To Music City

We left home around 7 am and headed to Nashville via Lexington for a short spring vacation.  We picked Emily up around 9:30 at her apartment and got on the Bluegrass Parkway south toward Nashville.  We stopped in Bowling Green, Kentucky for a quick lunch at Bob Evans then on to Nashville. 
The black locust trees were in full bloom all along our drive along I-64 to Lexington then on the Martha Lane Collins Bluegrass Parkway to Elizabethtown, Kentucky where we picked up I-65 that took us all the way to Nashville.  We always love to drive when the trees are in bloom.  There is nothing like having the highway lined with red bud in April or black locust in May.  Of course in the fall a completely different show of color brightens our drive.

We arrived at our motel, the Knight’s Inn then realized that it was only noon due to the change to Central Time.  Since we figured it was too early to check in, we drove around Music Row and passed by some famous recording studios then went to the Parthenon.  Although Centennial Park was busy, we had no trouble parking within an easy walk of the Parthenon.  Lake Watauga and Parthenon are all that remain in Nashville from the 1897 Tennessee Centennial and International Exposition.  The original Parthenon was intended to be only temporary, lasting only a few months for the Tennessee Centennial.  However, due to public demand, it was rebuilt as a more permanent structure only to suffer major damage from a tornado shortly thereafter.  It was rebuilt as it is today and is the only full scale replica of the Parthenon in existence. 

There were a lot of reproductions of statuary and artifacts from the Parthenon in Greece and plenty of signage to explain the significance of the items.  The42 foot tall stature of Athena has also been recreated, not from ivory and gold like the original but from plaster, gypsum and fiberglass.  It is made to replicate how the original would have looked in 438 BC.

After leaving the park, we check in at the Knight’s Inn and rested before the evening out at the Grand Old Opry.  We left the motel at 5 pm and went to the Opry Mills Mall and ate at the food court there.  There were a lot of options and we all enjoyed our dinner.  We had a short drive around to the Grand Old Opry and walked around the grounds a bit before going in.  A Minnie Pearl look-alike was posing for photos and chatting with visitors outside.  We found our seats in the auditorium and was pleased to have a good view of the stage.  We learned later that as Minnie Pearl was aging she wanted her character to continue.  To assure the continuity and quality of the character, she interviewed and approved the actors portraying her character today.  Around 6:30 the Minnie Pearl impersonator came out and warmed up the audience before the first host, Jeannie Seely took the stage.  She did a couple of her songs and introduced a young singer-songwriter, Sara Haze who performed two of her songs.  Bobby Osborne was next, the surviving member of the Osborne Brothers.  They did three songs including Ruby and, of course, Rocky Top, their most famous hit.  We were surprised when Bobby announced that they will be coming to Hamlin to perform on June 1.

The next hosts were the Whites.  We have always liked the Whites with Buck on piano, Cheryl and Sharon on guitar and vocals and Rosie doing vocals.  They played Keep on the Sunny Side from their part in O Brother, Where Art Thou and introduced a new singer-songwriter, Joel Crouse, from Massachusetts.  One of the main acts introduced by the Whites was Dr. Ralph Stanley and the Clinch Mountain Boys.  At 86, Stanley didn’t do any vocal solos but accompanied his grandson, Nathan Stanley and others in performing some bluegrass favorites.

After a brief intermission, George Hamilton IV performed his popular song, Abilene, along with his son, George Hamilton V.  He introduced Old Crow Medicine Show who played two of their more popular songs as well as performing Tennessee Whiskey as a tribute to the late George Jones who recently died.  The Opry Square Dancers finished out the George Hamilton IV set.

The last host was “Whispering” Bill Anderson who sang a couple of his songs and introduced Charlie Daniels who came out with his characteristic gusto.  He went through two fiddle bows in his first song, The South is Gonna Do It Again.  Of course, he played The Devil Went Down to Georgia as well much to everyone’s delight.  We were impressed with the helpful staff at the Grand Old Opry and that people were encouraged to take photos or even to approach the stage to get better snapshots.  Bill Anderson and other hosts chatted with visitors during breaks and seemed to genuinely welcome guests to the Grand Old Opry.

We left the Grand Old Opry around 9:45 and fought traffic for the short drive back to the Knight’s Inn and to bed.

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Dead Sea Scrolls

After several weeks of gloomy early spring weather, we had a beautiful Saturday and took advantage of the day to make a road trip to one of our favorite places, the Cincinnati Museum Center.  We have had a membership at the museum for several years and always enjoy visiting the permanent exhibits in the Museum of Natural History & Science and the Cincinnati History Museum.  Even just touring the old Union Terminal building with the art-deco architecture and beautiful murals is fascinating.  Although there remains a working Amtrack station in the building, most of the structure is dedicated to the museums.  When the museum center was constructed, it was the central hub for all railroads having connections in Cincinnati.  Prior to the opening of Union Terminal, passengers had to find transportation between terminals of different rail lines that may be across the city.  Like a modern airport, Union Terminal provided concourses for the major passenger railroads serving Cincinnati allowing travelers easier transfers between rail lines.

