It was the right time to get out of Portland. Usually the winters are mild and that is one of the reasons I wanted to retire there. 2017 brought January from the Arctic. It was 20 degrees when I left and then they had a foot of snow followed by a couple of ice storms. The schools have had 9 snow days when they usually have none. Haha I was in Florida for the worst of it. There was a brief cold snap while I was there; it got in the low 50’s one night, but the rest of the time it was in the high 70’s and low 80’s.
My friend Patti works at the space center and I was staying with her. We mostly ate at her house, cooking fresh gulf seafood. One day we ate at Seafood Atlantic and they had a special of “Brown Hoppers” which were local brown shrimp that they seldom have and were loaded with flavor. Patti gave me a good orientation tour including wandering around the old part of Cocoa Beach which is cute, and of course I had to buy another hat. On Monday I dropped her off at work and visited the Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge. There is a 9 mile gravel road winding thru the wetlands and scads of birds. I saw herons, egrets, flamingos, ibis, cormorants, and birds I didn’t even know the names of. After an hour of that I went to the southern part of the Canaveral National Seashore which was wild and rugged and no one was there. Tuesday I visited the Refuge again, early this time and saw pelicans and other birds that weren’t there in the middle of the day. Then I drove up to New Smyrna Beach which has an old downtown (Flagler Avenue) that looks like Florida of the 50’s. Then I drove the northern part of the Canaveral National Seashore. This part was wilder and had fewer people. There were some archeological sites that were interesting and you could see both the ocean side and the Mosquito Lagoon Aquatic Preserve. It was a nice day but very windy. Tuesday was Patti’s B’day so we went to dinner at Florida’s Fresh Grill in Cocoa Beach. The fish was fantastic as were the espresso martinis.
Wednesday was warm and sunny and I went to the SPACE CENTER. Boy it ain’t cheap, $10 to park and $50 for a one day pass. But for $75 you get a yearly pass and a parking pass, and you can’t see it all in one day anyway. I have always loved the space program. In the 1950’s when the astronaut program was just starting, all the Mercury seven astronauts had to come to Albuquerque to do their physicals at Lovelace Clinic and I met some of them, or at least saw them from a few feet away. I desperately wanted to go into space, but it was no girls allowed in those days. Back to the present, the first thing I saw was the rocket garden, examples of almost every rocket the US used to send people into space. Right next to that was the astronaut hall of fame that just opened last month, so many people I remember reading about, girls finally got to go into space too! Then it was the bus tour, it went all around the launch areas and we saw where Space-X was reworking the pad they leased for 20 years. So many private companies are starting to use the launch facilities; I am starting to believe space travel will become a regular thing. The tour of Cape Canaveral Air Force Base, with the launch pads they use now was canceled because of all the damage from the hurricane last fall.
Thursday Patti dropped me off at the Hertz office and I had about a 10 minute wait until they opened at 7:30. They gave me a Hyundai which was like Patti’s that I had been driving for the last 3 days so it felt right. After driving for a bit I stopped at “Breakfast at Lily’s” in Satellite Beach. The waitress called me “Hon” in a New York accent, the eggs benedict were $7 and the coffee was pretty good too. As you go south from Melbourne Beach, driving down A1A, there are some of the most beautiful, empty beaches in the US, it is also a center for sea turtle breeding. About 3 miles past Sebastian Inlet you get to Orchid Island and the start of “The Jungle Trail,” a sand road thru the Pelican Island National Wildlife Refuge. In places the tree canopy covers the road. I took a brief detour to visit the Mel Fisher Treasure museum in Sebastian and learn about all the Spanish treasure ships that have been found in the area. I continued down A1A and just south of Ft Pierce the two lane Indian River Drive follows the shore of the lagoon for many miles and there is no development on the water side making it one of the prettiest drives in Florida. Just south of Stuart I crossed the lagoon to Hutchinson Island and at the end of the road is the Gilbert’s Bar House of Refuge. It is the only one remaining of a chain of houses built in the late 19th century to rescue people from ships that wrecked along the coast. The house, the view and the old guy who told me the history, were delightful.
After all that sightseeing I just took the expressway the rest of the way to Hollywood to meet up with my friend Thea. She had just closed on a condo right on the beach. The interior was pure Florida with a nod to Art Deco. The most unusual thing was the grass cloth wallpaper that covered everything: walls, switch plates, electrical box, door jambs, moldings, doors (all 4 sides), inside the closets, even the hinges on the doors. The bathrooms had a different wallpaper but there even the ceilings were papered. I don’t know what was more amazing, the quality of the workmanship, or that someone thought covering the door jambs was a good idea. Anyway, we walked down the broadwalk to Istanbul and had a nice Turkish dinner, unfortunately they don’t serve raki so we settled for Turkish beer.
