Gallivanting Grandma

Monday – April 25, 2011

We left Sarasota, Florida fairly early and drove toward Route 75 by about 9:30 in the morning.  We wanted to avoid driving into the cities of Tampa and St. Petersburg, because we wanted to make better progress driving north.  After we were well north of the cities, we drove west on Route 52 toward the Gulf of Mexico.  When we almost reached the beaches, we turned north onto Route 19.

It was a work day and Easter Monday, so there was very little traffic.  It is amazing how many fast-food chain restaurants we have passed on this trip.  I can understand why Europeans are appalled when they visit the U.S.  I guess Americans eat a lot of greasy hamburgers!  The other business which must be prospering is the pawn business.  We can’t believe the quantity of pawn shops we have seen everywhere on this trip.

Fast-Food Restaurants & Ugly Signs

One tourist attraction which we didn’t stop to see was in Weeki Wachee, Florida.  This is the famous “Mermaid Show”.  Apparently, young women perform underwater wearing mermaid costumes and put on an “interesting” show.  They carry breathing tubes with them and gracefully make it look like they’re breathing underwater.  Oh well, maybe next time….

Northern Florida Farm Country

We drove for a couple of hours then decided to stop for lunch at the coastal town of Homosassa.  The road toward the water was lined with trees dripping with Spanish Moss.  It was a cool, dark and interesting road.  About a half mile down there was an interesting structure.  It was the remains of a sugar mill from the mid 1800s.

The Old Sugar Mill

The plaques around the stone mill explained that the region had been known for its sugar cane production.  The mill was used to squeeze out the sugar from the cane.  We took some photographs and then continued down the road.

The Other Side of the Mill with Iron Caldrons

At the end there were several buildings which housed tourist boats for hire.  There was also a hotel and restaurant on the water.  We decided to have lunch at the Riverside Crab House.  I had read about the restaurant and wanted to go there, not for their crab, but for its proximity to Monkey Island.

Riverside Crab House

There is a small island located about 50 feet from the restaurant which is inhabited by five squirrel monkeys.  People in the restaurant can watch the monkeys while eating their lunches or dinners.

Monkey Island

We continued north on Route 19 through rural Florida.  There wasn’t much traffic and we passed citrus orchards, strawberry fields, and other agricultural farms.  The terrain is flat and the soil is sandy.  The temperature was 86 degrees, hot and humid.  It is amazing that anything can grow here.

On the Way to Georgia

We continued east on Route 129 and finally got on Route 75 again.  It was a long driving day through northern Florida and we finally crossed the Georgia border.  We stopped at the Welcome Center for a map of Georgia and continued one exit to Valdosta.

A True ‘Blue Highway’

We drove to the Hampton Inn just off the highway and checked in.  The architecture of this hotel was different than any of the others.  There was a large three-story opening in the center of the building with the halls, leading to the rooms, overlooking the breakfast area.

The Front Porch

After we found our room, we returned outside to have dinner at the Family House Restaurant.  This was a local Mom & Pop type eatery which served “home made” southern food.  On the menu were such delectables as grilled or fried catfish, grits anyway, biscuits with sausage gravy, hush puppies, fried corn bread, southern fried chicken, etcetera, etcetera.

Interior of the Farm House Restaurant

I had Southern chicken ‘n’ dumplings with fried okra & green beans.  Jeff had another Southern favorite: chicken fried steak and mashed potatoes with gravy and corn.  It was an interesting place and the food was very tasty!  It had been a long driving day.  We saw many new and interesting places today.

Sunday – April 24, 2011

When we drove across the Everglades yesterday and arrived in Naples Florida, we both were pleasantly surprised.  Naples looked like a prosperous, elegant, and pleasant place to live.  Route 41 was a wide boulevard with a lovely center island blooming with lovely flowers and palm trees.  The Everglades were wilderness wetlands and, in contrast, Naples seemed like a refined and gentile city.

Causeway Toll Booth to Sanibel Island

We were on the road by nine o’clock in the morning.  We drove around a little to see more of Naples and discovered beautiful houses along the Gulf of Mexico.  Each street dead-ended at the beach and provided public access and a few public parking spaces.

The Causeway to Sanibel & Captiva Islands

We continued on Rt. 41 north then turned west on Bonita Beach Road.  The road continued to Estero Blvd. and across the western barrier island of Fort Myers Beach.  Our goal was to to see Sanibel Island and Captiva.  We took the narrow bridge across San Carlos Bay.  It was Easter Sunday and families had already gathered along the beach of the Sanibel Causeway. They had claimed their territory; set out the grills and picnic gear, turned on the music, and gathered to enjoy the day.