We had been telling our friends, Rex & Natialie Dillinger about the museum for some time and we were thrilled that they could join us for the day.  We left Milton before 7 am and had a pleasant drive down the AA Highway through Kentucky to Cold Spring and on to Cincinnati.  The early morning fog was thick but disappeared once the sun came out.

The traveling exhibit that brought us to the Cincinnati Museum Center on this day was the Dead Sea Scrolls.  We were thrilled to be able to see some of the most important documents in our culture up close.  The scrolls were well displayed with clear translations and interpretations.  There were also displays of jars that contained the scrolls as well as many artifacts of life the area 2000 years ago including weighing scales, coins, jars, building stones and ossuaries.  Ossuaries are boxes that are used to hold the bones of dead loved ones.  One set of ossuaries held the names, Joseph, Mary and Jesus.  However, we learned that those were very common names in those times and are unlikely to contain the remains of the biblical family.

The museum guides and the printed information accompanying the scrolls and artifacts were very helpful in understanding life in the area over 2000 years ago when the Dead Sea Scrolls would have been written.  A short movie described how the scrolls were found in 1947 and efforts that were made to locate, obtain and preserve the scrolls in the years since.  We were especially pleased that the oldest known version of the Ten Commandments was included among the scrolls on exhibit.  We learned that this scroll can only be shown for ten days then must return to storage in total darkness for a full year before being shown again.  We were thrilled to be able to see them.  We spend about two and half hours in the exhibit from 10:30 am – 1 pm.

While at the museum, we also saw a display of beautiful wood turnings and walked around the inside admiring the Rookwood Pottery tiles and the depression era mosaics.

We left the museum around 1 pm and drove across the Ohio River to Newport, Kentucky for lunch at Hofbräuhaus.  That is one of our favorite places to eat.  We have been to the Hofbräuhaus in Cincinnati, Pittsburgh and Munich.  We have had excellent dining experiences at all of these. 

After lunch, we met Sarah & Greg at their house for a visit then went to Findlay Market for some shopping.  Rex was interested in getting some German sausages from one of the butcher shops there and had success at Kroeger & Sons Meats.  We spent time in the city, walking around the OTR (Over the Rhine) neighborhood of Cincinnati and spending some time in the newly renovated Washington Park.  We also drove up Mt. Adams to the overlook near the Rookwood Restaurant at the site of the former Rookwood Pottery.  We drove down to the Krohn Conservatory but they were closed by the time we arrived so we walked around Eden Park for a while to see the Capitoline Wolf statue showing Romulus and Remus being suckled by the she wolf who adopted them after they were thrown into the Tiber River.  The statue was donated to Cincinnati by Bonito Mussolini in 1929.

After leaving Eden Park, we took Sarah & Greg back to their house and headed home after spending a great day in Cincinnati.

National Parks Visited

On this trip through Southern Florida and the Miami area, we visited the following National Parks:

• Biscayne National Park
• Big Cypress Preserve
• Everglades National Park
• Key Deer National Wildlife Refuge
• Crocodile Lake National Wildlife Refuge

Back Home

We left the Fort Lauderdale Travelodge around 5:30 am to get to the Fort Lauderdale/Hollywood Airport.  When we arrived last week, the flight crew advised us to arrive at the airport at least two hours in advance of our return flight since the check in process takes a while at that airport.  We returned the rental car at Enterprise by 6 am and made our way to the Allegiant desk.  We learned that Allegiant Air doesn't check passengers in before two hours prior to departure.  We waited until 7 am and checked in with no problems.  The rates of about $50 for the flight is excellent but Allegiant is certainly no frills.  

After checking in we made our way to security.  We couldn't believe the line!  People were lined up across the street then winding around before the TSA checkpoint.  It took about an hour to get through the process and put us at our gate well in time for our flight.

As with our flight to Florida last week, our flight had few. if any, vacant seats.  I am certain that Allegiant has to keep their jets filled.  There was a crying baby early on but it didn't last long.  We all took a snooze on the flight. 

We arrived at Huntington TriState Airport around 11 am.  Mary picked up our checked bag while I got the van out of parking.  Going out in the cold and snow after our week in the warmth and sunshine was a shock.  We made a quick stop at Kroger for groceries then came home to get ready for the week ahead.

