Best Florida Beaches (as per the Travel Channel)

Tonight there was a special on the Travel Channel highlighting the 10 "best" beaches in FL. Firstly, it was supposedly based off some guy's book that I can't even find on Amazon.com. Secondly, it didn't even list our local favorite, not that I am surprised. New Symrna (pictured at left) is probably nothing out of this world, but it is a quick and easy place to get to from central Florida (~ 45 min.) that does typify the classic casual slow-paced lifestyle that is beach life.

Just for anyone interested, here is the list they presented on the show with the specialty for each:

10 - Daytona Beach: activities and driving up and down the beach
9 - Sanibel Island (Gulf side): sea shell collecting
8 - Panama City: Spring Break
7 - Sandspur Beach (Bahia Honda): Nature preserve
6 - Smathers Beach (Key West): island-style
5 - Clearwater Beach: boating, even a pirate cruise
4 - Lover's Key Beach (outside Ft. Myers): seclusion/couples (Lover's Key Beach Club Resort)
3 - Palm Beach: living the high life, shopping (The Breakers Hotel)
2 - Siesta Key Beach: soft sand (Sand Sculpture Contest)
1 - South Beach (Miami): international scene (latin influence), winter fashion, non-stop nightlife

Now my question is- are you really a Floridian if you've only been to 3 or 4? I know I've been to Daytona numerous times, as it probably is the second-closest beach to where I was raised. If I went to Sanibel, I think I was in the single digits, so I'm not too sure about that one. Panama City- nope. Sandspur- nope. Key West for sure-- the Smathers Beach- not so sure. So I'm halfway through the list, and I've definitely been to one. I think I've been to Clearwater beach as the area is huge and I think includes Flaglar. Lover's Key- nope. Palm Beach- definitely not the beach. Siesta? - nope. South Beach- I think I burned myself laying out there when I was 12 for about 20 minutes. Maybe I'm more like a 2-3 then. Anyway, I apparently need to visit more, as I'm sure we all do! That's why I thought this was a good suggestion list, just in case anyone has some time to lie around and do nothing, and wasn't sure of where to do it.

"Oh Give Me a Home..."

 









... where the who? ... the what? ... Yes, where the "buffalo" roam.

Apparently some people have a problem with this song. Okay, not really the song, but they lyrics. That's the song, right? Anyway, see these guys in the picture. They're buffalo. Or are they? Technically Bison bison to the scientific world. To the average North American, however, this is a Buffalo. So where did this misnomer start? Who knows? I'm ceratainly not looking it up for the sake of this blog. Let's just say it's been around for quite some time. As this is true, someone says, "Mommy, look at the Buffalo", everyone turns around expecting to see a large beautiful brown wooly animal. No one turns around expecting to see the true Buffalo, the Water Buffalo (what an ugly creature). I mean, do we even have those over here on our continent? I kind of doubt it. So yes bison = buffalo and buffalo = bison, if you're speakin' Amerrican (which, ya well, most of us are, whether we want to admit to it or not).

Okay, so they're not really equal, but the point is there's nothing lost in the translation. We're all on the same page here. So before we go claiming all the museums and songs should have to change their nomenclature, let's think about this. Which sounds cooler? Buffalo, definitely. Besides, what would we be then, the Colorado Bison? It just sounds so technical, so unequivocal. I propose, as long as we can keep the Cleveland Indians, we can certainly keep the CU Buffalo. Go Ralphie! Which if you want to get into even larger issues. Ya, Ralphie. Not so much a "Ralphie". Not even a Ralph. What am I talking about you ask? Our bison, our buffalo, only the largest event, well, in my opinion at least, at the football games, is ... can you take this? a Girl! Clearly we have more issues going on that whether or not a bison can be called a buffalo, even if we know it's really technically not one.

This is just one example of how scientific language is different from local language. It is true the differences between scientific names and common names can be quite confusing, much more than the buffalo/bison issue. Here are two others for you to hem and haw about, the dolphin fish and the mosquito eater. The dolphin fish or sometimes even just called dolphin (which can be quite confusing if you're unfamiliar with this local terminology and you see it on a menu), is otherwise known as mahi mahi or scientifically as Coryphaena hippurus. The commonly named Mosquito Eater (Family: Tipulidae) in the US, which not only does not eat mosquitoes, but is also known as a Crane Fly or a Daddy Long Legs in the UK. A Daddy Long Legs in the US is in fact a spider (Family: Pholcidae). Interestingly enough, both of which seem to seek haven in my apartment. Other miscommunications arise when two different things have the same common name in different locations, which also occurs more often than you would think.

Broader problems come in to play when the common name for a whole class is completely erroneous, such as the starfish. Although they are actually shaped like a star, they're not even a fish, try echinoderm (yes, I have been schooled in the ways of Biology, as if you couldn't tell already). As this has caused quite a commotion, there is a movement to change the common name to "sea star", like that is easy to do. We struggle with this name issue everywhere. The largest in my specialty (chemistry) is that whole Molecular Weight thing. If you went to school anytime around when I did or before, you know what I am talking about. However, this is one of the most erroneous names out there. There are once again, some bright bold people trying to change this term to one that is more accurately descriptive of the actual definition, and it has even been corrected in some of the newer textbooks to the more accurately named new term: Molecular Mass. Now, why has it taken hundreds of years for us to change the term for the mass (yes, Mass!) of a molecule to an actual name of mass and not weight. Anyone who has studied physics knows these terms are not even close to being equivocal.

