Growing up in Mobile, I spent much of my youth attending and watching my two older brothers play sports. My dad was especially involved with Murphy High School’s track team, raising money for their booster club. It was called the Cinder Club because running tracks in those days were made of cinder that required long spikes on shoes to gain traction.

If you ever get a chance to visit with Gus Silivos, Owner/Executive Chef at Agapi Bistro + Garden in Pensacola, you are in for a treat. A few Fridays ago, Linda, her son Jack, and I had dinner at Agapi while it was pouring rain outside. We sat at the bar enjoying a wonderful meal and interacted with the delightful staff. 

There is a pottery studio and showroom in Navarre, Florida, called Holley Hill Pottery. The owner/artists are Marty, Brenda, and Jason Stokes, co-founders of the Gulf Coast Kiln Walk Society and the WoodStoke Pottery and Kiln Festival which is coming up on Saturday, February 10th.

This time of year, especially for those who want to escape to warmer weather, head South. I’ve always wondered what it would be like to traverse the waterways by boat through South Florida and arrive at a tropical Bahama destination. I’ve heard of many who’ve done it, with trepidation at crossing the Gulf Stream. It can be a harrowing experience. Here is one such tale and we hope it conjures up a Parrothead version worthy of Jimmy Buffett.

Some people are lucky to have been born with creative genes. How creativity manifests itself can take many tracks, often depending on a person’s environment. In the case of ultra-talented Fairhope resident Elisabeth Hays, it was the free reign she was given as a child to do whatever she wanted to do in her art room, the finished attic of their home.

If you’ve ever been strolling down Palafox Street on the weekend, you may have noticed a shuttered restaurant nestled in between Intermission Bar and Graffiti Pizza. Being new to Pensacola, and with a culinary background, I was intrigued by this eatery that always seemed to be closed. How do they afford rent on such a popular street? What is the story behind this mystery spot? I started asking around town, and I am sure glad that I did! Read on to see what I discovered about Four Seasons Catering & Eatery, a true staple in the Pensacola community.

What is an Agronomist? - an expert in the science of soil management and crop production. Carmen Flamini is an agronomist working for the Alabama Cooperative Extension System as an agent specializing in home grounds, gardens, and pests. She serves Baldwin, Butler, Conecuh, and Escambia Counties. The Alabama Cooperative Extension System provides educational outreach to the citizens of Alabama on behalf of the state's two land grant Universities: Alabama A&M University and Auburn University.

Mike Hutchison was born into a musical family and points to the church as the catalyst for his early love for music. His career has involved stints as a youth music minister, a professional musician, a manager and owner of a retail music store, a music teacher, and a bandleader. His band, Blind Dog Mike & the Howlers, is a local staple and his Baldwin County Instrument Exchange store has serviced and guided local musicians for decades.

The first half of February is chocked full of Mardi Gras events after the festivities kicked into gear at the end of January throughout the Scenic 98 Coastal area. Most of our readers have their established Mardi Gras traditions, but if you still need a Mardi Gras plan or are new to the area, check out the following links for parade schedules and other information.

There has been a lot of buzz about a new Asian Fusion restaurant in Daphne, so on Friday night, my party of three happily set off for the 20-minute drive, to experience the much-talked-about place. Reservations are recommended, so we were early birds and a table was ready for us at 5:15 pm. At 6:45 when we were finished, the establishment was packed! This tells us they are doing something right!

For generations of anglers, sailors, and shippers, the image of Middle Bay Light, as the locals call it, means you are about halfway across the Bay of Mobile. Built “up north,” the prefabricated house arrived in Mobile in 1885. Mobile Bay itself is quite shallow, and before the arrival of the lighthouse, the channel was marked with wooden stakes and barrels. n In the early 1880s, a 17-foot channel was dredged so large vessels could reach the Port of Mobile, and a lighthouse was deemed necessary to mark the channel.

Picture this: a beautiful spring afternoon, a lovely breeze sweeping through the pines, friends gathering, ice chests and picnic baskets full of goodies, and one of your favorite bands playing their best tunes at an outdoor amphitheater.

The smallness of my hometown, Evergreen, Alabama, meant a lack of separation. The poor and the wealthy, the educated and the ignorant, the sane and crazy, and the sick and healthy were thrown together in a tiny, rural piece of geography.

“Chicago of the South.” That’s how it was described to me when my friend from college, Tom Lavender, first told me about his hometown of Boligee, Alabama. It had everything to become a booming metropolis, a river, a railroad, and later, an Interstate highway.

I am in the middle of 6 acres of beautiful woods, with Red Gully Creek meandering through the property. There are lots of little children here, climbing, digging, building, and playing while teachers ask questions to foster creativity.

David Cooper has written and published an entertaining book called The Laundry Man. It is a fun tale that weaves through a fictional Mississippi family that draws on David’s life and experiences growing up Southern.

January is a cold, wet reality check after the festive atmosphere of the holiday season and is often ranked as the worst month of the year to no one’s surprise. Whether you are working off the holiday excesses, working on a new year’s resolution, or getting back in the swing of work / school, the short, dreary days can dampen anyone’s spirits.

Side gigs are fun. It usually means you’ve found something to add to your daily responsibilities that's worth the time and effort. In the case of Amber and Hunter Harris, both chefs working in the restaurant industry, launching a monthly supper club is a test of bigger things to come.

This week, I met two 13-year-old boys who have started a business called Bay Boys Lure Company. Thomas Gross and Bennett Lieb are 7th graders at Bayside Academy and are on their way to creating a very successful business: conceived, funded, manufactured, and marketed entirely by themselves. Of course, because they are so young, moms and dads are advisors, yet mothers, Kim Gross and Ashley Lieb, clearly state that these entrepreneurs are on their own.

I am one of those people who turn their heads at the sight of a classic car. I have many nostalgic and fond memories associated with restored vintage automobiles and trucks from different periods. My friend, David Pierce, just bought a classic MGB which I first saw last week with him smiling behind the wheel.

Did you know that cilantro is the only herb that can detoxify heavy metals from our bodies? Or that ginger and turmeric are natural painkillers and have antiviral properties, or that beet juice gives you energy?

The restaurant business is not for the faint of heart. It’s a business that requires passion and love, with a pursuit of excellence that has no end. Sustainability means meeting the challenge every single day.

Part II: The Life and Times of Jimbo Meador Jimbo Meador has experienced many different and interesting occupations throughout his life, and most were squarely in his wheelhouse. He managed Bon Secour Fisheries for several years at the peak of the oyster and shrimp business. While there, he and Chris Nelson, a marine biologist and owner of Bon Secure Fisheries, had a grant to grow oyster spat in a lab for farming oysters in Bon Secour Bay before it was a widely accepted thing.

I ran into Jimbo Meador at a grocery store a few weeks ago. After exchanging pleasantries, we decided to meet for coffee and a visit. I left looking forward to it like a kid waiting for Christmas. I wasn’t sure what we would discuss. I planned to listen and learn and relish in the moment. Any time spent with Jimbo is memorable.