young, she would not be able to survive on her own. She was taken to Tampa’s Lowry Park Zoo, where she is receiving 24-hour care from the zoo’s manatee rehabilitation team.

The FWC Wildlife Alert hotline received the original report of the orphaned calf Thursday afternoon from a resident who lives on the river.

The United States Coast Guard assisted FWC biologists with the rescue.

To report a dead or distressed manatee, call the FWC Wildlife Alert hotline at 888-404-FWCC (3922).

Top Five Places To See Florida Mermaids

Florida is full of mermaids. Pretty ones. Live ones!

You just have to look underwater, where mermaids live. A quick roundup of mermaid haunts; these aren’t the only ones, just the easiest ones to find. Here are the top five, with two runner ups: Read more

JetBlue Orlando to Costa Rica $69

ORLANDO – New York-based JetBlue Airways Corp. (Nasdaq: JBLU) today launches Orlando’s only daily nonstop service to San Jose, Costa Rica’s Juan Santamaria International Airport (SJO), the carrier’s first Central American destination and ninth country in its network. To celebrate the new service, sale fares as low as $69 (a) are available between Orlando and San Jose each way for travel purchased today through April 8, 2009 at www.jetblue.com.

Best Value Port Canaveral Cruises

PORT EVERGLADES – Celebration Cruise Line officially began operations out of Port Everglades with the inaugural cruise of the MS Bahamas Celebration on March 16. The new cruise line does two and three-night cruises to Nassau, Bahamas, departing from and returning to Port Everglades every Monday, Wednesday and Friday. With limited advertising, cabin bookings for March are at 96-percent capacity and April is trending similarly.

Celebration Cruise Line is creating its niche in the crowded South Florida cruise market by trying to offer the best value in the industry. According to Glenn Ryerson, the cruise line’s marketing vice president, passengers will get a top-notch cruise experience at prices starting at $199 per person for a three-night weekend cruise. If on a tight budget, there are three-night cruise options as low as $119.

Understanding that money is tight in the current economy and schedules are hectic, Celebration Cruise Line offers lower priced two-night cruises with sailings every Monday and Wednesday. Celebration is the only cruise line in South Florida with two-night cruises to Nassau.

At nearly 700 feet and over 35,000 gross tonnage, the MS Bahamas Celebration can hold up to 1,500 passengers, making it both spacious and intimate at the same time. With its classic European style, the ship was ready to begin sailing out of South Florida after being purchased in 2008, but Celebration Cruise Holdings wanted to first add many cruise ship amenities to the what was the former MS Prinsesse Ragnhild.

The MS Bahamas Celebration has four restaurants, a 630-seat nightclub, multiple lounges, a spacious casino, a complete spa, a fitness room, three children’s clubs with age-appropriate electronic games and activities, a pool for adults and a pirate-themed pool with a 180-foot slide for children. The cruise also offers a variety of live music and shows, as well as snorkeling, sightseeing tours and beach resort excursions.

The four dining options include a classic American restaurant, serving five-course meals from a broad menu, an all-you-can-eat Brazilian-style steakhouse and buffet and a casual Italian restaurant, all as part of the cruise price. For individuals looking for more upscale dining, the elegant and romantic Cove Restaurant is available at an additional cost.

Celebration’s reservation number is 800-520-2410 and the Web site is CelebrationCL.com.

Space Shuttle Discovery Set to Land Saturday

The space shuttle Discovery’s crew is expected to complete its mission to the International Space Station with a landing at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida at 1:43 p.m. EDT on Saturday, March 28. The return to Earth will conclude a 13-day flight. Nine of those days were spent docked to the station.

During the STS-119 mission, the shuttle and station crews installed and deployed the final set of solar arrays. The arrays provide the electricity to fully power science experiments and support the station’s expanded crew of six in May. The flight also delivered Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency astronaut Koichi Wakata, who replaced space station crew member Sandra Magnus. She spent more than four months aboard the station and will return to Earth aboard Discovery.

The entry flight control team in Mission Control at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston will evaluate weather conditions at Kennedy before permitting Discovery to return to Earth. Saturday’s landing opportunities at Kennedy are at 1:43 p.m. and 3:19 p.m. If weather prevents a Kennedy landing Saturday, the secondary landing site at Edwards Air Force Base, Calif., will be considered, NASA said.

Jupiter, Florida Golf Capital

JUPITER – This city north of West Palm Beach, in Palm Beach County, is home to many of the nation’s top golfers. Golfers include Jack Nicklaus, Gary Player, Greg Norman, Nick Price, Camillo Villegas, Luke Donald, Briny Baird, Jesper Parnevik and Mark Calcavecchia.