We had an excellent week in Florida and think that we spread our time well.  We liked the Key West area but wouldn't have wanted to spend more than a couple of days there.  If would have had more time in the Keys, we would have spent a day at the Dry Tortugas National Park.  It is a long ferry ride but we understand that the island is beautiful and has some interesting historical locations at Fort Jefferson.

It is not surprising that we enjoyed the Everglades more than any other part of our vacation.  The Anhinga Trail and the trails at Shark Valley were both excellent places to walk and photograph alligators and birds from literally inches away.  Our day at the Gulf Coast Visitor Center at Everglades City was also excellent since is showed a very different part of Everglades National Park.  We tend to enjoy nature and history oriented vacations rather than sitting on a beach for a week.  This week was a good mix of things to do.

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Last day of winter 2013 vacation

All good things must come to an end and our vacation has been very good.
We left the Florida City Travelodge around 9 am. When we checked out, I chatted with the motel owner, Mr. Patel, who said that he would give us a free room upgrade if we return there in the future. We may just do that since we really liked the location and the rooms were very quiet, clean and comfortable. The rates were about half what we were paying for a room on Key West. Granted lodging is more expensive on Key West but in Florida City we had a great hot breakfast that was included.
We drove up through Miami which was hectic driving even on Sunday morning. I can't imagine what driving would be like on a weekday. We drove much of the way to Miami on Old Cutler Road passing through Coral Gables and Sunrise Harbor. Once we were out of the city center we drove through Miami Springs, Hialeah Gardens, Miramar and Pembroke Pines. We stopped for a couple of geocache hunts along the way including one in Brian Piccolo Park. Piccolo, who played for the Chicago Bears in the late 1960s, was the subject of a popular movie, Brian's Song following his death in 1971. We arrived at the Travelodge on Sunrise Blvd. in Ft. Lauderdale a little after 1 pm.
We were able to check in on our arrival. The room is acceptable but the Internet is sketchy and there is no place at the motel for guests to print boarding passes. The bed is comfortable and the area seems quiet so far. That will be important since we plan to leave at 5 am tomorrow. We understand that the check in process at the Ft. Lauderdale airport takes a long time.
After resting for a bit, we drove down to A1A along the Ft. Lauderdale Beach area and parked. A nice Canadian family was leaving and gave us their parking pass with a good bit of time left. We walked along the beach past the usual bars, T-shirt shops, restaurants and souvineer shops across from the beach area. The beach here is very narrow. Not surprising since Florida really had no natural beaches. Mangroves were cleared from the coast many years ago when developers wanted to attract tourists and their money to coastal Florida. Of course, once the protective mangroves and sea oats were cleared away, beach erosion became a perpetual problem. The sandy beach areas that are in Florida were created by pumping sand up and making an area where people can wade and sunbathe. Whenever a major storm comes through fresh sand has to be pumped back up on the beach. If there were no beach here the economy would cease to exist. Walking along the beach for a couple of hours was about all we were interested in doing. Traffic along the beach was crazy so we were just as happy going back to the room and getting ready for the return trip home.
The temperatures today were in the mid 70s and sunny. The forecast for tomorrow is in the mid 80s here. We have been perfectly happy with temperatures in the 70s here, especially since there is snow, wind and cold back home. All schools in the area around home were closed last Friday and it is expected that many will be closed tomorrow.
Mary normally checks Road Food, Diners, Drive Inns and Dives and TripAdvisor for dining tips. Recently, she has found that TripAdvisor has been a reliable source of information for eating, lodging and attractions. She found another good spot for dinner tonight called Zona Fresca. It appears to be a local chain of a few locations in the Ft. Lauderdale area. In appearance it is a little like a Chipotle but they specialize in Latin food that is healthier. She had the fish taco that she said was very good. I had chile rellenos that were filled with cheeses and roasted. Every other place that I have had them batter dips and deep fries the filled chiles. Not that batter dipped and deep fried is a bad thing but these were very good. My meal came with black beans and rice on the side. They have a salsa bar so I added habanero and tomatillo salsas. It was a very good dinner.
We came back to the Ft. Lauderdale Travelodge after dinner to finish preparations for our early morning departure while we watched the Ravens and 49ers play in the Super Bowl.
As with any vacation, we are sorry to see it come to an end. Thanks to advice from Sarah and Greg, Debby (across the hall at work) and my pal, Joe, we were able to target many of the "must see" locations in South Florida. While going back home and to work is always rough, we both have busy times ahead at work with much to be done. Taking a week off for some time away in "the Sunshine State" was just what we needed.



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Groundhog's Day

We didn't leave the Florida City Travelodge until nearly 9 am this morning for no other reason than we were being lazy.  The day was warm and breezy with abundant sunshine.  Even when we left the motel, it was in the mid 60s and beautiful.  The nice weather we are enjoying makes us feel a little bad for family and friends back home facing several inches of snow and wind chill temperatures well below zero.

