“On an island in the sun, We’ll be playing and having fun

And it makes me feel so fine I can’t control my brain”

That essentially sums up the experience of visiting Peanut Island, a nearly 80-acre haven for boaters, paddlers and beach enthusiasts who like to spend their days soaking up sunrays or visiting with marine life on a snorkeling excursion. For many area boaters, the island tucked just inside the Lake Worth (Palm Beach) Inlet presents a place to pull up for an afternoon beach cookout and swim.

This small slice of paradise also allows the option to stay overnight in one of 17 reservable sites, allowing campers to enjoy the island long after daytime revelers have pulled up anchor and headed back to shore.

Getting There

The only access to Peanut Island is by boat on the Intracoastal Waterway. Those with access to a pontoon, a fishing boat or personal watercraft will have no problem pulling up for a few hours or a night of camping. Kayakers and paddlers are also commonly seen around the island, and launching and rentals are available at nearby Riviera Beach Marina.

This is also where visitors can catch the Peanut Island Shuttle Boat, which departs at regular intervals daily for $25 per adult and $12 per child (online advance reservations). Dogs are allowed on the shuttle boat free of charge and permitted on the island as long as they are leashed.

The Palm Beach Water Taxi ($20 per person) makes multiple daily trips from the Sailfish Marina Resort on the eastern side of Peanut Island.

For those with their own vessels, launching at Phil Foster Park just to the north of Peanut Island is also an option — but parking may be limited on the weekends.

Things to Do

Paddling or boating around Peanut Island is inherent in the experience, and there are plenty of places to pull up on a sandy stretch of shoreline.

The island’s main draw is swimming, with a dedicated snorkeling lagoon and guarded beaches on the southeast side. The best time to snorkel is during the hour before and after high tide.

Get Wet Watersports, which offers snorkeling tours to Peanut Island, advertises that visitors will see plenty of colorful fish, rays and the occasional manatee or shark.

Fishing is also available to anglers at various points on the island, including a fishing pier near the campground.

A 1.25-mile walking trail takes visitors on a scenic stroll around the island. Plenty of picnic tables, pavilions, charcoal grills and a few chickee huts are spread out for daytime visitors to enjoy.

An Island Overnight

On a sunny weekend, especially during the summer, the island and surrounding waterways can get quite congested and loud, with revelers on boats blasting music and partying. But as the sun goes down and the riff-raff retire for the evening, all daytime visitors must leave the island, and only those who have reserved one of 17 campsites can stay.

Fourteen of those sites are single sites ($30 plus tax) meant for one tent and a maximum of six campers, while three are double-wide ($60 plus tax) for up to two tents and 12 guests. Each spot contains a tent pad, charcoal grill and picnic table.

Individual sites don’t have campfire rings, but there is a communal firepit and wood available for purchase on the island.

Although alcohol isn’t allowed for daytime visitors, it is permitted in the campground for overnight guests. Showers are available in the restrooms, exclusive to campers and only accessible by punching in a code.

As the moon rises, it’s nice to enjoy dinner and a beverage outdoors while taking in the sensations of wind whispering through the palms, crickets chirping and stars emerging overhead.

Peanut Island also makes for an interesting vantage point to watch cruise ships and giant cargo vessels pull out to sea under the setting sun, not to mention plenty of larger-than-life yachts.

A Nearly Nutty History

Originally named Inlet Island, the man-made enclave originally encompassed 10 acres created in 1918 with material excavated while dredging the Lake Worth (Palm Beach) Inlet. By 1923, the Port of Palm Beach was using the island as a spoil site, and eventually, the island grew to 80 acres.

The name came from a plan to ship peanut oil from the island, and while that idea was abandoned in 1946, the name Peanut Island always stuck.

Amid the Cuban missile crisis of the 1960s, a nuclear bunker was built on the island for President John F. Kennedy, who vacationed with his family at his “winter White House” in Palm Beach. The bunker was previously open for tours but closed in 2017. Historic buildings that previously served as a Coast Guard station sit near the site of the Kennedy bunker.

