St Petersburg and the Dali Museum

Dali Museum, St. Petersburg, FL

We took off around noon for St Petersburg and the Dali Museum.  It was a bright and warm day.  To get to St Pete from Anna Maria, one drives over the skyline bridge.  This is one of the most beautiful bridges I've been on.  Also, it is an engineering marvel.  From the top one can see St. Pete, Tampa and also Anna Maria Island.  The beginning sections of the old bridge have been left for fishing.  

Skyline Bridge viewed from our car.

The Dali Museum is located on Old Tampa Bay and adjacent to the Mahaffay Theater on beautiful grounds.  The garden is designed in a Surrealistic manner with melting benches, a giant mustache and little surprising sculptures.  As soon as we arrived we realized it would be crowded; there was no parking remaining in the Museum garage.  We found parking near enough, though, and walked to the Museum to be greeted by a line that stretched around the side.  Wayne reminded me of my NMWA pass with reciprocity.  Sure enough the Dali was on the list and we were able to skip the line, the outside line.  Inside proved to have its own line that took about 20 minutes.  The place was packed everywhere:  shop, cafe, bathrooms and most of all the Picasso/Dali exhibit.  It was so difficult we decided to come back another day.  We stopped at the cafe for a delicious Cuba sandwich in the delightful garden.  By then it was 4:30 and the place seemed to have emptied.  So we went back to the exhibit and were able to enjoy it.  

The Picasso works were few and not all that intriguing.  One nice work was the Portrait of Olga, Picasso's first wife.  I was unfamiliar with the work. It's always nice to be surprised by something unknown.  Dali was a Fascist, which makes for a nasty taste when viewing his work.  But as George Orwell said, "One ought to be able to hold in one's head simultaneously the two facts that Dali is a good draftsman and a disgusting human being.  The one does not invalidate or, in a sense, affect the other."

Olga by Pablo Picasso

Tropicana Field

Wayne outside the Dali Museum

The Dali Museum and Garden

St. Petersburg from the Dali Museum

Birds, Art and Piers

Great White Egret, Lakeview Place, Anna Maria, Florida

Generally our days begin with the illegal activity of feeding the birds.  That task takes on a whole new meaning in here.  We don't need to fill a feeder with seed.  No, indeed, we only need to have some sardines on hand.  Wayne has been buying frozen sardine bait (he doesn't have the heart to feed them living beings) and offering one fish per day.  Our visitors include Harry, the juvenile great blue heron, Leroy, the alpha male great blue, Harriet, the great egret, and a small to be named snowy egret.  It's sometimes a battle when they appear all at once.  

Tonight we were to meet Martha and Oleg at our place to have a beer at The Sandbar and watch the sunset prior to attending the art opening at The Gallery on Pine.  We decided it was too cold for the sunset and headed straight for the gallery.  The show was a grouping of Cuban artists' works, all of which had a surrealistic overtone.  Oleg bought a collagraph by??  The works were very interesting and very narrative.  

We had dinner at the Rod and Reel Pier Restaurant.  The waitress was a hoot, a take off on Seinfeld's soup nazi, the small space crowded with tables.  But the food was fantastic, the wine delicious.  We came back to the house for key lime pie.  

Exhaust and Exhaustion

Hernando de Soto National Memorial

When we left for Florida our car's check engine light was on.  This has happened before with the manual indicating we left the gas level fall too low.  We expected the light to go off after a week as it did before.  This did not happen.  Thus, we made an appointment in Sarasota with the Infiniti dealer.  At this point I need to explain that although Sarasota is a mear 26 miles from Anna Maria, the drive is over an hour.  So, we got a loaner and came home.  Infiniti called around 4pm. We barely made it before the 5pm closing only to have the engine light come back on as we left the lot.  Back in the loaner we spent about 5 hours today traveling and still don't have a car.   What we did do though was stop at the Hernando de Soto National Memorial Park.  It's a pretty little park on the Tampa Bay.  There are at least 3 guides continuously offering insight.  We only got a feel for the place and will return for a more through visit.  