We took the short drive to Biscayne National Park on the coast.  Most of this park is underwater since it is on the world's third largest coral reef.  Turns out that the area was threatened with major development in the 1960s but when the property was made a National Park in 1980, it was protected from development.  There is a nice visitor's center and a short but interesting boarkwalk.  There were TONS of bicyclists on the road to the park since it roads are flat and don't receive a lot of automobile traffic.  

It didn't appear that this park gets the volume of visitors that come to many other parks.  However, many local people come here to fish for grouper and mullet along the banks in the park. There are a lot of picnic tables and places to relax in the park too.  The temperature warmed to the mid 70s while we were there but the breeze kept walking comfortable.

After leaving Biscayne National Park, we drove to Zoo Miami to spend most of the day.  The zoo is very large but the layout is logical and well organized.  The main path of the zoo is in a "figure 8" and the majority of animals are organized by continent.  We were amazed at how few visitors at the zoo were speaking English.  In fact, on the few English speaking groups that we saw there were tourists from England!

The animals at Zoo Miamo seem to have a lot of room and there is a nice assortment.  We watched a couple of red river hogs chasing each other around and enjoying the day.  They had excellent enclosures for the Asian and African elephants.  They had a large collection of tortoises and an area to feed giraffes.  There was a lot of walking at the zoo but we enjoyed our day.
After leaving the zoo, we were in the mood for a snack so we went back to Robert is Here.  It was even more of a zoo!  We could not believe the number of people packed into that little farm stand.  They make milkshakes from fresh fruits and other ingredients. Mary had a fresh coconut and I had a key lime milkshake.  They were both excellent and filling.  Mary bought some key lime chocolates for the guys at work and I bought some guacamole that they make there at the deli.  The guacamole had big chunks of avocado and other goodies.  We enjoyed munching on it on tortilla chips. 
We crashed in the room for a bit to shower and change before dinner.  There are many great choices for dinner here but we figure we can get good Mexican, Chinese or seafood back home.  However, we can't get Cuban food any place close to home so we went back to Mario's Latin Cuisine for dinner.  We had the same friendly and helpful waitress as Thursday night.  Mary had passionfruit juice again and I had mango this time.  For her main course, Mary had the Cuban sandwich which had generous portions of ham, pork and cheese on grilled Cuban bread.  I had the tamal appetizer as my meal.  The Cuban style tamale was a block of seasoned pollenta with slices of pork, ham, cheese and pickles.  Everything was very good.
We retired to the room and watched "Groundhog Day" on AMC which just never gets old.



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Gators, gators and more gators

We left the Travelodge in Florida City around 8 am after a good breakfast at the motel.  Although the parking lot isn't nearly full, there is a "No Vacancy" sign at the registration desk.  Like the motel in Key West, we have noticed a lot of Europeans here.  We have heard a lot of people in the breakfast area speaking French and others speaking some Eastern European languages.

As we drove toward Everglades City, I had a conference call for work to set up a training session with RCBI and NASA on March 9.  The call was productive and only took about 30 minutes, long enough for us to get to US 41 which we would be on for most of the day.  Route 41 is sometimes called the Tamiami Highway since it runs from Tampa on the Gulf Coast to Miami on the Atlantic Coast.  The first 11 miles of Route 41 were under construction and down to one lane in many areas.  The construction didn't slow us down much.

Our first stop of the day was at the Shark Valley Visitor Center in Everglades National Park.  There was a strong breeze making the air seem cooler than the actual temperature in the low 70s.  The trail along a small canal was a great place to see many interesting birds and TONS of alligators.  The birds and alligators were nearly as good for viewing as the Anhinga Trail that we visited on Thursday.  There were several types of ergets, storks, herons, and Purple Gallinules that we had been looking for earlier in the week.  There were alligators everywhere sunning in the morning light.  The trail runs 14 miles to an observation tower along a canal.  There is a tram that takes visitors along the trail or people can walk and bicycle there.  Since we wanted to get to Everglades City, we choose to not walk or tram to the tower but rather move on west.  

Our next stop was at the Oasis Visitor Center in the Big Cypress Preserve where a nice boardwalk paralleled the Tamiami Highway (US 41) and a canal where many huge alligators basked.  We stood in one place and counted 18 alligators, most of which were over 8 feet in length.  We saw several that were at least 12 feet long.  The canal also had many Florida gar, walking catfish and several types of freshwater turtles.  The water was clear enough to provide good visibility of life in the canal.  There was a volunteer ranger on the boardwalk who was very helpful in identifying the fish and other wildlife in and around the canal.

