Latest Features

If you think about it, seemingly unrelated professions like chefs and musicians do have characteristics in common, and creativity, dedication and self-discipline are among the many qualities that define Executive Chef Laura Owen, “In the Kitchen” this week. Full story »

Tom Hornyak’s three-month vacation of a lifetime stretched from Naples to San Francisco at a cost of $700. The 3,700-mile no-frills bike trip included one tent, four flats, two wipe-outs, eight states, 14 couches and hundreds of close encounters with nearly every aspect of human and wildlife along the way. Full story »

Where can you paddle a canoe or take a swim, then savor a superb seafood spread while seated in a chickee hut bar on the shores of Johnson Bay? It’s all about the Sunday Buffet and family fun fest at the Capri Fish House on Isles of Capri. The bountiful all-you-can-eat buffet is set up in the air-conditioned ambiance of the unique dining room. And, of course, there’s ample seating indoors where diners can also enjoy views of Johnson Bay. Full story »

Picture a beautiful sandy beach, white and wide, with spindly pine trees dotting the shore and spiky scrub palmettos just beyond. In a straight line from the 600-foot T-shaped pier offshore, on slightly elevated land, there is a small, three-story building, with a porch across the front and a cupola on top. This was Naples in 1890, and that structure was the Naples Hotel. Full story »

What was the last movie you saw? “Indiana Jones — the Crystal Skull.” Full story »

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What is your favorite restaurant? The Island Grill. You can sit outside and they serve really good food. Plus, the menu is different; not the same old thing. We like the corn bread, coconut shrimp and tropical salad. Full story »

You drive into a town that you’ve never visited before and suddenly, without a smidge of doubt, you know there’s a diner around a certain corner. You walk in, squeeze into a booth, and look at a menu that’s so familiar, you barely need to read it. You’ve been there before, but that’s impossible. Déjà vu or — if you cotton to that sort of thing — a past life? Full story »

So, here we are: Labor Day and life is beginning to return to normal after the long, hot summer break. “Normal” is such an ill-defined place. As Floridians, we can never forget that “normal” can be radically and sometimes forever changed by one bad day when a hurricane might blow through. Full story »

Poetry is a journey of the imagination that we experience in words. It is the creative expression of imagery in verse and imagery is what gives poetry its soul. The pen of the poet shapes imaginative language into a vivid picture, which creates powerful energy and thus appeals to the reader’s senses. Full story »

Marco Island doesn’t skimp on the faith factor, a fact that must have been on the minds of the Deltona Corporation when it supplied ample acreage to every religious denomination on the island — as prescribed by the founding Mackle brothers. One such denomination delighting in its current renaissance while reflecting on its roots is First Baptist Church of Marco Island (FBC). Not to worry, the 1450 Winterberry Drive address is still the same, but within the past year the church campus has undergone a stunning transformation thanks to the success of a multi-million dollar capital campaign and the visionary leadership of its senior pastor, Timothy Neptune. Full story »

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Adversity can be defined as “adverse fortune or fate; a condition marked by misfortune, calamity, or distress.” In its etymology the word, like many others, came into our language from the Latin word “adversus” which means “turned against or opposition” and literally translated means “ad- versus,” that is, “to turn.” Full story »

What is your favorite restaurant? Truluck’s. They have the best food and service in town. I love the all-you-can-eat stone crab special, in season. Full story »

Elections used to be fun. They aren’t anymore. Election days and the campaigns that preceded them used to be almost as good as Christmas but that was before politics was dumped into the gutter. Full story »