P.S. I know that Hernando was a son-of-a-bitch.  Why there are so many local venues named for him is a mystery.  

You've Got Friends in Fort Myers

Jeff, Janet, Christy and Wayne in Fort Myers, FL

We spent the better part of today with our friends Janet and Jeff Hathaway.  They moved to Fort Myers last July from Onset.  A big life change for them that they are delighted with.  Their home is in a large gated community with a town center that includes a theater, outdoor performance area, gymnasium and soon to arrive grocery store.  Wayne is now thinking of the gated community life for our future.  

Janet served us lunch on the lanai next to the pool.  After lunch we went downtown to the Arts Festival.  We remembered attending last year, too.  It is very large and stretches all along the marina and into the side streets.  We had an early dinner at Pinchers.  The drive is over 2 hours to Fort Myers and is always a few degrees warmer than the Sarasota area.  But, I like the Sarasota area better.  The Sarasota historic district is more charming, offers more diversity in restaurants and shops, has a beautiful library and the opera house.  Fort Myers seems to have a zillion law offices in the historic district and only a few restaurants.

Bradenton Art Walk

Pigs Do Fly! Christy at the Bradenton Art Walk

Bradenton is 8 miles east of Anna Maria, just over the bridge.  It is a vibrant community with a Riverwalk, the Pittsburgh Pirates winter home and the Village of the Arts.  Oleg, Martha, Wayne and I went to the First Friday Artwalk today in the Village.  The walkable neighborhood is comprised of art galleries, studios, restaurants and speciality shops housed in colorfully restored 1920's bungalows.  I felt like I was transported to 1967 Haight Asbury.  Touted as Florida's largest artist community I question the validity.  Most of the art was pathetic and appeared to be made by quacks that took up art while in detention somewhere.  There was the occasional professional gallery.   We ate at Ortygia Restaurant, Sicilian style cooking.  It was so noisy that we were literally screaming to be heard over our very loud waitress and an adjacent table full of chatty women.  The food was okay but I would never return.

Back in the AM, Back in the AM, Back in the AMI Life

Sunset, Gulf of Mexico

We are back in the land of glorious sunsets.  Upon our return from Costa Rica, we spent the night in Miami and ate again at the Cuban restaurant.  Next day we drove across the Everglades and stopped at Clyde Butcher's Gallery.  We spent the next night in Fort Myers and explored historic downtown.  Thinking we would eat at a Greek Restaurant and reminisce about our time there, we drove to Opa, which was closed.  Our next best option was a local BBQ place.  It was nothing to rival previous bbq joints.  There are more attorney's offices in that area than I have ever seen in once place.  Our speculation is there are few regulations in Florida and much litigation to counter that.  Today we stopped in Naples for lunch at our usual place, Vergina.  The day was lovely and encouraged us to walk main street.  As we came into Bradenton, we remembered all our shopping spots and stopped at Fresh Market to stock our pantry and ABC to buy our wine.  We arrived for our 3pm check-in and waiting with the rush of people for our keys.  The house has changed little (our charcoal grill is still here!).  We spent the afternoon unpacking and are happily settled in.  

Tortuguero National Park

We awoke at 5 am in order to see the early rising fauna. Our boat captain, Ronnie navigated us through natural and man-made channels brimming with birds and flowers. We have 2 birders in our group, Nancy and Steve from Colorado, who are great at spotting and naming some of the birds. Steve has an excellent camera with which he get very high definition closeup shots.
Ronnie is amazing in his ability to spot critters. There were 2 types of lizards, ,so well camouflaged that I almost never found them. But Ronnie spotted them immediately.
Iguanas and monkeys were abundant, too. After lunch we toured the grounds of the lodge viewing more bird species and orchids. On our way back to the room we could hear a howler monkey, followed his call and enjoyed finding him. In the early evening another guide, Jeffery, took us out on the channels again. We were in a lot of black water with wonderful mirror like reflections. More monkeys, more birds and boa constrictors entertained us.