We drove on to the Big Cypress Visitor Center that was small but had an interesting short boardwalk.  There was a lot of information on the cypress trees of the area and the creation of the park in the early 1970s to preserve them.  On the boardwalk, there was a canal where we didn't see alligators but there were manatees.  They were difficult to see since they only came up briefly for a quick breath.  Mostly, you could see bubbles from the paths of the manatees underwater. 

Just before we got to Everglades City, we stopped at the H. P. Williams Picnic Area where there were a number of alligators out in the sun.  We watched anhingas feeding including on that caught and swallowed a large cichlid that left a lump in the anhinga's throat.  It was a tiny area but was an interesting stop because of the concentration of alligators.

We made it to Everglades City a little before noon and checked in at the Gulf Coast Visitor Center.  We learned that a tour boat around some of the mangrove islands in the Gulf would be leaving at 1 pm.  We couldn't resist the opportunity to go.  The boat had about 20 people on board and traveled around many of the islands and to rookeries and areas frequented by dolphins.  Only Mary and one other person on the boat managed to see a dolphin but there were many types of birds and the 90 minute ride was nice.  After returning to Everglades City around 2:30, we drove around the area and to the old Smallwood Store in Chokoloskee.   The store has quite a history since it was built in 1906.  There is a small airport in Everglades City that mostly brings private planes with visitors to the Park.  We learned that the airport had a very different purpose not long ago;  In the 1970s, over 80% of Everglades City's residents had a drug conviction!  With the presence of the Park Service in the area, the drug trade in town decreased dramatically.  

We left the area and continued northwest on the Tamiama Highway toward Naples.  We found a well reviewed seafood restaurant in Naples called Randy's Fishmarket.  In addition to the restaurant, Randy's sells fresh locally caught seafood.  Since we just had snacks for lunch at the Gulf Coast Visitor Center at Everglades City, we were pretty hungry.  At 4:30, the other diners in the restaurant were mostly senior citizens.  The population of Naples is generally very wealthy and very old.  On our way to the restaurant, we passed dealerships for Bentley, Porsche, Mazzarati and Land Rover.  Since we are here in stone crab season, we started with an appetizer of stone crab claws.  To harvest the claws of the stone crabs, fishermen collect the crabs in traps and remove the claws in such a way that the crabs are released unharmed to regenerate claws.  For our meals, Mary had crab cakes with a baked sweet potato and green beans.  I had pan seared mahi mahi on a bed of whole wheat penne pasta with garlic olive oil, portobello mushrooms and wilted spinach.  We both had good spring salads with blue cheese dressing. After our meal, the waiter brought us each a complementary slice of Key Lime Pie since were were first time visitors.  We would recommend Randy's as a place to eat when in Naples.

We left Naples around 6 pm and drove back to the Florida City Travelodge arriving at 8:30.  
In checking the weather back home, we see that the Tri-State is being hit with a blanket of snow and that schools across the state are closed.  It sounds like more snow is coming for the rest of the weekend.  That sure makes us happy to be in The Sunshine State this time of year!

   

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Anhinga Trail and Everglades

Breakfast at the Florida City Travelodge was actually pretty good.  They had sausage and egg sandwiches and some fresh fruit.  We stopped by a favorite local market called "Robert is Here" for snacks and food for lunches.  They have a nice assortment of fresh local fruit, some of which I have never seen anywhere.  Everything was very fresh and priced low. Go to the link to see how the fruit stand got the name "Robert is Here."

Anhinga sunning to dry feathers

When we arrived at the area of Everglades National Park where the Anhinga Trail and the Gumbo Limbo Trail depart. We were surprised at the number and aggression of the black vultures.  The Park Service provides tarps and bungee cords to cover cars in the parking lot since the vultures not only roost on the cars, scratching the finish with their claws but they eat the rubber from windshield wipers and around the windshield and sun roof.  We really weren't sure how we would explain to Enterprise Car Rental why their nice new Nissan Altima had the rubber parts destroyed by hungry vultures.  We opted for the tarp to avoid the problems.  Some cars had a dozen or more vultures on them.  The parking lot looked like a Hitchcock movie!

Mamma say that the reason alligators is so ornery is because
they got all those teeth and no toothbrushes.

We really enjoyed the walk around the Anhinga Trail.  Everyone we spoke to said that this trail is the best place to visit in the Everglades.  There were many types of wading birds including tons of anhingas, cormorants, wood storks, great blue herons and white egrets as well as many others that we don't know.  There were a number of alligators along the trail, some of which were very close.  Other alligators were in the water waiting for a meal to come by.  While we were on the trail, a brief rain shower blew up, but it passed quickly as they are prone to do here in Southern Florida.  We could have spent more time just walking around the short path and boardwalk, but a large group of elementary school age students arrived. We went over and walked the short Gumbo Limbo Trail that has informative signs about the native flora.  We were pleased that there was no vulture damage to the rental car when we got back to the parking lot.   We gave out tarp and tie downs to another couple who arrived and moved on.