Brighter Days Ahead

While these facilities are currently fenced off and off-limits to visitors, Palm Beach County plans to renovate the historic structures, bunker and docks in a yearslong, multi-million dollar improvement project.

According to a sign placed in front of the site, the boat house will serve as home to exhibits and a gift shop while the Coast Guard station will house educational and historic displays. Eventually, the plan is also to reopen the Kennedy bunker for tours.

Find me @PConnPie on Instagram or send me an email: pconnolly@orlandosentinel.com.

If you go

Peanut Island is located in the Intracoastal Waterway near the Lake Worth Inlet in Riviera Beach and is open for day use from sunrise to sunset. There is nothing for sale or rent on the island, so visitors should be prepared with supplies for a half-day away from the mainland.

The Peanut Island Shuttle can be reserved online or by calling 561-777-0438, or the Palm Beach Water Taxi can be booked online or by calling 561-683-8294. Peanut Island aims to offer online camping reservations in the future, but for now, sites can be booked by calling 561-845-4445 or toll-free at 866-383-5730 or by emailing pnutcamp@pbcgov.org. A maximum of three nights can be reserved up to 90 days in advance. For more information, visit discover.pbcgov.org.

In rare cases, a misadventure is so awful it becomes news, such as climber Aaron Ralston’s self-amputation in 2003 to unpin his right arm from a boulder. Yet as any search-and-rescue team can share, there are countless stories every day of ordinary people who find themselves in precarious situations while trying to enjoy time outdoors.

And they’re now being told in a variety of podcasts.

Some of these stories are inherently a lesson without the need for a teaching moment spelled out. Others might include a footnote about how to properly prepare for even the simplest outing so there can hopefully be a safe rescue, if needed, or what the reality is of being up close to wild animals.

“One of the common themes in our survival stories — that I don’t think I would have fully appreciated if we weren’t making so many of them — is that it’s almost never just one thing that goes wrong,” shared Peter Frick-Wright, host of the Outside Podcast, in an email interview. “Most people who come close to dying in the wilderness are unlucky or unprepared in two or three different ways that compound on each other to cause a crisis. You lose your firestarter AND fall in the freezing river AND you don’t have a dry set of clothes. You can overcome any two of those problems, but when all three happen you’re in trouble. It’s amazing how consistent it is.”

The Outside podcast is part of Outside Magazine, which is now based in Boulder, Colorado, and not all of its episodes involve accidents. In fact, many of the episodes are the opposite: people who have pushed themselves physically and conquered challenges in the outdoors and now they are sharing how they did it.

“Way, Way Too Close to a Whale” is an episode from earlier this year about two women who go kayaking off the coast of California to chase humpback whales. The story builds with why they went kayaking, what fears and experience they had beforehand, and the dramatic moment when they were suddenly swallowed by a whale. Lesson: Keep your distance from wildlife.

Colorado-based adventure photographer Pete McBride is also interviewed for a brief episode that highlights his startling encounter with an orca.

While many of these stories are told solely from the perspective of the individuals who experienced the near mishap, some episodes get the other side of the story from rescuers. For example, “A Bold Rescue on a Moab Cliff” is not about the BASE jumper whose chute got snagged on the cliff when he struck the rocks and was seriously injured, but the mountain biker who literally swung into action to save his life.

KZMU Community Radio in Moab has decided to take the stories from Grand County Search and Rescue (GCSAR) for a new podcast that will debut later this year.

“The goal of this podcast is to entertain and also educate,” said Molly Marcello, news and public affairs director at KZMU. “There are so many ways to recreate here, which is one of the reasons that Moab is so special for outdoor enthusiasts. That also means there are so many ways to get into trouble.”

Upcoming episodes will highlight the many (!) broken ankles that happen on a popular hike where, despite signs warning against doing so, people jump into a small pond at the bottom of a waterfall; mountain bikers experiencing extreme dehydration on Whole Enchilada Trail; and inventive ways to self-rescue from a slot canyon using your pants.