Christy and Wayne

Sarapiqui Day 2

We took a 6am bird walk into the botanical gardens across the highway from our lodge. The birds are too numerous and diverse to begin to name. Nacho is very adept at spotting and identifying them. We returned for breakfast and prepared to take a white water raft ride. There were 5 of us and our guide, Walter in the raft: Shirley, Vern, Carol, Wayne and I. I felt as if I had been transported back in time to The Little Missouri River. The Rapids were category 2 with occasional spots of 3 new were safe at all times. Lunch was again spent with the birds. There is a feeding station adjacent to the dining room. All the walls are open and you can sit with a view of the feeding birds.


Christy and Wayne

Sarapiqui

This morning we boated back through the canals to pick up our land transportation to Sarapiqui. Sarapiqui is still on the Caribbean lowlands, but not wet lands. The tree are somewhat different. The lodge is on a private preserve teeming with birds and plants. After a orientation to the grounds and safety (don't walk off the path!!!!) we checked into our room, which again is like an attached cabin only raised about 15 feet above ground. Nacho led us on a forest walk where we had to cross a very long and very high suspension bridge. Yowza! Our destination was a tree remaining from the primal forest. Beginning in the 80's almost 90% of the primary forest were cut. Now some secondary forests have been introduced. We found the grand daddy tree. Over 400 years old, it sores into the sky. The circumference is about 30' and the interior hollow. The path was quite muddy. Happy to have my waterproof sneakers. This evening our lecturer, Willy, explained the efforts to create bio corridors to assist wildlife and plants with migration and reproduction. Today large pineapple plantations are inhibiting that to a degree.

Christy and Wayne

Tortuguero

We started the day with a five hour very bumpy bus ride. Along the way we stopped for lunch on some private grounds where the gate guard was excited to show us a poison red dart frog, all of about 1/2 inch, which he keeps in a hollow bamboo section. He also pointed out 2 3-toed sloths. On the grounds is a kook tree which is called the big belly tree by locals because of the enormity of the trunk and root system. It is also the tallest tree in the low lands. As re approached Tortuguero and the waterways we left the bus for a water taxi. It was an hour and half ride to the lodge. A beautiful ride in a warm humid climate.
Our lodge is actually composed of many small cabins some with multiple rooms, some single. We are in a complex with Romie, Vern and Shirley. After settling in, Nacho took us by boat to the turtle conservancy. There is really nothing to see except a video about the efforts to protect the nesting grounds and tag the nesting females. We walked down the black sand beach to the town of Tortuga, a single long street of small one person craft shops. Most things were crude coconut carvings or she'll jewelry. About 500 people live here totally dependent upon tourism.
After dinner we attended a lecture by a local gentleman whose father was one of the first settlers of Tortuguero. He gave the history of the settlers, the expansion of the lumber companies and finally the appearance of Archie Carr, an American who came to save the turtles. As a result of his efforts President ... took position of 25 miles of coast line, declared it protected. Carr also spent much time and energy convicting the locals to save their land. Now they are very vigilant in doing so.


Christy and Wayne

Biodiversity with Java

This morning we met with our very likable group of 14, including us. They are all about our age and with similar interests. We met our guide Ignacio or Nacho as he likes to be called. He is young, handsome, like able and charmingly attentive and knowledgeable. He introduced us to our first lecturer, Luis, an ecologist. Highly educated he presented us with a through lecture on the climate, geology, and fauna and flora diversity. Costa Rica has the highest diversity of plants and animals in the world. After the lecture we took a bus ride to the Daka Coffee plantation. The tour covered planting, growing, picking, sorting, drying, and then drinking coffee. There was also s wonderful mariposa garden. (That's Spanish for butterfly) We had lunch in the plantation cafeteria and then left for the BioPark, a privately owned 400 hectare park which strived to preserve, educate and research the biological systems of Costa Rica. As we walked through the forests we saw sloths, beautiful birds, butterflies and plants galore.
Dinner was with our group at the hotel. Nacho provided more insight into the history and language of CR. Tomorrow's day begins at 6am with a bus and boat ride to Tortuguero on the Carribean Sea.