Courses in the Jupiter, Hobe Sound and Stuart area include:

• Golf Club of Jupiter
• Jupiter Dunes Golf Club
• The Florida Club
• Abacoa Golf Club
• Champions at Summerfield
• Heritage Ridge Golf Club

Casa Casuarina, the Versace Mansion, Opens in Miami Beach

From Photo of Miami Beach’s Casa Casuarina

MIAMI BEACH - The legendary 1930′s Miami Beach landmark Casa Casuarina, better known as the Versace Mansion, is now open to the public.

Owned and operated by entrepreneur Peter Loftin, it is now available as a luxury hotel, restaurant, event venue and membership club. Embellished with Italian marble, mosaic tiles, European art and plush textiles this luxurious property offers a private and unique experience to both diners and guests. Each of the 10 suites showcase rich and vibrant colors signature of the fashion icon, Gianni Versace.

With unique themed decor, each suite captures a different element of the Mansion’s beauty from the carved marble baths, mosaic tiled floors, and lavish stained glass windows. Custom-made ultra king beds, luxury linens, wireless Internet, satellite radio and plasma televisions and Bose sound systems are customary for each luxury suite.

Guests can also experience culinary delicacies from Loftin’s at the Versace Mansion, the property’s New-American inspired restaurant. Offering beautiful first courses and salads, two pound lobsters, hearty prime cuts of beef, rack of lamb and simply prepared, eight ounce portions of fish and prawns, with Loftin’s at the Versace Mansion’s signature dish presented on a 250-million-year-old rare Himalayan sea salt block.With al fresco seating within the front terrace, a central courtyard and stone-encrusted dining room, reservations can also be made to enjoy cocktails within the Tiffany bar, which overlooks the Versace designed Italian mosaic pool. For reservation information, please contact 305-672-6604 or visit www.casacasuarina.com.

Bears in Umatilla

UMATILLA - The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission is helping sponsor the Umatilla Black Bear Festival.

The family-oriented festival, now in its 10th year, celebrates the Florida black bear., is scheduled for Saturday, March 28 from 9 a.m.to 4 p.m. at Cadwell Park in Umatilla. It’s free and is a great way for families to spend a few hours together doing something fun and educational at the same time.

This year FWC biologists will focus their presentations on living in bear country. At 10:30 a.m., bear biologist Mike Orlando will give an entertaining program on how to keep bears from making your home their home. At 2 p.m., biologist Tom Shupe will explain what people need to know to live and recreate safely in bear country.

Meanwhile, deep in the Ocala National Forest, FWC bear research biologists Walter McCown and Brian Scheick will lead field trip participants through natural bear habitat and explain a bit of bruin natural history. Field trips begin at 9:30 a.m. and are repeated every hour.

Back at the festival grounds, FWC biologists will be on hand at the Ask the Biologist booth to answer all your bear-related questions. In addition, FWC biologist Andrea Boliek will lay out a buffet of bear cuisine – both the healthy, natural kind, and the problem-causing kind only humans can provide – and she’ll explain the difference. You might be surprised at some of the things bears will consume and how biologists know.

“Our goal is for festival-goers to learn everything they always wanted to know about the Florida black bear – and more,” said Judy Gillan, FWC’s statewide outreach coordinator, and one of the festival’s original organizers. “It’s hard to believe it’s been a decade since the festival partners got together and started this event. The best part is that every year the interest and support from Umatilla and the surrounding community continues to grow and that means more and more people learn about the Florida black bear.”

The festival is presented by Defenders of Wildlife, U.S. Forest Service, city of Umatilla, the FWC and the Umatilla Chamber of Commerce. For more information about the 10th Annual Umatilla Black Bear Festival, call 352-669-3511 or visit www.umatillachamber.org.

Mercedes-Benz Car Show on Amelia Island

AMELIA ISLAND – Mercedes-Benz commemorates the 75th anniversary of the Silver Arrows at this year’s Amelia Island Concours d’Elegance that features over 250 rare classics. The event runs from March 12-15, 2009, on the grounds of The Ritz-Carlton, Amelia Island.

On display for the 75th anniversary occasion at the 14th annual Amelia Island Concours d’Elegance are two vintage Silver Arrows including a W 154 and a W 196 R “Streamliner” and a 2009 SLR McLaren 722 S Roadster.

“Every record established by a Silver Arrow contributed to a legend that continues to intrigue car enthusiasts to this very day,” said Mike Kunz, manager, Mercedes-Benz Classic Center USA.

One of only 15 units ever built, the Mercedes-Benz W 196 R was available in both an open wheel variant named the “Monoposto” and an aerodynamic version appropriately named the “Streamliner.” In 1954 and 1955, Juan Manuel Fangio claimed world championship titles behind the wheel of one. The W 196 R Streamliner on display is part of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Museum collection.

