Blue Heaven

We changed rooms today. After 2 sleepless nights of mysterious banging in the walls and halls, the manager moved us. The room is less luxurious, but will be worth it to have a decent night's sleep. Most of the day was spent on the beach recuperating from our night. We had conch fritters, which were grand, for lunch. The long, sleepy day was followed by a night at Blue Heaven, a funky outdoor restaurant filled with live music, chickens under foot and the best yellow tail snapper with beurre blanc sauce. The musicians were from a group we had seen last summer at the Clark. What a serendipity.
For more pictures visit my flicker For more pictures visit my flicker

The Little White House

Harry Truman spent 175 days in Key West, some while President and some after. The house is a wonderful southern style home with verandas that wrap both 1st and second floors. Our guide was a charming 74 year old native who had met Truman when he was selling newspapers near the naval base. We walked to the house through a gated area that had really beautiful plantation style homes and smartly manicured lawns. That evening we stayed at the hotel to see the sunset and eat on the beach. The sunset was beautiful. For more pictures visit my flicker

Sun, Sand, Sunsets

We had such a wonderful relaxing day. We started out with breakfast on the patio before going to the beach. The beach is on the hotel property and easy access. We had 2 loungers set up next to a hammock and spent the afternoon reading. Later in the day we showered and drove to Duval Street. We walked the length of it to Mallory Square for the sunset. The square is large and filled with street entertainers and kiosks. There was a Disney cruise ship docked. We had a Corona and enjoyed the people. The edges of the dock were packed with people so I couldn't actually see the sun set. But applause told me it had happened. We took a slow walk to The Grand where we had reservations. I had a delicious plate of grilled snapper. Wayne had Thai chicken curry.

Key West

After a leisurely awakening, coffee, packing and good byes, we got on the road about noon headed for Key West. It was about a 5 hour drive with lunch at the Island Fish Company a place on the water that we realized once we were inside we ate at several years ago. We are at the Waldorf Casa Marina. It is a nice spa hotel sitting directly on the beach. There are 2 heated pools, dining on the beach, and a sunset bar on the beach. We stopped by the concierge and booked a reef fishing trip for the end of the week. He also gave us restaurant tips. We walked from the hotel to Duval street, then the entire length of Duval. The end near our hotel is a bit more sedate with galleries. The far end (where the daily sunset ritual occurs) was very funky with lots of live music, bars, shops and crowds. We ate pizza and drank margaritas on the second floor balcony of a restaurant near the southern end of Duval. It should be a great week with sun, relaxation and recreation. For more pictures visit my flicker

Boats, Beaches and Blue Moons

We drove down to South Beach today. Kathy and John had not been and they really enjoyed the Art Deco architecture. We had a lousy lunch with obnoxious music. But then had a nice walk on the beach. We drove past the boat show and recollected our week there a few years ago. Tonight we drove into north Fort Lauderdale for dinner at Blue Moon, a wonderful setting on the intercoastal waterway. Our table was on the water. For more pictures visit my flicker

Imagine

Kathy and I have been daily walking the 3 mile perimeter around the Aventura complexes. The path circles past a big pond with swan and ducks, by a golf course and even next to a highway. Nice diversity for a walk. After our walk today, we headed out for Festival, a shopping paradise that is a quarter-mile long with over 500 shops, restaurants, fragrance outlets, cosmetic stores, shoe stores, clothing shops, jewelry stores, home furnishing stores and gift boutiques. We first stopped in Fort Lauderdale for lunch. One of the galleries on Los Olas had a show of John Lennon's work. The work is a combination of his and pieces Yoko has addended and added color to. It was nice, lyrical work. Wayne picked up some cool Cuban shirts at Festival. After Festival we needed to shop for dinner and more mojito ingredients. It was a night of mojitos, tapas, dominos and American Idol. For more pictures visit my flicker

Mucha Gusta

Today we went to Little Havana in Miami. I wanted to see some Cuban art and eat some Cuban food. The area is not developed as a tourist area or gentrified. So, it was really authentic, but as a result there was not row after row of galleries. We only found one, which was interesting. It was a multimedia venue with dancing, music, a bar and art. The art was not anything I was interested in, though. It seemed very crude. And we couldn't find the other mosiac studio, only a vacant lot. However, it was fun being there, shopping and eating at Versailles. Very funny name for a Cuban restaurant, don't you think? John had pigs' feet and white bean soup. I had black bean soup and empanadas. Mojotas were had by all. This has become Wayne's new quest, ingredients for mojitos. We drove 50 blocks to find a little store with sugar juice. This "little" store had fruit, vegetables, a drink stand, a deli, a fried seafood counter, etc, etc, etc. We happily returned home with rum, mint and sugar juice in hand. Mixing was a community effort. For more pictures visit my flicker

Sunny and Warm

Happy Valentines Day! The condo association has a nice salt water pool which we sat by and read today. The pool was surrounded by families, but only a few people were in the pool because the air was still cool. Wayne and I went shopping at Fresh Market for dinner. We stopped to have the car washed, too.