Christy

Bienvenido San Jose

Landing in San Jose

Our flight to San Jose was a mere 2.5 hours. The country is mountainous and green. It was 78 degrees and we are all smiles. Our driver, Jose, from Road Scholar met us which made the transition to the hotel very easy. We are in a Radisson with beautiful grounds. No one else from the tour has checked in. So we ate lunch and walked the grounds. The waitress was very funny trying to speak English. But her most difficult time was with tagliatelle, on the menu. Tonight we went to the lounge to eat. I had chifrijo and Wayne had chicken fajitas. Meetings begin tomorrow. 

Miami Bound

This morning we were greeted with sunshine and warm temperatures. St Augustine was in her glory as we drove off through the old city. Miami was less than 250 miles but still took all day. There was a long stand still at one point and heavy traffic in Miami. It was around 6pm when we checked in. We switched out our bags for Costa Rica and stuffed everything else into the car trunk. The hotel will keep the car for 12 days. We ate at a Cuban restaurant across the highway. Wake up call is for 6:45am. Good night

Saint Augustine Bound

It was another miserable day of driving through rain. I suppose that was better than ice, but we were hoping for sun by the time we reached the Carolinas. A high point was the South Carolina Artisans' Craft Center. We saw a sign on the highway and went for it. Our first encounter elicited groans of, "oh, no. What is this?" The place appeared dilapidated and belonging to a wacko. But we drove by a second time and thought, "What the hell? Let's look". The parking lot was as you see above. The inside was an artist's paradise with fabulous works. Our favorites were the carved duck decoys and the pottery. I bought a small pottery piece to use as a salt cellar.

It was dark when we pulled into St Augustine, well past when we planned to arrive. Thus, we opted to walk next door to our hotel to eat at Harry's Seafood restaurant. It was a New Orleans themed restaurant and good. No one was out in old town, so we just went back to the room.

Florence, SC, Not Italy

We left DC this morning in freezing rain. On the way out we passed a beautiful monument to the Airforce the 3 monoliths suggest the soaring of jets. Our drive was long and difficult with areas of ice. We are listening to Ken Follet's trilogy, Century, which helps pass the time. Tonight we are in Florence, SC for no other reason than it was the proper distance from DC. It did have the advantage of a BBQ joint (what Carolina town doesn't?), Wholly Smokin'. The ribs were very tender and moist but lacked a smokey flavor. There was a salt rub that I found much too salty. The stuffed potatoe salad was worth the drive.

Washington DC

Wayne in the National Portrait Gallery

With the entire day ahead of us, we walked to the Smithsonian American Art Museum.  We arrived at 10:30; it opened at 11:30.  We briskly walked down to the Mall and the National Art Gallery, braving a wind chill of 27 degrees.  Our time there was spent in the Italian Medieval and Florence Renaissance rooms.  We saw many paintings that we've studied for our Florence trip:  Fra Anglico and Filippo Lippi Adoration of the Magi, Lippi's Madonna and Child,  Castagno's David with the Head of Goliath

National Gallery of Art

At the 11:30 opening time we walked through the sculpture garden where we stopped to admire Roxy Paine's steel tree.  We have seen another of her trees at the Crystal Bridges Museum.

Wayne with Roxy Paine Sculpture

At the American Art Museum I wanted to see an exhibit on birds in art and Wayne was interested in the Grant and Lee exhibit.  The Singing and the Silence:  Birds in Contemporary Art held a large variety of mediums.  The use of the materials intrigued me as much as the depiction of the birds.  Petah Coyne had two large pieces.  I don't really like her work at all.  It always looks dirty, dusty and ugly to me.  Other works were amazing in their detail and interpretation of our treatment of birds.  Particularly nice were the photographs of birds held by bird banders.  