Friday we went to the Anne Kolb Nature center for a lunch and learn. We got there early so we could take the boat tour thru the mangroves, $5, which was a lot of fun and informative. They also had very nice boardwalks thru swamp. The lunch was better than expected and then the ranger started to talk. At first I thought he had been drinking, he rambled, changed topics mid-sentence, and never touched on the supposed topic, “How the wildlife is adapting to climate change.” Eventually I decided he had just been out in the sun without a hat for way too long, so I dozed off. Later it was warm and sunny so we tried to sit on the beach but the wind was too strong. That evening there was a cocktail party for the condo association, we had some wine and met some of the other residents who were very nice. The appetizers weren’t enough for dinner so we walked down to a Greek place on the intracoastal canal. We started with tsipero (Greek raki), had a great mezze plate (assorted appetizers), some wine, something else, and then they gave us ouzo; on the house. It started to rain and we were in no condition to walk anyway, so we got on the trolley, but no one had cash to pay the fare. Fortunately the driver gave us a break.
On Saturday we drove to Palm Beach to see the Flagler museum, $18. It was a grand house built for his 3rd wife in 1902. It had been converted to a hotel in the 20’s but was saved in the 50’s by his granddaughter and restored to its original opulence and many of the original furnishings were recovered. They also had one of his personal rail cars on display. The docent who led the tour had so much information some people OD’ed and dropped out of the tour. You could also tour the Breakers hotel across the way but needed to make a reservation ahead of time, and the next available tour was in March. If you just go to the hotel on your own it is $30 which is refunded if you spend $30 on lunch. I guess it keeps the riffraff (like me) from cluttering up the place.
We saw a sculpture garden a couple of blocks away at the Society for the Four Arts. It was free and the garden was beautiful but the sculpture was meh. Driving south on the Dixie Highway we stopped at Bell and Maxwell’s restaurant for lunch on the patio, a lovely southern spot with excellent food.
Our main destination for the day was the Morikama Japanese garden, $13. Even having just returned from Japan this garden was exciting. The path was almost a mile, wandering thru various sub gardens and woven into a delightful hour or so. At the museum they had an exhibition of origami that was almost beyond comprehension.
That evening we ate at Las Vegas, a local chain of Cuban restaurants. I had the fried whole snapper, $19, which was perfectly done, with fried Yucca, yellow rice and a salad. And then there was the Mojito!!! I thought after trying mojitos twice a day for 10 days in Cuba, I had mastered the Mojito but this one was better. The bartender showed me how he made a 50/50 mixture of simple syrup and fresh lime juice, and then blended a shot of that with the fresh mint, then a shot of rum and finished with club soda and garnished with a mint sprig.
Monday we headed out early to the Charles Deering estate, $12, in South Miami. Deering’s father was a cofounder of International Harvester. His younger brother built the opulent Vizcaya mansion in Miami. The buildings at Charles’ estate are simple but the gardens are extensive. It sat right on the water and was incredibly peaceful. From there we went to the Fairchild Tropical Botanical garden in Coral Gables, $18. Its 83 acres had the most extensive collection of palms anywhere and plants from all over the world. They had a 45 minute tram tour, a butterfly exhibit, and miles of trails. Our last stop was the Barnacle State Park, $2, in Coconut Grove, which was overpriced. We put on a lot of miles but saw some world class gardens and it was a great day. Dinner back in Hollywood was at “Le Tub” an eclectic wooden shack hanging out into the Intercostal waterway. I had eaten there 2 years ago and knew it had the best seafood salad there was.
Monday I said good bye to Thea and headed for the Everglades. I took US 41 and tried to drive thru Shark Valley. They weren’t letting anyone in because the parking lot was full. I just wanted to drive the loop road not live there! After 20 minutes of sitting, I gave up and did a Uee. Just west of Shark Valley is the Big Cypress National Preserve loop road. This is a 27 mile, mostly gravel road. Fantastic!!!! I took almost 2 hours, stopping every few hundred yards, lots of gators on the side of the road, herons, snowy egrets, ibis, cormorants and many other birds wading thru the swamp. I never was interested in birding but if I lived in Florida I would take it up. Most of the gators were in pairs on the south side and the birds and cypress were thicker on the north. There was almost no one else on the road and as I drove slowly and peered thru the trees and brush, seeing the birds wading or elegantly standing in the gloom was magical.
Eventually I came back to the paved road and made my way to Everglades City, a very 1950 beach town with the houses up on stilts to be ready for the next hurricane. Lunch was at the Camellia Street Grill. It sits right on the water and the fried okra was in another class from any I have ever had. I might go back just for that. I then drove to the bitter end of the road at Smallwood on the island of Chokoloskee. There was an old general store/ museum, $5, but everything they had I had either used or seen at one point in my life. And that is what happens when you old. I stopped at the Everglades National Park visitor’s center to check out the boat tours and booked the first 10,000 Island tour for the following morning. After a bit of thought I booked the Mangrove Wilderness tour also.