To end my name game, I have one thing to say. A name is nothing but a means to communicate with someone else. If the reciever of your name-calling is privy to the naming technique to which you are using, you have achieved communication. If not, well then, maybe you need to resort to the scientific language, but until then, I'm going to common it up as I've heard I'm not the only one who's a little rusty with the Latin. 

Most Memorable Bike Ride Home

I believe this story needs a little background. About eight years ago there was a girl entering college, and her parents decided to spring for a bike for her. As she did not know anything about bikes at the time (afterall, she was raised in an age when helmets were only worn by the dorky kids), $219 seemed extremely expensive (to her) for a bike. The good thing was that the cheapest model was a bright blue, and so she was happy with her decision to try to choose an inexpensive model (once again, the cheapest, although, it was at an actual bike shop so this was no Huffy: The Great Escape in Greenville, SC) to be nice to her parents as they were being nice to her.

Freshman and sophomore year went by and the bike saw more of the rack than anything else. And, it usually was a (gasp!) uncovered one at that. I suppose Junior year was not much better. By Senior year the bike was seeing a little more of the road and even some trails, however, it had already become quite bruised an beaten, mainly from the abrasive metal racks and the oxidative elements on an aluminum shell. Needless to say, when graduation time came around, the bike was a little less than pristine, but still in perfect running condition.

After a short vacation in sunny Florida, the bike made the long trek out to the West, on the back of the car that is. Now instead of the humid heat, the bike was forced to endure dry and dusty conditions. Yes, it was out on the rack again. However, by this time, the bike and the girl had developed a bond. The bike was going everywhere and doing everything, from commuting to work to trail riding (although, it was soon found out that mountain biking out West seemed to be a little more serious than back in the South so this didn't really take hold quite as well as the others) to triathlons. That's right, the little blue bike had become was a racer. Really, this was the best time for the bike.

About a year later, when recreational riding became a little more serious, the bike was downgraded to the commuter, but faithful none-the-less. I'm not really sure what the average bike lifespan is, but this one has seen some good years. As it is coming upon it's 8th year, things have started to go wrong, and quite quickly I might add. Some say it is awaiting its days of rest as it has surely seen at least one or two thousand miles beneath it's tread, and has even changed and upgraded (okay, so it really hasn't been upgraded much, if it had it just might not be falling apart at present).

Now that I mention the present, let's venture back to it. A couple of weeks ago (I promise not to divert too much), the right twist shifter broke, but only superficially (the plastic exterior). This would be after the issues of the uneven brakes, rotting grips that flake off in your hand, and the possible loose or broken front hub. As this seemed to be a minor issue, I balked at buying a new mountain bike during the past couple of weeks, despite countless hours of research. One issue being, a new mountain bike would not be best for commuting, yet I wasn't ready to leave the old guy by the waste side. As a common result, my decision was to make no decision. I even toyed with the idea of fixing up the old bike. In this fashion, I bought it some urban pedals (one side for clipless pedaling and the other for my most-used sandal style approach). Only one ride in to work was needed to convince me that this was the route to go. All of a sudden my slow hot ride in had become much more enjoyable. That is, until today.

I decided at about six that I would venture home. Mainly, as it was looking like it was going to storm, but I also wanted a change of venue. As I grabbed the bike from the lab, where it had been hiding out ever since the last-minute Costco trip, I headed home in the oddly humid air. Just when it started to sprinkle, I started to pick up the pace a little, as no one likes to be caught in the rain (especially while on a commuter where the owner has routinely forgotten to purchase a rear fender and when wearing fashionable leather sandals; I told you about the sandals before). Just as I was about to go under a second underpass, the unthinkable happened. I hammered down (okay, so I didn't hammer down, but it was a good thing) on the left pedal as I was veering right around a corner. This was when it happened. The pedal shot across the path, followed soon by my aforementioned left sandal. It was quite a funny sight to behold, but probably not as funny as me attempting to "bike" home with one pedal and a crank arm, that I have to admit is a little hard to grip while trying to not lose your sandal, that has definitely now gotten wet. Okay, I was glad there were no first-hand witnesses, which is maybe what has allowed me to re-create the scene.

Just like that, my last-minute "upgrade" just might be the straw on my so-called steed's (technically, that would be camel's) back. It appears the nice, new fancy pedal has stripped the inner rings of the crank arm. Yes, yes, I will check it all out again (when it is NOT raining). Alright, so I did manage to venture back outside for the picture, yes, I know. Sadly, the bike has been left out on the rack again, instead of being brought inside the comfy (to a bike, why not?) apartment for a little seat upgrade.

Am I forced now to come to terms with the end of our times together? Has all of the bike searching become a vision into the future? Should I mtn. bike it or replace the nice little commuter? Feel free to comment if you have a bike you love!