A walk through the Modern and Contemporary Gallery gave us a look at a beautiful David Hockney piece that was painted on the floor and wall of a black gallery and changed with different colored lights projected upon it.  

David Hockney, American Art Museum

The Grant and Lee exhibit had wonderful death masks of both men.  Tonight is dinner at the Woodward Table around the corner on H street.  

Florida Bound

On a dreary and cold New England day, we started out south to Miami where we will eventually fly to Costa Rica for 12 days.  On our return to Miami we will drive to Anna Maria Island and settle in for 6 weeks.  Today we drove as far as Washington DC where we planned have dinner with Adam and family, do a bit of sight seeing tomorrow and head out on Wednesday.  Adam emailed while we were on the road that he has the flu. Against my advice he intends to meet us tomorrow night to pick up his Moxie.  I'm not convinced he really wants to see us, just get his Moxie.  If we get the flu from him and miss our Costa Rica trip, he is definitely disinherited.  So this evening we ate a mediocre dinner in the hotel and kicked back in the room.  Wayne had a long, hard 10 hour drive in the rain.  

Millinium Park & Second City

Selfie at the Bean

We spent a good part of the day in Millennium Park, an expansive green space along Lake Michigan created under the leadership of Mayor Daley. Here their are large open gallery spaces, the famous Anish Kapoor Bean, Pritzker Pavilion designed by Frank Geary,  and Juame Plensa's Crown Fountain.  A great serpentine walkway, also designed by Geary, led us to the bicentennial park where we watched skaters of all ages enjoy an ice track with hills and turns.  In one of the open gallery spaces Plensa also has a temporary exhibit of gargantuan heads.

Juane Plensa

We had lunch in a tavern down Michigan Avenue, and watch the Patriots route Miami. They now have clinched the AFC East.
Tonight we went to Second City where we laughed and laughed for 3 hours. They were very good.

Chicago from the Serpentine Bridge

Pritzker Pavilion

Serpentine Bridge

The Field Museum andS the CSO

Skating Park, Grant Park

This morning we walked down Michigan Avenue to the Field Museum, which is located in Grant Park. Grant Park was built on all the rubble from the great Chicago Fire. Nothing is allowed to be built their now. Along the way we passed a skating park filled with skaters. And the walk into Grant Park is a wide, winding pedestrian/biker road.
The Field Museum has the most complete skeleton of a T-Rex. They have named her Sue after the woman who discovered the fossil. We listened to the history of the discovery and the biological evidence of the fossil. We also looked at the gems, birds, mammals, and Pacific culture artifacts.

Wayne with Sue

Tonight we walked 2 blocks to the Chicago Symphony to first hear a lecture on the evenings performance, and then the performance of Hadyn's 93rd Symphony, Richard Strauss' Don Juan and Beethovan's 9th. The conductor was Pittsburgh's Manfred Honeck, a most expressive conductor.
We had a very late dinner at Miller's Pub just around the corner from the Palmer House.

Art Institute of Chicago and Steppenwolf Theater

Selfie with AIC Lions

Our hotel is 2 blocks from the Art Institute of Chicago. The magnificent lions at the entrance were wearing their seasonal garb. This museum is so magnificent. We started with the Buckingham Japanese print collection. At present they are showing prints of demons which complement the James Ensor exhibit. While in the Japanese section we came across the Ando Room; the same architect who designed the new Clark addition. His design represents interior spaces of Japanese homes.  

Wayne in the Ando Gallery

After a quick look at Roman and Greek works in order to briefly relive our recent trip, we went to the Ensor exhibit, Temptation: The Demons of James Ensor. The centerpiece of this exhibit explores the making and meaning of The Temptation of Saint Anthony. Ensor created many works about St Anthony's temptation following the death of his father. Many of these works were inspired by others: Flaubert, Odilion Redon. The culmination was a nearly 6', 51 piece drawing. The AIC has a free online catalogue on the piece.