Great blue heron

We drove slowly on the road from the visitor center toward the area called Flamingo.  There were many places to stop for informational signs or to birdwatch at a pond or meadow.  There are trails of all length that lead visitors to areas where birds or landscapes can be seen.  When we stopped at Pouratis Pond, we saw many nesting wood storks and a number of rosette spoonbills in mating coloration.  We enjoyed our packed lunch at a picnic table there as we watched the birds.  It was a very pretty area and made for a pleasant place our lunch.   Another stop at the Pay-ay-okee Overlook took us on a trail through a bald cypress area.  Since we are here in the dry season the cypress had lost many of their leaves but the trees were pretty.

Crocodile at Flamingo

After several short stops, we drove to the visitor center at Flamingo.  We saw saw a number of ospreys including two nests at that were at the visitor center.  We understand that there are manatees in the canal near the visitor center, but we didn't see any while we were there.  We did, however, see a crocodile sunning in the bank of the canal.  They really do look very different from the American alligator.  We walked around the area a good bit then started driving back toward the park entrance which is about 35 miles from Flamingo.

We stopped at a trail called Snake Bight which is a 1.8 mile path down to the bay.  At the right time flamingos and rosette spoonbills can be seen there as well as other birds.  We enjoyed the 3.6 mile walk for our round trip.  The path is well maintained and easy walking.  The temperature warmed back up to nearly 80 degrees while we were on the path causing us to work up a bit of a sweat on the walk.  We only saw a few birds at a distance but were were perfectly happy with the walk out and back.  We were impressed with the number and variety of cacti along the trail.  Some of the cactus were over 12 feet tall.  I guess I just don't think about cactus growing in the Everglades.

Little blue heron

On the way back, we made another stop at the Anhinga Trail since it was such a great place to see birds and alligators.  We stood in one place and saw 18 alligators either in the water or basking on the bank.  Many of the visitors on the Anhinga were European.  We heard French, Italian, German and some Eastern European languages that we couldn't identify.  It is a popular place and for good reason. On the way around the pond, a big vulture swooped near Mary.  "Someone" bumped into her pushing her "accidentally" toward the vulture.  That someone was in BIG trouble.

Black vulture

We got back to the motel around 5 pm and rested our feet after showering and changing clothes.  We made our way to Mario's Cuban Cuisine for dinner.  We knew it would be good when we saw three separate groups of police officers from different agencies having dinner there.  We weren't disappointed.  Mary had Masas de Puerco which is marinated grilled pork that came with beans and rice and sweet plantains on the side.  I had a chorizo sandwich.  The restaurant features freshly squeezed juices (or "youces" as our Cuban waitress called them) that were all very good.  Mary had passion fruit juice, and I had tamarind juice then a pineapple juice.  We liked them all.  After we got back from Mario's, we learned that is was well rated by Jane & Michael Stern in their Road Food column.  

Tomorrow we plan to visit the Northwestern part of the Everglades then perhaps have dinner in the Naples area.

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Going North up the Keys

We checked out of the Days Inn Key West around 8 am and took our time driving up US 1 toward Florida City.

We drove up to Big Pine Key and drove around the Key Deer National Wildlife Refuge. We walked several of the trails in the reserve but saw far more key deer along the roads. The speed limits on the island are low since the deer are an endangered species and many of them are automobile casualties I was surprised at how tiny they are. One little doe that we watched for a long time was only about 18 inches tall. We spent a good bit of time on the Key and stopped by the visitor center where the ranger gave us a lot of information about the natural history and geology of the Keys. Big Pine Key was one of the best stops on the Keys because most of the island is part of the Refuge and there were lots of trails and paths to walk.  A fire a few years ago damaged many of the hiking trails and although the habitat is returning, the trails and signs were all destroyed.  Although the trails were nice, we would suggest just driving residential roads to see Key Deer.
We drove to Bahia Honda State Park and walked several trails including one that went to a closed section of the original bridge. From one of the guidebooks, we learned that in many places the original concrete from the German technique is in better shape than concrete that was poured much later. Of course we know that all the best stuff is made by Germans! We also walked a great interpretative nature trail. The signage was excellent and we learned a lot about the plants of the area. We saw a lot of tropical, wading and shore birds. We couldn't identify most of them but they were interesting to watch. We saw an osprey carrying a huge branch that nearly weighed it down. It was not going to give up on the branch. The beaches there are supposed to be some of the nation's best but we aren't sure why. It was a nice area but didn't seem much different than many other beach areas. Nevertheless, it was a pretty place and we enjoyed walking around and enjoying the day.