See www.mbusa.com and www.maybachusa.com.

A Handy Sarasota Restaurant Cheat Sheet

From Lido Key, Old Salty Dog

Below are some of our favorite Sarasota restaurants. There are many more; perhaps readers can add favorites on the comments at the end if we have left a favorite off. We could go on and on; instead we’ve made this quick and handy list so you can have them all in one place.

Downtown

• El Greco: Classic downtown Greek dinner spot. The perfect Greek-American restaurant. They opened in 1969, year of moon launch, and still consistent each time.
• Selva Grill: Peruvian, and sensuously so. Scene at night. Happening without attitude. We do agree with the skirt steak and plantains dinner entree.
• Marina Jack’s: Big wide view of Sarasota Bay; the place you take mom for Mother’s Day, or just want the big atmosphere. Dinner boat too.
• Mattison’s City Grille: Downtown on Main Street, Mattison’s is part outdoor, and is always a scene. Great food but the view is better. Love the torches.

Longboat Key/St. Armand’s Circle

• Cha Cha Coconuts: Perfect spot for a beer and sandwich or burger on the circle. Good prices. Make that GREAT prices. Sister location in Tampa.
• Columbia Restaurant: Always good, and with the same menu as sister restaurants around the state, but a Sarasota flair all its own. As close to Cuba as you will get, but with a St. Armand’s flair. www.columbiarestaurant.com - (941) 388-3987
• The Old Salty Dog: This is our favorite Sarasota restaurant, not just because of the view, but the food, which includes local fish. Still, the big appeal is the view; the rumble rumble of the drawbridge gives it all a sense of drama. You could eat there every night. Really.
• Tommy Bahama’s: If you like this sort of thing, it’s here.
• The Colony and Monkey Room. At The Colony Beach and Tennis Resort, the main dining room attracts regulars from Longboat, and is the sort of place that would have been called “fancy” 30 years ago. Still is. The outdoor Monkey Room is a less expensive bar; at night there is jazz. Make sure the kids order the pasta, which is shaped like tennis racquets.
• Chart House: Expansive and extravaganza few of the pass between Longboat Key and City Island. Chart House was one of the great 1970s restaurant innovators, and it is still that amusing.
• Euphemia Haye: Gourmet stuff at Chef Raymond Arpke’s romantic restaurant at the north end of Longboat.

Siesta Key

• Lobster Pot: A cozy little seafood restaurant in Siesta Key Village.
• Salty Dog: A streetside version of the one near St. Armand’s. It’s great but we love the other one so much that it always disappoints.
• Turtle’s on Little Sarasota Bay: Overlooking the Intracoastal near Turtle Beach, it’s the quintessential cozy waterfront restaurant where the bar is hopping and an upstairs terrace gives you the perfect date night. Casual but not too casual. Cozy in a Thursday-night-drinks-out sort of way.

South County, Tamiami Trail

• Alpine Steak House: We’re not fans of the Terducken they serve here, but we are fans of the other burgers and meat. With a mean deli, too; if you are in town do stop by and see what they have in the way of tenderloins, etc.
• Demetrio’s Pizza: Fast service, a local favorite for pizza since 1973.
• Philippi Creek Oyster House: Busy place, the ultimate “you have to stop here on vacation” spot. Seafood is workable; folks just like to be there. Wish more folks would come via the dock.
• Sam Snead’s: In the area around Morton’s, this is a golf course grill type restaurant that turns luxe at dinner. Food is great, but you want to be there to see what’s going on and who drops in. Oh, and chomp on a big steak.
• J. Ryan’s on the Grill: What more good can be said about this bistro? The prices are seemingly right out of 1968 (we exaggerate a bit) as is the completely original menu. Chateaubriand, chicken piccata? What you imagined a restaurant to be, and no self important chef attitude. Fast service too.

Osprey/Casey Key

• Casey Key Fish House: How many good things can we say about this place? First, its ultra-casual, but on expensive Casey Key. Seafood is always fresh; the whole place just smells right. Pelicans on the marina get a bit close, but that’s all part of the scene. Tiki bar was kept closed by weasels in the county and pesky neighbors, but was set to reopen with limited hours. What a great Florida restaurant looks like. Osprey, (941) 966-1901

Venice

• Briandi’s: The sort of restaurant Frank would have stopped in at; it’s intimate (around a dozen tables) and has Italian classics. The Italian restaurant you remember from 1962. Nothing has changed, thankfully. No website that we can find.202 S Tamiami Tr., Venice, 941-488-9511
• Sharkey’s on the Pier: Kids will love the shark bones and teeth, and parents will love the fact that kids can run on the beach while you wait for a table. Packed, at the south end of Venice near the airport.

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