We spent the entire day at the Museum,  and could go back for another day. Also of note were a huge Napolitan Crèche, Chagall's Amercan Windows, a room of Manets.

Marc Chagall, American Windows, Detail

A pleasant surprise was a choral performance on the grand staircase.

This evening we saw Airline Highway at The Steppenwolf Theater. It is a new play about a group who live in a rundown motel on Airline Highway in New Orleans and are celebrating the funeral of Miss Ruby before she dies. Lastly, there was a late night dinner at Miller's Pub on State St

The Windy City

We took a flight out of Providence today for Chicago. When we arrived at PVD we were told our flight was cancelled and re-routed through DC. There was a beautiful view of the Chesapeake Bay as we flew into DC.  We quickly got our connection, and two hours later we were at O'Hare. 

O'Hare Concorse

The O'Hare concourse was beautifully decorated. Immediately we were in the holiday spirit.  

We took the airport train into the city, and walked a block to our hotel, the Palmer House, a landmark since 1871. The hotel is beautiful and filled to the brim with guests.  The lobby is a bustling arena of holiday shoppers, holiday parties and more.  After a drink and the famous Palmer Brownie in the hotel pub, we walked around the area soaking in the Christmas spirit and the always cheerful, friendly Chicagoans.

A completely inadequate look at the Palmer House lobby.

Hancock Village

Hancock Shaker Village's own Ophelia

Today we took a drive to Pittsfield with the intention of visiting the Berkshire Museum.  It was such a beautiful day that we just kept driving to Hancock and the Shaker Village.  The gardens were beautiful and full of the most unusual herbs.  Some of them are over 6 feet tall and completely unknown to me.  I love the animals the best.  We had the good fortune to be in the wood working house while a demonstration was ongoing.  Both Wayne and I were invited to try the lathe.  All the equipment is run using the power of water and hydraulics.  Those Shakers!  What innovative and creative people.  If only they had a little more libido.  Pics at flickr.

The Unknown Hopper

Edward Hopper's early illustrative work is currently exhibited at the Norman Rockwell Museum.  I was not aware of Hopper's career in illustration.  The earliest of the works were surprising to me.  Had I been presented with them and the challenge to identify the artist, I would have never been able to do so.  The latest of the illustrations (right before totally devoting himself to painting) are more indicative of his solitary, contemplative scenes.  Here is more Information.

Midsummer Night's Dream

Today we met with a possible new exchange person.  She and her husband live in Lenox, which is much closer to all the activities than where we are now.  She is a painter and he is a photographer with his own gallery in Lenox.  How much more perfect could this be?  The main glitch is that they both still work and summer is the prime time for him to make money from the gallery.  So, it will be difficult for them to get away.  But she seemed really open to working something out.  

This afternoon we attended A Midsummer Night's Dream production by Shakespeare and Co.  It was delightful.  Set in New Orleans there was jazz and period costumes from the 1920's.  We have been going to so many Shakespeare productions here and in Boston that we recognize a lot of the performers.  Johnny Lee Davenport played Bottom, and it was nice to see him in a comedic role vs the serious roles we've seen.  Meritt Janson has double duty as Titania and Hippolyta.  We absolutely adored her as Rosalind in As You Like It.  We weren't as enamored with this performance.  Could be a director's doing.  Her voice was squeaky and pleading.  I think of Titania as a really strong, powerful woman.  Rocco Sisto whom we saw as Richard II last year played Oberon.  He was too old in my opinion to play the part of an ageless fairy, but has a very sonorous voice which is lovely to hear.

Natalie Merchant

The day dawned bright, sunny, mild and dry.  We went early to Great Barrington to eat before our Natalie Merchant concert.  The intent to eat octopus at the Agean Breeze Greek restaurant was spoiled by many, many others with the same thing in mind.  So we went to the local Mexican place where we have eaten and know to be good.  Indeed, it was with fresh ingredients and well prepared.  