“The stories that I’ve heard involve a mixture of tourists and locals,” Marcello said. “People can get into trouble by not being prepared or by making sketchy decisions, but accidents do also just happen. We’re hoping people will plan for the worst even if it’s a short hike.”

It’s important to note that search-and-rescue organizations like this are typically made up of volunteers and there can be costs to your rescue, depending on what resources are needed.

Wyoming Public Radio’s HumaNature podcast is recorded in Laramie, and it also has stories of people from anywhere, not just in Wyoming, who find themselves in extraordinary circumstances in the wild. Maybe you just want to hear about the guy who broke a record by pushing a peanut with his nose up Pikes Peak (the summit is 14,115 feet above sea level), but you can also listen to episodes about an experienced hunter who gets lost in the woods or more tales of people who learned the hard way that you need to keep your distance from wildlife.

If you have a wild tale to tell, you can submit it to HumaNature and possibly be featured on a future episode. Frick-Wright said that the majority of their stories come from contributors to Outside — or even just when a producer hears a good story around the campfire.

The next time you live to tell after a narrow escape in the great outdoors, consider which podcast you want to interview you about the nitty-gritty details.

The event draws an international field of competitors with a $15,000 pro prize purse. Both men’s and women’s professional and all amateur divisions will count as part of the Skim USA tour, and the professional men’s division will count as part of the United Skim Tour.

Professional men riders include three-time UST champion Lucas Fink, of Rio de Janeiro, and Gerardo Valencia of Barra de Navidad, Mexico. Professional women riders include the 2023 women’s Skim USA champion Sydney Pizza of Dewey Beach, Delaware, and the 2023 UST champion Chabe White, of Mazunte, Mexico.

The event will start at 8 a.m. both Saturday and Sunday and run until about 6 p.m. each day. The professionals will run during the best window for quality waves, which may change depending on the conditions throughout each day, organizers said.

Movies in July featuring “Trolls: Band Together.” 8:30 p.m. Friday at Atlantic Union Bank Pavilion, 16 Crawford Circle, Portsmouth. Free. For more information, including inclement weather updates, visit pavilionconcerts.com.

Creed brings their “Summer of ’99” tour to Virginia Beach. 3 Doors Down, Finger Eleven to open. 7 p.m. Saturday at Veterans United Home Loans Amphitheater, 3550 Cellar Door Way. Tickets are limited; visit livenation.com.

Kentucky rock band Black Stone Cherry to make a stop in Norfolk. Florida metal band Nonpoint will open the show. 7:30 p.m. Sunday at The NorVa, 317 Monticello Ave. Tickets start at $40. To buy online, visit thenorva.com.

Norfolk Tides baseball takes on the Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp at home in the final match-up game. 4:05 p.m. Sunday at Harbor Park, 150 Park Ave., Norfolk. Tickets start at $11. For more information, including the Princess Night promotion, visit milb.com/norfolk.

New Kids on the Block with Paula Abdul, DJ Jazzy Jeff. 7 p.m. Aug. 1 at Veterans United Home Loans Amphitheater, 3550 Cellar Door Way, Virginia Beach. Tickets start at $41.75. To buy online, visit livenation.com.

Portsmouth native Missy Elliott is coming home with her “Out of this World” tour and bringing along a few friends, including Ciara, Busta Rhymes. 7 p.m. Aug. 2 at Hampton Coliseum, 1000 Coliseum Drive. For ticket availability, visit ticketmaster.com. For concert information, visit hamptoncoliseum.org.

Events may change. Check before attending.

Patty Jenkins, patty.jenkins@pilotonline.com

She reflexively looked for her boat and spotted it over her shoulder about 50 feet away; in the opposite direction, she saw something else. A bottle, containing something, gently bobbed in the water.

That can’t be, she thought.

On June 24, Eggar discovered a message in a bottle about five miles off the coast of Bermuda with only one clue to its origin: Its author was from Norfolk.