Typical Road on Sanibel

Once we were on the island, we drove east to see the Sanibel Lighthouse.  We passed several resorts and condominium units along the narrow road.  The speed limit is 20 or 25 MPH, so everyone moved in slow-motion.  The lighthouse looked like a large rusty pipe surrounded by scaffolding with a light on the top.

Sanibel Lighthouse

Then we drove north and west along the main driving road.  We had to share the road with many bicyclists and it was a tedious drive.  The island seemed like a comfortable and pleasant place to live; it reminded me of the expression: “dressy casual”.  The houses were relatively modest, but very nice, and probably cost a fortune.

We drove to the end of Captiva and turned around.  It was sunny and hot and we were thirsty, so we stopped at a general store to purchase cold drinks.  We finally drove off the islands and noticed that there were more picnicking families along the causeway.  Loud music blared and the scene was very different from Sanibel and Captiva.

Sanibel Island Houses from the Causeway

We continued to drive north along Route 41, but felt that we were moving too slowly.  We decided to make up some time by hopping on the fast Route 75.  I drove for a couple of hours on the 65 mph highway.  It was a tiring drive because the other drivers were driving much faster than my 68 mph and it took a lot of concentration to drive that fast on a two-lane highway, parts of which were under construction.

The Tibbals Learning Center

We got off Route 75 at one of the Sarasota exits and drove towards the Gulf.  We drove through some nice neighborhoods and ended at the John & Mable Ringling Museum of Art.  It was about 3:00 o’clock and we didn’t have time to see all of the museum.  The woman who sold us the tickets made some recommendations of what to see with limited time.

Side-Show Miniatures

We first went to the new exhibit of The Circus Miniature – Tibbals Learning Center.  This is a 3800 square-foot replica of The Ringling Brothers, Barnum & Bailey Circus before 1958 when it was a traveling circus.

A man named Howard Tibbals made all the miniature figures during the last 50 years.  The Ringling Museum built an addition to their Circus Museum to house the collection.  It was an amazing display!!

The Howard Circus Big Top

There were few people at the museum today.  We walked to the other end of the circus museum to see the collection of circus memorabilia.

There were wagons, costumes, posters, and other circus artefacts.  There was a woodcarving workshop and a displays of circus memorabilia.  One display had Emmitt Kelly’s costume and props.  We took several photographs and continued to John & Mabel Ringling’s beautiful house on the Gulf.

A Circus Wagon

The interior and exterior of the house was impressive.  It was located directly on the water with a spectacular view of the bay.  The architecture is called Venetian Gothic and it is actually a palace.  In Venetian style, the name of the house is: Ca’ D’Zan or House of John.

The Garden View of Ca’ D’Zan

The interior was decorated in a heavy European style which was the fashion in the 1920s when the Ringlings used the house during the winters.

The Main Living Space with Balcony

We didn’t purchase the “guided tour” so we could not see the upstairs rooms.  We had the “self-guided” general admission.  It was fine because we could take as many photos as we wanted and there was a lot to photograph downstairs.

John Ringling’s French Desk

The Ringlings used the house mainly for entertaining and it seemed like a perfect house to entertain guests and have a good time!

It started to rain when we left the Circus Museum and ended in a heavy downpour.  We had not had rain for many weeks and it was good to experience it again.  At the end of the storm a beautiful, almost total rainbow filled the sky.  If you look closely to the photo, you can see the beginnings of a second arch above to the left of the main rainbow.  Double lucky?!

Lucky Rainbow

We found yet another Hampton Inn near the highway and later we had a surprisingly good dinner at a seafood chain nearby called the Bonefish Grill.  It was a good day.  The day was filled with many interesting sights and good memories.

Saturday – April 23, 2011

Key West was a lot of fun and we decided that we would like to return during the winter when the weather is cooler and NOT during a holiday weekend.  We didn’t have a reservation for tonight and didn’t want to pay an exorbitant rate for a room to sleep in, so we decided to leave The Keys.

View From the Overseas Highway

We checked out and drove north along the dual lane Overseas Highway.  Traffic was heavy in both directions.  Southbound traffic was heavier with people driving to Key West for the Easter Weekend.  The speed-limit drops to 35 MPH frequently and many people sight-see along the highway and drive slowly.  Again it took almost three hours to drive off The Keys.

Traffic Going Onto The Keys

We were planning to drive north on the western side of Florida and eventually reach home.  It was about 12:30 (lunchtime) when we reached Florida City/Homestead.  We stopped at the same Cracker Barrel that we had stopped at when we arrived at The Keys.  After lunch we found Route 997, but it was so slow that we abandoned it and drove north on the toll-road Route 75, which runs along western Miami.

