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Celebrate Honeymoon, island-style all weekend in Dunedin

No marriage license is needed but you must say: I do pledge to respect and protect this special place and all that live upon it.

By TERRI BRYCE REEVES
Published May 6, 2006

DUNEDIN - On this honeymoon, nuptials are not a prerequisite.

Just a commitment to honor, cherish and protect the environment.

That's the message this weekend at Island Fest, a tropical buffet of music, arts and crafts, food and games celebrating the beauty of this barrier island. The festival takes place at Honeymoon Island State Park at the end of Dunedin Causeway.

The event is today and Sunday from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. Admission is $5 per vehicle and proceeds will benefit the Honeymoon and Caladesi islands state parks.

Themed Celebrate with Friends, the emphasis this year is connecting with the island's flora and fauna, its birds and its beaches, the mangrove swamps and tidal flats.

"It's all about touring the island and discovering the diverse wildlife, beaches, the rocky areas and the slash pine forests," said Jacques Rene Marion, president of the Friends of the Island Parks, the nonprofit formed in 2002 to support the two islands.

Marion said the group hopes to raise $15,000 or more to finish a new nature center and establish a tours program.

The 1,300-acre island is home to more than 200 species of plants and some endangered shorebirds. Threatened loggerhead sea turtles and gopher tortoises, considered a species of concern, also inhabit the island. Turtle nesting season is in progress.

From 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. each day, visitors can take self-guided Discover the Island tours, where they will learn about the osprey, owls, snakes and turtles that call the place home. They will hear about prescribed burns in the piney wood forests and see Lagoon Beach, where 20 feet of shoreline have washed away, leaving a rocky terrain.

They can even meet a couple of "honeymooners" staying in a replica thatched hut, built for the event.

Once called Hog Island by the pioneers, the isle became the more romantic Honeymoon Island when a New York developer built 50 palm-thatched huts for newlyweds in 1939.

As part of the tour, visitors can preview the future Rotary Centennial Nature Center, created from a renovated bathhouse, which had to be moved because of erosion.

Each display is manned by volunteers who can answer questions. Two trams will stop at nearby locations.

There will be an expanded Osprey Village with about 25 exhibits including the Frog Listening Network, Turtle Talks, and everything you ever wanted to know about Red Tide but were afraid to ask.

Island sounds will include the cries of seabirds, the rush of the surf, and the music of 12 live bands, including steel drum and reggae groups.

Youngsters will be able to bounce through an array of inflatable water slides including a giant, man-eating shark and an enormous tidal wave. There are no mountains on Honeymoon, but there will be a rock-climbing wall and a children's bungee jump. Puppetrix, a puppeteer group, will entertain children with environmentally themed shows. Curtain time is 11 a.m. today, 12:45 p.m. on Sunday.

Car lovers will want to check out the roundup of 100-plus Mini Coopers, brought to the island by Ferman MINI of Tampa Bay and Cooper owners. Look for "Austin Powers," too.

There will be a raffle for prizes including a seven-day Carnival cruise to anywhere in the world.

It's an important event for the island, park manager Pete Krulder said.

"Last year it brought over 20,000 people to the island," he said. "It will expose people to the natural habitats we have here and in other environmentally sensitive areas of Tampa Bay. Many people don't realize how diverse this island is.

"It's much more than a beach."

Terri Bryce Reeves can be reached at treeves@tampabay.rr.com

Island Fest, hosted by Friends of the Island Parks, is scheduled 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. today and Sunday at Honeymoon Island State Park, 1 Causeway Blvd., Dunedin. Admission is $5 per vehicle. Proceeds benefit the Honeymoon and Caladesi islands state parks. Call (727) 469-5942.

[Last modified May 6, 2006, 02:15:18]