Gamble Rogers Memorial State Recreation Area, Flagler Beach, Florida
If My people, who are called by My name, will humble themselves and pray and seek My face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and I will forgive their sin and will heal their land. ~ II Chronicles 7:14
In an attempt to regain strength, we enjoyed quite a bit of activity today. Fairly easy stuff, but covering many miles.
I went out to the beach this morning for some early contemplation and prayer time. That itself was wonderful and covered at least a mile.
The lighting this morning was like a glimpse of heaven!
The fishermen are out today. Well, it IS Saturday morning . . . .
There are thousands of these tiny “angel wing” shells on this beach.
Funny how different things show up at different beaches . . . .
I saw about half a dozen of these this morning.
A Pelican! Right over my head!
Oh. Maybe I shouldn’t look up . . . : )
God even graced me with a rainbow!
Sort of . . .
It’s fading now, but there’s a fishing boat.
An osprey out fishing the surf area.
They remind me of bombers headed right for me!
Once I returned, we drove a short distance to an intracoastal boardwalk trail that was about two miles total.
This boardwalk area is named the Betty Steflik Memorial Preserve. I felt like someone who had a Preserve named after them should be investigated a bit. Here’s a portion of her obituary. (Surprisingly, there was nothing about her on the Preserve’s website.)
Betty Best Steflik – 1917 – 2004 (whadayathink of her middle name? Or maybe it was her maiden name?)
The last 25 years of her life, Betty dedicated herself to preserving Flagler County’s fragile coast line and wet lands. Betty’s vision as a Flagler Beach City Commissioner is preserved in the unique charm and character Flagler Beach has as a result of zoning and height restrictions and supporting local, small businesses. Bob Mish, local Flagler environmentalist and Flagler Beach Commissioner has said, “Flagler Beach would have a totally different look today if it were not for her vision and commitment.”
Twelve of those 25 years, she served as a city commissioner for Flagler Beach.
This is the start of the boardwalk trail
Things are blooming down here!
A very small portion was on a sandy trail. Almost all of it was boardwalk.
That’s a lot of building!
There were some pretty fine houses across the water.
Can you imagine being the people to build this thing?
Standing in the muck and water to work every day?
Look what we found!
A Gopher Tortoise!
Right beside the trail!
It was huge! Probably basketball size!
He got fed up with us though, and slid back down into his burrow.
We left there and drove about 20 minutes to enjoy a bike trail.
Some interesting information about our bike trail.
Here’s a sample of our bike trail.
Like I said – pretty easy. : )
Flat and asphalted, but still fourteen miles long. Now the written information we had said 8 miles one way, but the signposts along the trail told us seven. Hmmmm . . . .
This is our lunch view today.
Nothing much, but the benches they provide along the trail are large, comfortable and clean.
This shows some of the old tracks.
They’re the only ones we saw today.
After all that, I was ready for a nap. Still recuperating . . . .
The State Park was sponsoring a jam session here in the campground that started at 2:00, but I was still resting. After I was up, we decided to walk to the beach again, and they were still jamming, so we stood and listened for a bit. What fun!
The Gamble Jam session.
Each song, a different person choose the song and did the lead singing.
There were guitars, banjos, mandolins,and a bass. At least that’s what we saw anyway.
Another (or the same?) osprey.
Better lighting and Blaine’s better camera, make for a better picture though.
The water feels cold when it first touches your feet, but it wasn’t long before we got used to it.
We don’t know what this one is, it’s not the same as the egrets we see in the intercoastal areas.
Dinner brought back lovely memories! Chicken broccoli casserole, blueberry muffins and applesauce. I used to make this meal all the time when our boys were growing up. It was a family favorite. (Thanks to my mom who had this at a church pot luck, got the recipe and shared it with me.) After dinner, I texted the boys and they remembered it too, vowing to make it soon now that I’d reminded them of it. 😊
CHICKEN BROCCOLI CASSEROLE
3 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cubed and cooked
2 packages frozen broccoli, thawed and drained, OR 2 bunches fresh, chopped
1 can cream of chicken soup
1/3 C. evaporated milk
2/3 C. Miracle Whip
1 ½ C. Velveeta cheese, sliced and torn up
Potato chips, crushed (optional)
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Mix together soup, milk, Miracle Whip and Velveeta. Layer broccoli, then chicken and top with sauce. Sprinkle with crushed potato chips if desired.
Bake covered for 30-45 minutes, or till heated thru.
HINT: I’ve made this in the crock pot before when pressed for time. Put a small amount of soup mixture on the bottom, then broccoli, then uncooked chicken, then remaining soup. Cook on low for 4-6 hours. Personally, I like it better in the oven.
BLUEBERRY MUFFINS
2 C. flour
1 C. sugar
½ t. salt
1 T double-acting baking powder
2 eggs
1 C. milk
¼ C. vegetable oil
1 C. blueberries (fresh or frozen)
3 T. flour (for dusting berries – prevents berries from settling on the bottom)
Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
Grease 12 muffin cups. In a large bowl, mix flour, sugar, salt and baking powder with a fork. In another bowl, beat eggs slightly then stir in milk and oil.
All at once, add egg mixture to flour mixture and stir just until moistened. (Over-mixing causes toughness, batter should be lumpy) Coat the berries with the 3 T. flour and gently fold into batter (including any extra flour). Spoon batter evenly into muffin pan.
Bake 20-25 minutes, until they are well risen and golden and a toothpick placed into the center comes out clean and dry.
HINT: Our son, Kyle gave me this recipe to try. Best blueberry muffins I’ve ever made! Thanks!!