The Everglades Parkway

After a short time, we turned west onto Routes 41/90 and crossed the famous swamp known as the Everglades.  Further north Route 75 also runs east and west across the Everglades.  Rt. 75 is the most popular road with an assortment of colorful names such as: Tamiami Trail, the Everglades Parkway, and Alligator Alley.

We wanted to cross the Everglades on the lesser-known road, Route 41, also called The East Tamiami Trail.  In the beginning of the road, we wondered if we had made the right choice, because it was narrow and followed a deep canal.  This road was built in 1928 is about 264 miles long.  On the left there were commercial air-boat companies selling rides in the Everglades.

Flat Part of the Everglades

Most of this part of this huge wetlands was flat and uninteresting.  Later there were larger trees and plants along the two-lane road.  We also passed several Indian villages on both sides of the road.  The most fun was seeing signs warning drivers of “Panther Crossing” and “Alligator Crossing”.

Native American Village

It took us almost two hours to cross the Everglades and drive into the beautiful city of Naples, Florida.  It was early evening, the sun was setting, and the broad streets were empty because it was the day before Easter.  While I drove through the Everglades, Jeff consulted his iPhone to look for a hotel in town.  We have had such good luck with the Hampton Inns that we decided to continue to use them.  He found a Hampton Inn directly on Route 41 in Naples.

The Gulf of Mexico

We had been driving in the car all day and were were “car-tired”, but our goal today was to see the Gulf of Mexico and the west coast of Florida.  We drove to the beach and found a beautiful calm coast.  Then to take a break!  Again the Hampton Inn came through for us: very clean, modern, free internet, free parking, free breakfast, nice people, large room with sitting area, and all for $89.00 per night.  We were happy!

Houses Along the Gulf

We rested for a while then we drove out into Naples, Florida to have dinner.  The iPhones are ideal to find a hotel or a restaurant.  All we do is open the Maps App to the place that we’re going and type in what we want, for example: “restaurants”.  Then the map lists all the local restaurants in one click!

Looking South Along the Gulf

Jeff found a well established restaurant named Kelly’s Fish House Dining Room down by the harbor.  Their card advertises, “Serving Sealicious Seafood Since 1952 – Stone Crabs: October 15 thru May 15”.  The Fish House was located right on the water with commercial fishing boats down a row of old wooden buildings.

Fish House Restaurant

I had never eaten stone crabs, but I love Maryland crabs, and the stone crabs were in season.  They are thick crabs with black points on the ends of their claws.  I couldn’t miss the opportunity, so I had “sealicious” stone crabs, as they were listed on the menu.  They were very fresh and delicious!  Jeff had yummy fresh fried shrimp.  You can’t beat fresh seafood!

Friday, April 22, 2011

We checked out of the hotel in Key Largo relatively early and drove south on the Overseas Highway to Key West.  We had a reservation for one of the last rooms at a Marriott on the edge of the city.  It was Easter Weekend and there were very few decent hotel rooms available at reasonable rates.  The drive in brilliant sunshine between Key Largo and Key West took two and a half hours.  The water on both sides of the highway was multi-colored green and blue.  It was a beautiful “summer” day!  It was hard to believe that it was only April!

The Beach Behind the Hotel

The Marriott Hotel had a similar lay-out to the Hotel in Key Largo, but the lobby was more modern and we had a direct entrance to the back walkway to the bay. There was a beautiful view of the water across the parking lot from our first-floor room, but it too smelled musty.  Oh well, last minute holiday reservations; live and learn.  It was just a clean place to sleep.  I have to remember second floors in tropical places.

Traditional Key West Architecture

We drove to the center of the historic district near the harbor and found a parking lot for the car.  We noticed that there were several places for cars and a wide range of fees.  We wanted to explore Duval Street, so we walked in that direction.

Interesting Antique Shop

The streets have girl’s names like Elizabeth, Caroline, Margaret, etc. and I wondered who they were named for.  The names of the streets were written vertically on cement posts on some corners, so relying on street signs was difficult.  Many streets didn’t have names written on the poles and some streets didn’t have poles, so visitors really had to rely on landmarks or memorize their locations.

Key Lime Pie Shop

First we went to the famous monument which looks like a multi-colored buoy, marking the southern most point in the continental United States.  Groups of people were lined up waiting their turns to take their own photos with the monument.  It was cute the way people would ask the people behind them to take a group shot of their families.  The line was long, so I took a quick photo of the marker alone between families.