Merchant was at the Mahaiwe Performing Arts Center.  This was the second show of her tour for a new album.  She's been on sabbatical for a number of years while raising her daughter.  But at 50 she still has a beautiful voice with that identifiable timbre.  She also still twirls and dances to the music as she seems to conduct the band.  The band which had a cello, double bass, viola and 2 violins along with the bass and lead guitars, drums and piano.  The drummer, Allison Miller, and the lead guitar, Gabe Gordon have been with her a while. Merchant seemed a bit nervous and unable to connect with the audience in the beginning.  I had visions of Dylan.  But toward the end and especially during the very long encore she was very relaxed, joking and interacting with people.

Back in the Berkshires

Tanglewood Lawn, James Taylor Concert

The annual sojourn to the Massachusetts Berkshires began last evening.  We are again at Fern Hollow in Becket.  This will be our last year here as the owners have sold it.  We must look for another exchange.

Our friends John and Kathy came last night.  They arrived accompanied by a great thunderstorm.  Wayne braved the rain to cook steaks for us.  The dinner was serenaded by great, fierce booms, cracks and flashes.  The rain was heavy and continued until moments before the Tanglewood concert.  As such, we opted to eat at home and skip the usual picnic on the lawn.  James Taylor still has a sweet, melodic voice and generously donates his performance to the BSO.  There were no fireworks this year.  Too much rain, I guess, to set up in the bowl.  

Woodbridge to DC

The Phillips Collection, Washington DC

We arrived in Woodbridge yesterday around 5pm and were welcomed by the esteemed Aunt Juanita and Uncle Carlton.  As always, they are the best of hosts, upbeat and interested in everything.  Sandra and Todd came a bit later and we all went to dinner at Carraba's (thank you Carlton).  Today we said our good byes and made the short trip to DC.  Our first stop was The Phillips Collection.  

Duncan Phillips was heir to a Pittsburgh steel fortune and use that inheritance to collect more than 3,000 works of modern and contemporary art.  The collection is in Phillips's boyhood home and 2 adjacent properties.  The collection is jaw dropping. As we were touring the special exhibition, Made in America, I kept remarking, "we saw this painting, but which museum?"  Finally, after reading the description of the exhibition, I realized the show had been on the road and we had seen it in Tampa last year.  Oy.  At least I could remember specific paintings if not when and where I saw them.  Add to last year's favorites John Sloan's 6 o'clock Winter, Everett Spruce's Arkansas Landscape, and Whitefield Lovell's beautifully rendered portraits.  

Tonight we ate at Cafe Mozart, a place we have eaten on other visits.  It is German fare.  The evening there was a Viennese woman playing the accordion and singing German/Austrian songs.  She serenaded us with Strauss while she whooped and laughed.  

Jekyll Island to St Simon Island

Jekyll Island, Driftwood Beach

First thing this morning we went to the Arts Festival.  It was just a showing of a local arts group, nothing memorable.  There was a live band and sunny, warm weather, which made strolling under the towering live oaks all the more lovely.  There is really only one place to eat good food on the island and that is the Jekyll Island Club.  Last night we tried the Driftwood Bistro.  It was really bad.  The wait for a table was 45 minutes.  But then the wait at the table was another 30 minutes.  That would have been okay if the food was good.  But, alas, I have given up on shrimp and grits.  As in the other servings of this dish, I could hardly discern the grits among the sauce that I would describe as a bad béchamel with bad cheese added to it?.?  So, we had our second lunch at the Jekyll Club, and it was as good as the day before.  Plus, the dining room is so beautiful and so reminiscent of fin de siecle (1900).  One expects ladies in long white victorian dresses to enter at any moment.  

This afternoon we drove over to St Simons Island.  It's much more inhabited and developed.  We walked along a public park and beach front with many people playing and dog walking.  After we drove to Fort Frederica Park where the architectural remains of the colonial fort remains.  It was here that Oglethorp built the fort and fought off the Spanish.  