Vizcaya

Today is Kathy's birthday. It is another chilly day. We drove south of Miami to visit Vizcaya,, a National Historic Landmark built by agricultural industrialist James Deering in 1916, featuring a Main House, ten acres of formal gardens, and a rockland hammock. Tonight we drove into Fort Lauderdale to eat at Chima, a Brazilian steakhouse, which has an extensive salad bar and all the meat you can eat brought to your table. For more pictures visit http://www.flickr.com/photos/minkcove/

Hollywood East

It was a chilly day in Florida, about 65. We took a drive up to Hollywood to see where Donna Winner lives and walk along the beach boardwalk, which is really a paved way. It was a beautiful beach with one couple huddled under a blanket on it. We stopped at Brasis, an Argentinian restaurant for lunch. We stopped at Fresh Market to shop for dinner. John cooked mahi mahi and swordfish. Yum. For more pictures visit http://www.flickr.com/photos/minkcove/

Steak and Shake

Another day on the highways of America, today headed to Miami to stay with Kathy and John. The drive was about 6 hours. The only eventful moment was our stop for lunch at the Steak and Shake which is reminiscent of a '50s diner. Hot dogs were the choice of the day. Kathy and John have a nice condo in a Miami area known as Aventura. They were waiting with hors d'oeuvres and drinks. A nice way to end the day. For more pictures visit http://www.flickr.com/photos/minkcove/

el Viajar

The day was spent touring and sightseeing. We walked along Avenida Menendez, named for the city founder and located along the harbor, to the Plaza de la Constitucion where the Spanish ships would unload goods. There are many memorial sculptures and monuments there as well as the original open market structure. We walked up King street to the LIghtner Museum. LIghtner was the owner/publisher of a late 1800s magazine for collectors. As a result of his publication he became very interested in collections and began to collect the collections. The museum holds an eclectic collection of victorian and art nouveau artifacts. There was a beautiful koi pond in the courtyard. Originally the building was a playground for the guests staying at the Flagler Hotel. That hotel is now Flager College. After a light lunch at Casa Maya we caught the tour train for a swing through town. For more pictures visit http://www.flickr.com/photos/minkcove/

The Oldest....

city in the USA, St Augustine. We were here 4 years ago celebrating my retirement. It's nice to be back. Earlier this morning we took a last short stroll around Charleston. We got to St. Augustine about 6pm, checked into the hotel and then walked into the historic district. We had dinner at La Pentola, a restaurant we ate in 4 years ago with great pleasure. The memory was better than the night's dinner. For more pictures visit http://www.flickr.com/photos/minkcove/

Charleston, Y'all

We got into Charleston around dinner time. We walked around the historic district which included the open city market, the French Quarter and a walk out the dock to view Fort Sumter. Charleston is a very beautiful city with old preserved colonial homes and multiple galleries, restaurants and performing venues. The Spanish moss hangs here and the weather is mild. The French Quarter homes remind me of Savannah with their courtyards, iron gates and architecture. The open market here is filled with local artisans and their wares as well as a lot of the typically imported junk. I bought a scala hat for Miami and Key West. We had dinner at The High Cotton, pure southern food and atmosphere.

















The Open City Market. For more pictures visit http://www.flickr.com/photos/minkcove/

The Crater

Petersburg, VA is one of those small USA towns that struggle to prosper. The town takes advantage of it's history to attract tourists. Most of the stores are filled with antiques. And there are a few historical buildings preserved as museums: The Seige Museum, Center Hill Mansion, The Blanford Church/Cemetary. We also discovered the Hiram Coffee House which is where Edgar Allen Poe spent his honeymoon with his 13 year old cousin. It has been restored to the original look and now holds poetry readings, musical events and period coffee.
Hiram Haines Coffee House
For more pictures visit http://www.flickr.com/photos/minkcove/

We chose Petersburg as our first stop after Philadelphia in order to see the Civil War battles that took place during the seige. It was here that Grant came when he was unable to conquer Richmond. He realized that the key to taking Richmond was to stop the supply trains that came through Petersburg. One of the most noted battles of the War took place at Petersburg when the Union soldiers who were miners from Pennsylvania dug a tunnel under the Confederate lines and planted explosives beneath their fortifications. The explosion excavated a huge crater that the Union soldiers ran into on their way to battle the Confederates. The Union was slaughtered from above by the Confederates as they piled one upon the other in the crater. Grant eventually took the city of Petersburg, 2 days later Richmond and subsequently Lee surrendered at Appomatox.