We made a few other stops to take a snapshot or hunt a geocache. The temperature was in the mid 80s so it was nice to be outside in the sea air for a walk. We were amazed at the turquoise color of the water and the general beauty of the area. We also liked to look at the fossilized coral that makes up the bedrock of the Keys. We saw fossils of all types of coral in the stones as we were walking. The area is just so different from our home area.
We made a great stop for lunch at Juice Paradise Cuban Cafe in Marathon. Everyone eating there was a local on a first name basis with the people at the restaurant. Many of the patrons were local construction workers who come for the generous portions of Cuban food. There were only four folding plastic tables there but a lot of locals get carryout. Mary had a Cuban sandwich that was huge. It had a stack of ham and roast pork with lots of Swiss cheese on freshly baked hoagie bread then grilled. I had the roast Cuban pork with beans and rice on the side. We shared each other's meals as well as some fried sweet plantains. The juice drinks there are all freshly squeezed and were excellent. I had mango and Mary had watermelon. We thought this place was an excellent lunch stop.
We considered stopping at Crane Point State Park but the description sounded like it was mostly nature trails and we had already visited an excellent and well marked trail at Baiha Honda and planned to stop at another in Key Largo so we decided to pass on Crane Point.

In Islamorada we stopped a Anne's Beach which has a nice public beach and a boardwalk along the beach. We found a couple of geocaches there and took a few snapshots before continuing northeast.
At one point, we saw a huge iguana in the middle of US 1 blocking traffic. We had read that iguanas are among the many invasive species that are causing problems here in Southern Florida. Big pythons get a lot of publicity in the Everglades but there are many invasive plants and animals that are causing problems.

Our last stop of the day was at Dagny Johnson Key Largo Hammock State Park. There are nice wide trails that are well marked with signs describing the unique plants of the area. The park is well used by local people for bicycle riding and walking. It is a beautiful park and a good stop along the way.
We drove up Card Sound through Crocodile Lake National Wildlife Refuge. This is one of the few areas where American crocodiles have a breeding population. This is one of the areas that has seen an invasion of non native pythons despite eradication efforts.
We arrived at the Florida City Travelodge around 5 pm and crashed since both of us had tired feet from all the walking. We had a late dinner at Rosita's Mexican Restaurante which was only a couple of blocks from the motel.  Our meals were very good and the service was excellent.  Mary had the flautas with beans and rice.  I wasn't very hungry so I had two pork tamales. We both enjoyed our meals.  



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Touring Key West

We slept in the morning, not arising until 7 am. After a shower and a glance at the tour guide books, we caught the hotel shuttle to the old town area of Key West.
We walked around Duvall Street which is "party central" for Key West. Truthfully, it was like the tourist areas of any beach community. Lots of bars, t-shirt and junk shops. We enjoyed the walk but didn't see much there that really interested us. We thought we may go back in the evening for a drink after dinner.

We walked over to the Southernmost point in the continental US. There were a lot of people there taking photos. Most of the people we have seen here are European tourists or older people from the cruise ships.

At the Hemingway House, we had an excellent young tour guide who knew a great deal about Hemingway, his writing and the cats. This kid knew the names and parentage of all 45 cats at the property! About half of the cats were polydactyl and all seemed to enjoy the life of leisure there. We stayed there a good while and enjoyed the house and grounds.
After leaving the Hemingway House we walked around town more and investigated some of the historic homes and parks. We took a quick walk through Mallory Square and through the area where the cruise ships debark.
We caught the hotel shuttle back to the room and rested our feet for a bit then took the rental car to a nearby Publix grocery store and picked up some fruit and cereal for tomorrow's breakfast. Mary got a snack salad and I got a case of soft drinks for the week.  The the temperatures were already in the mid 80s, we thought that taking a mid-day break would be welcome.
At 5 pm we caught the shuttle to the side of the key near Mallory Square to see the sunset. Like many tourist areas of this sort there were many street performers and pan handlers. We bought some excellent mojitos from a cart on the beach and watched the sun go down. There were a lot of vessels in the area including sailboats, sport fishing charters, sightseeing cruises and military watercraft. The saw the Estonians from the hotel at the waterfront photographing the sunset. They seem nice but just reminded me of Steve Martin and Dan Aykroid doing the Czech Festrunk brothers, Georgl and Yortuk, the "wild and crazy guys".