Southern-Most Point in the United States

Down the street from the monument is the Southern-Most Hotel in the U.S. near the Southern-Most Public Beach, across the street from the Southern-Most House, etc.  You get the idea….  Further south down the street, I noticed a plaque on the wall of another house which read: The Southern-Most Southern House in the United States.

The Southern-Most House in the U.S.

I wanted to see Ernest Hemingway’s house which I had read was nearby.  We walked down Duval Street away from the touristy harbor.  It was lunch time and we stopped by a small sandwich shop called the Six-Toed Cat.  It had interesting paintings of cats on the walls and excellent limeade.  Although the restaurant had tables outside, we ate in the cool of the air conditioned room.  Outside, it was about 87 degrees, humid, and away from the water there was no breeze.

The Six-Toed Cat Cafe

Hemingway’s house is just down the street.  It has a brick wall surrounding the house and grounds.  We paid the admission fee of $12.50 each and walked up the stairs and were greeted by an older Southern gentleman who wore a seaman’s cap, bright patterned Hawaiian shirt and shorts.  He directed us to the parlor and said the tour would begin in four minutes.

Ernest Hemingway’s House

I don’t know why or how, but I was an Ernest Hemingway fan in high school.  I had read several of his books, and enjoyed reading the book and Spencer Tracy’s portrayal in the movie, The Old Man and The Sea.  It was an incongruent match for a young, naive New York City high-school girl and the hard-drinking, hunting, deep-sea fishing outdoorsman.  Nonetheless, I thought it would be interesting to visit his house.

Hemingway’s Dining Room

The Southern greeter conducted the tour and told our small group many amusing stories about Hemingway’s life and loves.  There are 44 six-toed cats living on the grounds which are descended from Hemingway’s cat named Snowball.  As visitors walk around the beautiful tropical grounds, there are cats sleeping everywhere!  It was an interesting tour and our guide was a good story-teller.  His deep Missouri drawl and pauses, enhanced each tale.  The visitors all had a good laugh when he pulled a small flask out of his pocket during the tour and drank a toast to the old Cuban fisherman who was the inspiration for Hemingway’s book, The Old Man and the Sea.

Hemingway’s Study

We learned that “Ernest Hemingway worked every morning for four hours or 700 words, which ever came first”, then went fishing in the afternoon, and ended every day in Sloppy Joe’s Bar in town.  We saw Hemingway’s library/study on the second floor of a guest house, where he wrote nine of his most famous books.  We were told that there had been a “cat walk” over the garden, between the study and his second-floor bedroom, which Hemingway walked across every day to write.  (This entry, to this point is about 700 words.  It doesn’t seem like much!)

One of the 44 Six-Toed Cats

Jeff had read about several of the famous (and infamous) bars and wanted to visit them, so we walked back up Duval Street.  We peeked into all the best-known watering holes: Sloppy Joe’s, Hog’s Breath Saloon, Rick’s Bar, and Captain Tony’s Saloon.

Local Entertainment

Yes, all the bars were full of noisy people on this Friday afternoon at 3:30.  Live music pulsated out onto the sidewalks.  Bars line both sides of Duval and the side streets for many blocks.  We decided that Key West must be a wild place at night!

Duval Street with Tourists

I wanted to buy a couple of tee-shirts at the Hog’s Breath so we walked through the saloon to the shop at the rear.  Afterward, we were getting tired from walking and the heat and we found a relatively quiet place that sold soft drinks.  We sat in the shade and sipped our Cokes and felt a bit refreshed.  Then we walked back to the car along a street near the harbor where it was a little cooler.

We drove back to the hotel to rest and take showers to cool off.  A couple of hours later we hopped on the hotel shuttle which took us to the center of Key West.  This was a nice perk of our hotel.  The hot sun was setting and it was a lot cooler.  We checked out the action on the boardwalk.  Lots of people and lots of noise and lots of music.

Boat Rentals on the Docks

We had planned to eat dinner at the Conch Republic, but Jeff had read good reviews about a restaurant called Pepe’s Cafe on Caroline Street.  We walked past the old colorful BO’s Fish Wagon and walked into Pepe’s.  The atmosphere is cozy and we both had really good dinners of steak and fresh grouper.  Pepe’s bills itself as the “Eldest Eating House in the Florida Keys”.

Pepe’s Cafe

We walked back to the boardwalk and looked at the harbor at night and waited for the shuttle back to the hotel.  It had been a full day and we were very tired.  Key West is really a “happening place” and a lot of fun to visit!