The message read:

This bottle is part of a marine water currents project. Please send an email with the date and location of where you found it. Send the email to: 

bottletrackrva@outlook.com 

Reference # L-232022 

Next, please put this note back in the bottle and relaunch the bottle, at outgoing tide if possible. 

Thank you. 

This bottle was launched__Dec. 23, 2022

From Norfolk, VA USA

Eggar, the other dive instructors and her boss, Chris Gauntlett, at Blue Water Divers in Bermuda, emailed the address but have not received a response.

None, including Gauntlett, who has been professionally diving for 30 years, has ever found a message in a bottle, and they want the public’s help to solve the mystery.

Gauntlett said it was blind luck that they found the bottle at all.

The day began as a routine morning. Gauntlett, Eggar and another instructor, Justin Hendrix, left the dock around 9 to take a small group of clients scuba diving near West Blue Cut. When they reached the coral reef, they anchored in a spot they never had before and descended in two groups.

Hendrix’s group resurfaced first and reported to Gauntlett that they’d spotted an uncharted wreck in the water, which was about 50 feet deep. Gauntlett, the captain, wanted to take a look himself and left the boat just as Eggar was surfacing.

“I didn’t have enough air in my tank to go down with him,” she said. “So, I decided that I would watch from the surface … and I look to my right and see something behind me.”

She swam toward it thinking it might be trash, “a beer can or something.”

But as she neared, her excitement grew. She fought through a strong current and seized the bottle. She felt an immediate urge to shout to the others about what she’d found but first focused on making it to a dragline, a rope about 35 feet long towed behind the boat for returning and tired divers to grab.

As soon as she grabbed the line, she screamed to Hendrix:

“I’ve got a message in a bottle!”

Hoping it was a treasure map, she opened the bottle as soon as Gauntlett returned from exploring the wreck. Although the message didn’t contain an X marking a spot, its description of an oceanic research project was, to Eggar, like gold of a different sort.

“I’m an ocean lover. I love other people who are as intrigued as I am in the ocean.”

Anyone with information about the message in the bottle can contact Blue Water Divers Bermuda through WhatsApp at +1 441 234-1034.

Colin Warren-Hicks, 919-818-8138, colin.warrenhicks@virginiamedia.com

Thirty breweries will be on hand offering more than 60 samples to festival-goers. There will also be live music, food trucks and the unveiling of a limited edition brewery collaboration honoring the Neptune Festival’s 50th anniversary this September.

Several restaurants near 31st Park will also be offering discounts to festival ticket holders after the event.

Tickets to the beer festival include a commemorative tasting glass and unlimited tastings of beer, cider and seltzer. Advance tickets are available until July 31 for $45. Tickets are then $50 until sold out.

For tickets and more information, see NeptuneFestival.com/events/annual-coastal-craft-beer-festival.

“Kinky Boots,” featuring music and lyrics by Cyndi Lauper, is based on the book by Harvey Fierstein about a shoe factory that gets a boost from an unlikely partner. 8 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays, 2:30 p.m. Sundays, Friday through Aug. 11 at Little Theatre of Virginia Beach, 550 Barberton Drive. For ticket price and availability, visit ltvb.com.

The 23rd annual Latino Music Festival returns to Norfolk. 2 to 11 p.m. Saturday at Town Point Park, Waterside Drive. Free. For the main stage entertainment lineup, visit festevents.org.

Wave Fest featuring Sexxy Red, Mariah the Scientist, others. 5 p.m. Sunday at Atlantic Union Bank Pavilion, 16 Crawford Circle, Portsmouth. Tickets start at $81. To buy online, visit ticketmaster.com. For a complete festival lineup, visit pavilionconcerts.com.

Virginia Symphony Orchestra Concert in the Park presents “Where Wishes Come True: A Night of Enchanted Melodies.” Park will open at 6 p.m. Sunday for pre-concert picnics. Concert starts at 8:30 at Town Point Park, Waterside Drive, Norfolk. Free. For more info, visit festevents.org.