After watching the sunset, we made our way to the Blue Heaven for dinner. We ate in an open air courtyard that was used for cockfighting at times and Hemingway refereed boxing matches there in the 1930s. Mary had a broiled grouper over linguine with a citrus butter sauce. I had jerk chicken with black beans and rice. Both of us enjoyed our meals. There was a local band playing Caribbean music which added to the atmosphere. After dinner, we walked along Duvall Street and enjoyed the evening. We stopped in Capt. Tony's which is the original Sloppy Joe's in the 1930s when Hemingway lived on the Key. There was a live performer who wasn't all that great. I had the only drink they serve which is Pirate's Punch, pineapple juice with rum. The drink was not exceptional but was refreshing after dinner. The shuttle station was a short walk away so we returned back to our room for the night.

One of the things here that we found most amusing is the number of chickens that seem to run free on the island. Most of the chickens are roosters which seems odd since most people who have chickens eat the roosters while they are still young and allow the hens to mature for egg production. Many farms have only one adult rooster which is adequate for their needs. Here, the roosters have the run of the streets and buildings often mooching food like pigeons.  All of the chickens we saw were small light bodied birds, no doubt owing to their ancestry from the game cocks that were brought to the island for the cockfights that were common here a generation ago.

We enjoyed our day here but really don't think we would want to spend a whole week at Key West. It is pretty much like so many other areas of the kind. We will leave in the morning to make our way back north up the Keys toward the mainland.  We will travel northeast from near the zero mile marker on US 1 for most of the day on Wednesday getting us to our lodging in Florida City.   







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Arrival at Key West

Our flight from Huntington to Ft. Lauderdale was on time and uneventful although I had my usual seat in the crying baby section. I really can't complain because the two small children across the isle from we were very good except for when we were descending toward the airport. Mary did some reading and I listened to some NPR podcasts until we both nodded off. For a $50 flight, we sure can't complain.
There were no problems picking up our checked bag and getting the rental car from Enterprise. We had reserved a Toyota Corolla but got a free upgrade to a Nissan Altima which is a nice car. The drive from Ft. Lauderdale to Key West was nice especially once we got out of the city. As I would drive through the area, Mary would read from the trip guides about the history of the area and what there is to see and do there. We took our time driving down and enjoying the scenery, sunshine and warm weather. The temperature was in the upper 70s the whole trip and there was a nice breeze when we would stop.
We stopped for dinner at a small Greek fishing community on Marathon Key and ate at the Seven Mile Grill which appeared to be a local favorite. The restaurant owner would talk to some of the regular customers in Greek. I made friends with an old drunk guy, Rick, who was enjoying the draft beer there. The dining area was very open air which was nice since the weather was beautiful and the light breeze felt good on the 80 degree evening.  I had the grilled seafood platter that included shrimp, grouper, scallops and a crab cake. A cup of conch chowder on the side was very tasty. Mary had the special of the day which was coconut shrimp. Each shrimp was the size of a flattened tennis ball! We wanted Key Lime Pie but decided to take it to go and have back at the room.
When we got to the Day's Inn we were please to get a free upgrade to a suite which is huge. There is a full kitchen, living room and an enormous bedroom. The motel is older but is really nice. The clerk also gave us passes on the shuttle that goes all over the island which will be great since parking is a problem in many areas that tourists want to visit. Most of the people we have seen here so far are Eastern European and the group in the lobby was from Estonia. We are here before most US tourists arrive in late winter.
While driving the Overseas Highway (US 1) I kept thinking about driving much of US 1 through Maine last October. We traveled from Portland to Whiting on US 1 and while the road was coastal, the scenery couldn't be more different here in the Keys.
The over 120 mile stretch of US 1 called the Oversea Highway is largely built on the rail bed for Flagler's Oversea Railroad from the turn of the previous century. The railroad was largely destroyed by a storm in the 193s but much of the landfill connecting the many tiny islands and keys provides a base for the highway.



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Winter 2013 Trip to Key West and the Everglades

The first trip that will be included in this blog is our winter 2013 visit to Southern Florida.  We will depart our home in Milton, WV on the morning on Monday, January 28 and will return on the afternoon of Monday, February 4.
We were able to secure flights on Allegiant Air for a little over $50 each from Huntington, WV to Ft. Lauderdale, FL.  We are renting a car from Enterprise using a great discount through the Marshall University Alumni Association.
We will drive from Ft. Lauderdale to Key West where we will spend a few days enjoying the scenery and visiting Ernest Hemingway's home and hopefully seeing the famous polydactyl cats.  We also hope to visit Sloppy Joe's Bar, frequented by "Papa" while in the area.
From Key West, we hope to make our way up the Keys stopping at several of the many State Parks and local attractions.  We will spend a few nights in Florida City, FL that will provide us access to highways leading to Everglades National Park.
If possible, we will post a blog entry for each day's activities that include photos as possible.