I would have gone on one of the boat tours right then but I had to meet my friend Dave for a drink in Ft Meyers. He said to meet at a place called Twin Peaks by the airport. The waitresses looked like Hooters girls, or maybe something Vargas would have drawn for Playboy in the 60’s. Anyway the gin and tonics were $3 and the screened outside bar was very pleasant. I dropped Dave at the airport so he could go back to STL (ugh), picked up a bottle of sauvignon blanc, and checked into my hotel, the Inn of Naples, $120 a night.
On Tuesday I headed back to Everglades city for the boat tours. The 10,000 island tour, $35, left at 9am with me, two women from Chicago, Captain Mike and the first mate was named Valerie. Valerie showed us a picture of a stone crab claw that was bigger than the palm of her hand. We went out toward the gulf and saw brown pelicans, white pelicans (9 foot wing span), osprey, and many other birds. The captain then started circling in the gulf looking for dolphins and I started getting bored. Eventually we went back close to the islands and saw some dolphins feeding. Then Captain Mike drove the boat close to them and they started following us and playing in the wake. There were 3 and they swam really close to each other and jumped in unison. It was more fun than Sea-world. As we were standing right in the stern it seemed like we could almost reach out and touch them. I got some great pictures. The second trip was “Mangrove Wilderness” it was just me, two guys from Canada and Captain Dave. We went way back into the mangroves where they came over the water so it was almost like a tunnel. With the birds flying down the tunnel it was eerie but beautiful. The number of birds was amazing, every kind, roseate spoonbills (very rare), egrets, ibis, several kinds of herons; I think I am becoming a birder. We climbed on shell mounds built by the Calusa Indians (now extinct) possibly dating back 2000 years. We even saw manatees; of course we only saw their nostrils above the water, and vague outlines of their shape underwater. The water is brown from the tannin released by the mangrove leaves which drop at an astonishing rate.
I tried to stop at City Seafood for lunch but there was a line coming out the door, so I just headed for Ft Meyers. It was about an hour and a half and pretty boring but I did get to the Ford & Edison winter estates, $20. They were good friends and built side by side cottages right on the water. The houses and grounds were lovingly restored to their original condition and there was a nice museum explaining their relationship and vacation habits. The Ford house had rules posted and my favorite was “Please retire to your room at least once each day so the family can bicker without embarrassment.” I took US41 back to Naples and it is one long strip mall. I met my friend Keirsten at the Bayside Grill for drinks. We had a waterside table and caught up on the couple of years since she moved to Florida. The view was great, the wine was good and the menu was not very exciting, no stone crab!
Wednesday I left early and drove 3 hours to Tarpon Springs. This town was settled by Greek sponge divers and felt very much like Greece, everyone was saying Kalamera instead of good morning. I had coffee and a pastry and wandered along the waterfront. I stopped at a Greek wine shop and bought a bottle of Sigalas from Santorini for Patti and a large bottle of Kalmata olives. Unfortunately I loitered too long (I could have stayed all day) and I missed the mermaid show at Weeki Wachee by 30 minutes. I stopped at the Grumpy Gator (a dive bar) for lunch and had the best blackened grouper sandwich and a beer $16. The visitors center at the Crystal River National Wildlife Refuge was closed so I didn’t get to learn much about manatees. I was looking at the wrong guide book, I should have gone to the State park at Homosassa Springs where the water is crystal clear and they feed the manatees. I could have spent the night in the area as there was a lot to see and do. I started going east across Florida but got tired of driving so I took the Toll way where everyone was rocketing along at 80 and got back to Patti’s by 4:30.
Thursday there was supposed to be a launch in the evening but it was scrubbed. Friday I went back to the space center to see the things I had missed. The tour of the launch center was canceled because the launch had been rescheduled for that night. Oh well, my pass is good until next January 11th. That evening we went to Heidi’s Jazz bar and Austrian restaurant. The chilled cucumber soup was so good I am going to try to duplicate it. The jazz was old school and quite pleasant.
Saturday we walked on the beach and that evening Cocoa Beach had a “Sip ‘n Stroll.” 26 restaurants, bars, galleries and shops, had wine and appetizers from 4 to 9, $30, a great way to discover new places and meet people. Sunday we had breakfast at Barrier Jack’s and I had crab cake Benedict, $13 and a mimosa in a pint glass, $4. On the way back to Portland, United had a computer glitch and their whole system was grounded for 2.5 hours. I made the last train from the airport to home and saw the last of the snow still on the ground. I great trip and great timing for going south.