Double the Candlelight concert fun July 24 at the Z. “The Best of Hans Zimmer,” 6:30 p.m., and “A Tribute to Taylor Swift,” 8:45 p.m., at Zeiders American Dream Theater, 4509 Commerce St., Virginia Beach. Tickets for each one-hour performance start at $36. To buy online, visit feverup.com.

Six-time Grammy Award winner Dionne Warwick will bring some of her 100 chart-toppers to Virginia Beach. 7:30 p.m. July 25 at Sandler Center for the Performing Arts, 201 Market St. Tickets start at $49.50. To buy online, visit sandlercenter.org.

Events may change. Check before attending.

Patty Jenkins, patty.jenkins@pilotonline.com

This more than 1,600-acre oasis is situated just outside the oldest city in the United States near a picturesque lighthouse and the St. Augustine Alligator Farm. Visit the Atlantic Coast destination, a haven for wildlife and humans alike, to see untouched dunes, maritime hammocks and plenty of beautiful flora and fauna.

Modern-day visitors will sometimes camp out before or after attending concerts at the St. Augustine Amphitheatre, which has a walking path connected to the state park. Overnight visitors can choose from one of 139 sites that can accommodate tents or RVs (with two tent-only loops).

The area’s history is revealed during a short hike that meanders through an old coquina quarry on the immediate righthand side of the park’s entrance. More than 300 years ago, sites like this were busy with workers hauling out coquina rock used to construct nearby buildings, including the Castillo de San Marcos.

The beach is by far the biggest draw of Anastasia State Park. A designated swimming area is under a lifeguard’s watch in the summer through Labor Day. Cycling, walking, swimming, surfing and shelling are all options along the pristine shoreline. The dunes within the park are home to the endangered Anastasia Island beach mouse and are protected, so be sure to cross on designated boardwalks.

When it comes time for a snack, visit the Island Beach Shop and Grill near the main beach access point. The concession stand serves burgers, tacos, sandwiches, hot dogs, wraps, salads, ice cream and other light bites. Visitors who are 21 or older can enjoy alcoholic beverages purchased from the grill. Find beach toys, apparel, souvenirs, bait and camping essentials within the gift shop — plus rentals of surfboards, beach chairs, umbrellas, bicycles and boogie boards. Beach wheelchairs are available for free to visitors with mobility limitations.

On the side of the park opposite the Atlantic Ocean, explore the estuarine tidal marsh where dolphins, manatees, sea turtles, fish, crabs and marsh birds have been spotted. Anastasia Watersports is set up with rentals of sailboats, kayaks, paddleboards and canoes.

Away from the beach, the Ancient Dunes nature trail loops through a shaded maritime hammock and over former sand dunes. The state park is listed on the Great Florida Birding and Wildlife Trail, so be on the lookout for a variety of shorebirds on the beach, great blue herons, tricolored herons, wood storks, roseate spoonbills, osprey, bald eagles, owls and songbirds within the maritime hammock.

Important information

• Location: 300 Anastasia Park Road in St. Augustine
• Hours: Open 8 a.m. until sundown daily
• Fee: $8 per vehicle
• Amenities: Boardwalk, beach, campfire circle, campground, canoe/kayak launch, hiking trails, laundry, picnic tables and pavilions, historic sites, accessible amenities, concession and restaurant, rentals, parking, playground, restrooms
• Activities: Bicycling, birding, boating, camping, fishing, hiking, paddling, picnicking, shelling, surfing, swimming, wildlife viewing

• 

• Accessibility: Anastasia State Park offers a number of accessible amenities, including elevated boardwalks, a Mobi-Mat for beach access, beach wheelchairs available for free, accessible campsites and interpretive exhibits.
• What to bring: When spending a day on the beach, pack some form of shade, sunscreen, towels, snacks and non-alcoholic beverages in the cooler for a full day of fun in the sun.
• What not to bring: Florida’s state parks prohibit alcohol (except in designated areas) and the removal or destruction of plants, animals and cultural artifacts.
• Pets: Pets are prohibited on beaches, buildings and boardwalks, but permitted in the campground.