Finally, late afternoon we visited Driftwood Beach which is the most unique and usual beach I've visited.  The pictures don't show the wonder of huge oak trees downed by the sea and aged into drift wood.  It is our belief that the trees didn't actually drift to the island, but have been uprooted and left to age.  Flickr Photos

Jekyll Island, GA

Christy and Wayne with Voodoo, their guide.

Jekyll Island is an island off the coast of Feorgia.  It is one of the Sea Islands and one of the 

Golden Isles of Georgia.  In the late 1800s Jekyll Island was an exclusive winter retreat for America's most elite families, the then 1%.  It was known as the Jekyll Island Club with members such as the Rockefellers, Morgans, Pulitzers, and Goulds.  By WWII the island was mostly abandoned and in ruin.  An interesting fact is the plan to create the Federal Reserve Act was formed in secret meetings on Jekyll before being presented to Congress.

It is a beautiful island surrounded by miles of salt marsh the views of which reminded me of the vast plains of Kansas. Magnolias, huge, ancient live oak, palmettos and scrub oak dominate.  We took a 90 minute carriage tour to see and learn about the development of the island, it's abandonment and finally its restoration and state ownership. Flickr Photos

Folkston

Dixie's Custom Framing

The Inn at Folkston is the nicest b&b we have ever stayed in.  Our room is large with a sitting area facing a fireplace.  The owners, Ted and Alise, are very kind, gentle and gracious.  Ted is retired from the railroad.  He served us a very southern breakfast of grits, biscuits, bacon and eggs.  It poured rain all day; we did not take the boat tour.  Instead, we drove to the west side of the park looking for the head waters of the Suwannee River.  This side of the park is operated by the state and offers mostly camping.  The geography was fascinating, though, with tall, tall and thin, thin long leaf pine.  
We had lunch at Dixie's Custom Framing. (I know.  Go figure).  Dixie was very friendly and talked a lot about the park, past fires and best places to visit.  She also made a mean chicken and grits soup.  re:  dining options in Folkston.  There are none.  Our host recommended the Okefenokee Restaurant as the only place in town other than fast food.  Well, we went there last night and left our full plates on the table.  Believe me, I know cafeteria food.  Not only did I grow up in a community that had at least 5 or 6 of them, I ate school lunches for 35 years.  The Okefenokee Restaurant was the worst.  The cat fish was whole (head, tail and fins) and fried to a dark brown.  There were no hush puppies, black eyed peas, green beans, shrimp or corn bread.  AND, no pies.  Really?  Really?  So tonight we returned to Jaylen's BBQ and got a rack.  They had a great smoky flavor but were big and too tough for me.  Wayne ate the whole thing.  A few pics at flickr.

Folkston, GA and the Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge

Okefenokee National Refuge Board Walk on Chesser Island

After arriving in Folkston, we had to get the winter travel bag out.  It is 43 here, and we plan to take a boat tour of the Swamp tomorrow.  The town is a typical small southern town with turn of the century architecture.  Buildings have been reinvented from banks to restaurants, dress shops to antique stores.  Eating options seem limited to cafeteria style servings.  We did find Jaylen's BBQ within 5 minutes of entering town, and later found it to be listed #1 in Trip Advisor.  
We took a drive to the Swamp and toured the Chesser Island area in the car.  There was a 3/4 mile boardwalk into the Swamp which gave me a look at black water, a thing I was most curious about.  The water looks like a black mirror that reflects all the surroundings.  I took ineffective pictures hoping to capture the magic. But, alas, they have a strange green tinge. A portion of the area was burned; a natural and beneficial event that occurs regularly. We saw neither Pogo Possum or Albert Alligator.
It seems Folkston is also a destination for train buffs. The Folkston Funnel is a double track which serves as the main artery for railroad traffic into and out of Florida.  Apparently one can view up to 41 trains from different railroads carrying a variety of goods.  There were people standing near the tracks photographing passing trains (there is one every 1/2 hour).
The Inn at Folkston was a pleasant find.  We have a room with a sitting area and fireplace, which is very welcome on this chilly evening.  
See a few pictures of the Refuge at flickr.