Coastal Companion

Your ultimate guide to the coast

Florida’s Birding and FotoFest 2010

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Experience northeast Florida’s abundant bird life and photogenic natural beauty at more than 110 exciting birding and outdoor photography events during the 2010 Florida’s Birding & FotoFest! In addition to the ever-popular nature tours and excursions, new discoveries for this year’s event include workshops on preparing your images and composition, photographing birds in flight, selections and layer masking, flash techniques and many in field photography workshops.

Program presenters include Tim Grey, Rob Sheppard, Lewis Kemper, Roy Toft, Chas Glatzer, Maxis Gamez, Robert O’Toole, Deb Sandidge, Kevin Karlson, Scott Elowitz, Greg Downing, and Reinier Munguia. The festival is headquartered a the Whitney Lab for Marine Bioscience at Marineland, located 15 miles south of St. Augustine on A1A. Discover the region’s phenomenal bird life and the abundant natural habitats that sustain them with bird walks and boat and kayak trips to undisturbed areas. This Festival is guaranteed to excite nature lovers and outdoor enthusiasts of all ages.

The Festival Headquarters is at Whitney Lab for Marine Bioscience at Marineland, 9505 Ocean Shore Blvd, Marineland, FL
904.829.1711

Thursday, Apr. 22 – Sunday, Apr. 25, 2010
For more information visit www.Getaway4Nature.com

Beaches Unplugged Music Series – Ponte Vedra, Fl

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In the summer there’s usually a lot of music performances on the coast. Ponte Vedra has its own series of free concerts called “The Beaches Unplugged”. This is a series of free community concerts held at The Cultural Center at Ponte Vedra Beach.

Each concert features up to 20 local musicians performing a variety of music from blues, jazz, Latin, classical and more. Beaches Unplugged, now in its 3rd year, is a tremendously popular event for all ages – usually standing room only in the Cultural Center’s ballroom.

Wine is served (donation) and coffee is provided from Fazzini’s Coffee and Tea. Piano provided by Keyboard Connection.
Admission is free.

The concert dates for 2010 are April 18th, June 13th, September 26th and December 12th from 6pm – 8pm.

For more information about the event visit www.ccpvb.org
Ponte Vedra cultural Center

Gypsy Cab Indie Film Series in St. Augustine, Florida

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In St Augustine you can always catch a dinner and a movie on the last Wednesday of the month. Get a group of friends together and head to the Gypsy Cab where you can order a drink, relax and enjoy a film chosen especially for the Gypsy Cab audience by The Fort Lauderdale International Film Festival.

Doors open and dinner starts at 6p.m. Movie starts at 7p.m. Reservations are suggested. Call 904-824-8244 for reservations.
Wednesday, March 31: Macho Macho
Episode I: Fortunato spent years transporting stolen Ferraris to the Arabs. His next trip is going to be his last and pass the baton to Marcello.  An encounter forces a surprising detour.
Episode II: Giulio’s divorce plunged him into depression.  He is supposed to attend a convention in St. Petersburg, but doesn’t want to go. However, Fausto, a colleague is in no doubt: Russia is the land of easy sex.  He puts Giulio in contact with Vito, an on-line organizer of sexual tourism jaunts. Things get out of hand in this comic romp.
April 28: Life is a Banquet
May 31: Don McKay
June 30: Vince & the Fever

Rythm and Ribs Festival in St. Augustine, Fl – 2010

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As you know, spring is one of my favorite times of the year. Festival season is in full swing, the weather is beautiful and it’s a great time to spend time outdoors. If you watched my videos in the past, or followed my posts, you probably already know that I love good food – and I also enjoy good music. The Rythm and Ribs Festival in St Augustine, Florida, has a little bit of both.

The event has been voted St Augustine’s Best festival nine years in a row, so I’m not the only who thinks food and music go together like love and marriage….or maybe I should say burger and fries, wine and cheese or in this case ribs and music.

You never go wrong combining great barbeque with great live music, and last year 20,000 people agreed with me and showed up for the festival weekend.

Rythm and Ribs takes place on March 26th, 27th and 28th at Francis Field in St Augustine. This year rock n roll hall of famer Dave Mason is performing.

For more information about the festival, visit www.rythmandribs.net

St Augustine Lighthouse Festival 2010

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You'll have the best view on the coast from the lighthouse!

St Augustine has one of most beautiful lighthouses on the coast. It’s black and red silhouette is a known landmark. If you haven’t had an opportunity to visit, once of the best times is of course during the annual Lighthouse Festival.

This year it’s the 8th Annual Festival, the event takes place on Saturday, March 20, 2010. St. Augustine Lighthouse & Museum offers free admission to the tower, the museum and the grounds during the festival.

This is a great event for both children and adults. There is always special games and crafts for children, great food, pony rides, and archaeological activities. Children can even buy, build and sail their own model boat in the pond, which is always a popular activity.

The Michelob Ultra Twilight 5K Run starts at 4:30 p.m. on the road in front of the Keeper’s House.

About 8,000+ visitors show up for the festival throughout the day, so plan to come early and stay for a while. Free parking will be available at the St. Augustine Amphitheatre (which is probably your best bet for parking) and there is a shuttle that will take you from there to the festival. Paid event parking will also be available at the Lighthouse & Museum.

For more information call (904) 829-0745 or visit www.staugustinelighthouse.com
St Augustine Lighthouse Festival