Thursday, April 21, 2011

We checked out of the Marriott Residence Inn in Delray Beach about 10 o’clock.  It was a beautiful bright sunny day.  The temperature was already 83 degrees with a nice breeze blowing off the ocean.  We drove west along Atlantic Avenue for our final cruise up the avenue.  I mentally said goodbye to Atlantic Avenue and Delray Beach and I hope to return soon.

Delray Beach Looking South

We drove to Route 95 and aimed the car south.  We whizzed by Hillsdale, Fort Lauderdale, Pompano Beach, Hollywood, and Miami at 65 miles per hour.  It was interesting to see the tall buildings of the city of Miami in the distance.  We came to the end of the highway and drove through a residential neighborhood before Interstate 95 ended and became Route 1.

The traffic was heavy as we approached a sign which warned us that there was a dollar toll ahead.  I was driving so Jeff prepared the toll money.  We passed signs for a Sun Pass or “Plate Photos”.  After toll booths didn’t appear, we realized that overhead cameras took photographs of my license plate and I would receive a bill for the toll plus “administration fees” sometime in the future!

We passed through five similar toll booths which took photos of my car’s license plate. Will they all have additional fees added to the 75 cent or one dollar tolls we wondered?  And how much??  Bummer!  I’ll find out soon…

We continued on Route 1 southbound to Florida City, the last city on the mainland.  It was about 12:30 and we decided to stop for lunch at a Cracker Barrel, then continue on to Key Largo.  We had made a reservation at the Hampton Inn there and drove south on the Overseas Highway/Route 1 to find it.

After we checked in, we explored the hotel.  The exterior of the building was ordinary, but the lobby and breakfast area were very nicely decorated.  Our room was on the first floor with a private patio near the parking lot.  The hotel resembled an old fashioned motel.  Although the room was nicely decorated in a tropical motif, there was a musty smell in the room.  Thank goodness for air conditioning!  Perhaps rooms on the second floor were better, but we could not change because it was Easter weekend and rooms on The Keys were at a premium.

We walked down to the water and the shore was amazing!  The bay was directly in front of the hotel.  The water glistened a wonderful shade of sea green.  There was a short sandy beach with lounge chairs and tropical plantings.  There was a pool behind the beach, along a narrow canal.

I overheard a woman telling her young sons who were swimming that manatees had been sighted nearby and to be on the lookout.  The grounds had beautiful tropical plants and trees. Small geckos scurried across the walkways.  What a beautiful place!  It would be a nice beach to relax and do nothing.

We wanted to see the rest of The Keys, so we left our luggage at the hotel and continued south on Route 1.  Believe it or not, it took us three hours to reach Key West!  The distance was about a 100 miles, but there was a lot of holiday traffic and the speed limit ranged between 35 mph to 55 mph.  Just to keep everyone honest, there were many police radar-traps along the road.

The Overseas Highway is an amazing feat of civil engineering.  We had learned in St. Augustine that the road had been built over Henry Flagler’s railroad tracks after a severe hurricane had destroyed parts of the track.  Now driving on the highway, we could appreciate Flagler’s contribution to South Florida.

The highway essentially connects several of the islands in the archipelago at the end of the Florida Everglades.  The islands were formed from fossilized coral and sand bars.  Bridges connect the islands and the longest bridge is appropriately called The New Seven Mile Bridge.  All the islands are inhabited and have colorful names like: Islamorada, Plantation Key, Tavernier, Upper and Lower Matecumbe Key, Long Key, Conch Key, Duck Key, Grass Key, Ramrod, Cudjoe, and Bahia Honda.

The city of Key West is a well populated town with a Naval Air base.  It’s nickname is the “Conch Republic” and it is the southern most city of the continental United States.  According to Wikipedia, Key West has a population of about 26,000 in less than six square miles.

We arrived at the end of Route 1 and luckily found a parking garage for the car.  It was about 5:00 o’clock, and we still had a couple of hours of daylight to explore Key West.  Now we were sorry that we had not made reservations to stay here, because we had to drive back to the hotel tonight and we felt it was getting late.

We walked to the shore to see the harbor.  There were many private yachts and many head-boats for hire.  There were serious fishing boats, sail boats, catamarans, you-name-it boats!  We walked along the famous board walk along the shore.  There were boats on our right and bars on our left with lots of people, noise, and music.

As the sun set, there was a breeze and the air cooled off a little.  We sat in one of the bars for a cold non-alcoholic drink and watched the crowd. Then walked around some more.

Key West was definitely a happening place!  There were lots of people, lots of activity, lots of noise, lots of music!  We drove back to Key Largo in the dark and planned our return to Key West the next day.