• Pro tips: While Anastasia State Park has a large campground, the sites tend to be booked far ahead of time. Look at availability months before planning an overnight trip to the park, which proves a worthwhile experience in seeing the sunrise and sunset on the beach, plus offering after-hours access.
• More information: 904-461-2033 or floridastateparks.org

Find me @PConnPie on Instagram or send me an email: pconnolly@orlandosentinel.com.

Joe DiGeronimo sent photos of an egret rookery in the Oceanview neighborhood of Norfolk. “These beautiful great white egrets’ nesting colony is a beautiful sight presenting photo opportunities,” DiGeronimo wrote, “but unfortunately their presence has somewhat taken over a portion of this neighborhood.”

Prue Salasky got a shot of a great egret taking flight at Knitting Mill Creek in Norfolk. “I wasn’t sure if this egret was real or a lawn ornament as it allowed me within feet before taking flight,” Salasky wrote.

Nancy Norman sent photos of a great blue heron stalking along the edge of the marsh at Back Bay in Virginia Beach.

Michael Schimmel came across a pair of yellow-crowned night herons having a crab feast at Pleasure House Point in Virginia Beach.

Neil Rose sent photos of a yellow-crowned night heron nest with young in the nest in the Freemason District in Norfolk.

Kevin Jones sent photos of a yellow-crowned night heron at Chic’s Beach in Virginia Beach. “Several have made this section of the beach home,” Jones wrote.

Bill Caruso photographed a yellow-crowned night heron at the Myrtle Park area in Larchmont on the Elizabeth River in Norfolk.

Jane Hughey photographed a male house sparrow “trying to get kids to fledge from the birdhouse” in her yard in the Saratoga section of Norfolk. “Little piece of dried mealworm as incitement,” Hughey wrote.

Mike McClane sent a photo of a chickadee enjoying a snack on his deck in the Chelsea neighborhood in Virginia Beach.

Linda Glasson sent a photo of a dragonfly hanging out in the grasses at Pleasure House Point in Virginia Beach.

Allen Waters got a shot of an assassin beetle peeking out of a Japanese iris at the Tidewater Arboretum in Virginia Beach.

Reuben Rohn got a photo of a terrapin resting in the sand at Pleasure House Point in Virginia Beach. Terrapins live in brackish rivers and streams along the Chesapeake Bay and the seaside of the Eastern Shore.

Tony Silvia sent a photo of a large snapping turtle on a log with a yellow-bellied slider in the Nottoway River near Franklin. “I can’t recall ever seeing these two species hanging out together, so it was a pretty lucky shot,” Silvia wrote.

Elizabeth Weller sent photos and a video of a box turtle laying eggs in her yard at the North End in Virginia Beach. “It took her two hours to dig the nest, and 20 minutes to lay three eggs,” Weller wrote, “and after a short rest about an hour to cover them up.”

Norm Grefe sent a photo of a skink with a caterpillar in its mouth at the Great Dismal Swamp National Wildlife Refuge in Suffolk.

Connie Owen sent photos of a pair of northern water snakes enjoying the sun at Stumpy Lake in Virginia Beach. “I value the good things snakes do for us,” Owen wrote.

Gary Williamson got a shot of a cottonmouth gaping with its mouth open while resting in poison ivy at Northwest River Park in Chesapeake.

Dan Short came upon an alligator swimming through the dark waters at the Alligator River National Wildlife Refuge in North Carolina. Alligators can be found throughout the coastal regions of the southeast with North Carolina being their northernmost range.

Vickie Shufer, wildfood@cox.net

Join Kitty Hawk Kites to fly a kite in the place where Wilbur and Orville Wright took their historic first flight in 1903.

See kittyhawkkites.com for details.