Opening into the tunnel.

8 States and 3 Days

Breakfast in the Philadelphia Double Tree hotel with the Academy of the Arts in the background.





We got on the road about 10:30 am. It was a sunny warm day with light traffic. The entire day was spent on the road except for a stop in Occoquan, VA for lunch. Occoquan is considered a suburb of DC even though it must be about 20 miles away. It is a quaint little village filled with art galleries, restaurants and shops. Once we were in the town, I remembered that my Aunt Juanita and Uncle Carlton had brought me there a few times for dinner.

A Wikipedia history tells us:
Occoquan is derived from an Algonquian Doeg Indian word, meaning "at the end of the water". Located on the Occoquan River, Occoquan was long a site of indigenous peoples' habitation. Like the British colonists after them, they relied on the river for transportation and trade, as well as fish.
By 1765, Anglo-American colonists had established an industrial settlement at Occoquan, with grist mills and tobacco warehouses. The Merchant's Mill was the first automated grist mill in the nation. It operated for 175 years until destroyed by fire.
During the Civil War, the post office passed letters and packages between North and South. River silting reduced ship traffic to Occoquan and ended its days as a port, as did the shift in traffic to railroads.
The town has survived and thrived. Today, it is a restored artists' community, with shops, outdoor dining, ghost walks, a town boat dock and more.
We got into Petersburg about 4:30 pm. Tomorrow we are going to visit the Civil War battlefields. See more photos at Flickr

Friends, Nachos and A Loss

Another beautiful sunny day in Philly. Spent a great few hours catching up on the past 27 years with my friend Michael. Michael is a great artist who attended Bard College with me. I have not seen him since about 1989. We had a nice brunch at his house. Met his partner Joe and his daughter Iris and went to see a show Michael has at a local gallery/cafe. Later, Wayne and I attempted to go to the Philadelphia Museum. But the line for entry stretched out the door and all the way to the top of the steps. With only 2 hours until closing, we promptly left.
Wayne, Atop the PMA steps.

This evening we watched the Pats play the Giants in the Super Bowl. It was a heartbreaking loss. We had a good time in the hotel bistro eating pub food, drinking beer and cheering the team. All the patrons seemed to be Patriots' fans, which made the loss less painful. But, all in all, we wished it had been a different outcome. Tomorrow we head for Petersburg, VA. See more photos at Flickr

On the Road Again, Philadelphia

We left Massachusetts today for a 2 month tour of the south and south west. Our first stop is Philadelphia. We came into the city over the Benjamin Franklin bridge from Camden, NJ. The city skyline made quiet an impression. And we had a musical welcome.

Our Doubletree Hotel is on South Broadway, or Avenue of the Arts. The nick name is apropo. Everywhere are venues for performances. We went to the Kimmel Center to hear the Philadelphia Orchestra perform Stokowski's arrangement of Bach's second Partita Chaconne, Shostakovich Violin Concerto No. 1, and Rimsky-Korsakov's Sheherazade all conducted by Nicola Louisottoi. The Shostakovich solo was played by Nadja Salerno-Sonnerberg. She was great fun to watch. First she wore red velvet pants an early indicator that she was ready for battle. And battle she did, attacking the music with vigor and expressive body movements. A truly great performance. The Kimmel center is so beautiful. It is a space saturated with mahogany and formed with a nod to the cello.

We have a great corner room and can see up 3 avenues. The Kimmel Center is just below our room.

See more photos at Flickr

A Whale of a Tail

It was a most beautiful and warm day. The sun beat down on our necks as we sat aboard the Viking VIII, a whale watching boat. We were on the upper deck with about 100 people and just as many were below deck. We motored for about an hour out of Cape Cod Bay toward Stellwagen Bank, a national trust area. We were lucky today and saw dozens of humpback whales. Some of them came along the side of the boat. You could see the white fins very clearly. They all sprayed from their spouts and dove to show off their flutes. As the guide said, "you were all a little bit closer to heaven today." My Nikon's battery was dead so the photos were not so clear. This little movie is the best I could do. More Pics

The Dunes

We took an hour dune tour on the National Seashore that showed us the dune shacks. This was exciting to see; the sometime homes of writers and artists such as Eugene O'neil, Don Passos, Charles Hawthorn. Later, we went to the library to see the 12 scale replica of the Dorothea Rose schooner. We ended the day with drinks and oysters on the half shell at the Red Inn.