Miami Beach

Posted on March 11, 2014 by WendyA

If Key West was a frat party then Miami Beach was a frat party on steroids.

But, once again, looking past the surface of excessive drinks, excessive posturing (*now* I know what a muscle beach is!) and excessive, well, excessiveness, Miami Beach was pretty interesting.

First, of course, there was the Art Deco buildings. Art Deco first appeared in France after World War 1 but flourished in Miami Beach in the 30s and 40s. It is characterized by the “eyebrows” above the windows which create shade, by the decorative motifs which merely suggest the original (see the column shapes and suggested waterfalls in the decoration) and by the symmetrical and rectangular shapes which reflected the machine or industrial age.

Main strip along the beach

The Carlyle, used in the move The Birdcage

The Leslie, note the suggested columns, which were also used in other buildings since the three main architects shared casting materials.

Eyebrows on the building, providing shade from the hot sun.

Decorative faux waterfall

This whole district is preserved as a heritage area. Over 1,200 buildings. Of note, new buildings are to be built reminiscent of art deco style. So, they don’t have to copy it, but must reference it. This picture shows an original art deco building on the left, with a new building (built in this century) on the right. You can see the marine influence in the building on the right. It looks like the front of a ship and has round porthole shapes in the design.

Not sure I think the outside of the buildings are very beautiful but certainly the inside art deco furnishing and decor were amazing. From the ceiling decorations to the lampshades and terrazzo tiles, I found the simplicity and symmetry very appealing.

And then, there was the beach. Always my favourite part of any trip.

Hemingway House

Posted on March 8, 2014 by WendyA

It’s hot in Key West in February.

The kind of heat that requires sightseeing in the morning, bobbing around the pool or ocean in the afternoon. Followed by an afternoon siesta and a long shower before a late dinner. We sensibly followed this hot weather schedule.

So, one morning we headed over to Hemingway House.

Disclaimer – I did not take this picture. For some reason (likely because we were in a big line behind a stone wall) I missed taking a photo of the house!

Ernest Hemingway lived here from 1931 to 1939 with his second of four wives, Pauline. He wrote in the mornings, fished in the afternoons and drank in the evenings. Hmm, replace writing with sight-seeing and we may have been following a Hemingway schedule!

The house was originally built in 1851 by Asa Tift, a marine architect and salvage wrecker, in a Spanish colonial estate style, I always think of Hemingway as an old bearded guy, but he was young when he lived here. He wrote many of his most famous stories here, including To Have and Have Not and Snows of Kilimanjaro. Not Old Man and the Sea, though. He wrote that at his next home, in Cuba.

The home is also the domain of several dozen cats, many of them six-toed, descendents of the original six-toed cat on the property named Snowball. Hemingway had rescued an old urinal from a bar, which horrified Pauline, but the gardener came to the rescue and made it into a nice fountain and drinking place for the cats.

The cats seem pretty used to tourists and posed graciously for pictures. This first one is called Duke Ellington. Not sure what the one on the table was called.

Our guide suggested that the urinal / feline drinking fountain was payback to Pauline, who had spent $20,000 (equivalent in 2013 to $330,000) to have a pool built for Hemingway while he was away at the Spanish Civil War. When Hemingway returned, he was reportedly unpleasantly surprised by the cost, and exclaimed: “Well, you might as well have my last cent.” This penny is embedded in concrete today near the pool.

The bedroom included this chair, which was Hemingway’s favourite travel chair. It folds up and had handles, perfect for him to take to the bull fights and other places. Actually a Spanish birthing chair, our guide reported that it caused much laughter amongst the Spanish bull-fight fans when Hemingway showed up with it. It came with a matching midwife’s chair.

The grounds around the house were quite pretty and the house has fairly large rooms for its time. The house was one of the first on the island to be fitted with indoor plumbing, and the first on the island to have an upstairs bathroom with running water, fed from a rain cistern on the roof.

Apparently, when Pauline arrived she was appalled at the tacky ceiling fans and had them all removed and replaced with chandeliers. Not sure the guides who show the throngs of visitors through the place appreciated the lack of air and extra heat! But, since a lot of them were Murano glass, I enjoyed them!

Lastly, a shot of the lovely brickwork. A bit of Baltimore and my pretty vacation toes.

Key West

Posted on March 6, 2014 by WendyA

What can I say about Key West? It was, uh, interesting.

On the surface, kind of like a giant frat party. Muscley guys, bikini-clad girls, lots of drinking, shirt with dumb sayings, people driving up and down the main strip with their bass booming away, pretty much my idea of what to avoid.

But, look a little deeper (or to the side) and there were pretty houses, lots of art stores, lovely restaurants and fun stuff to do out on the water. And, a wider diversity of people, lots of snowbirds (aka older people avoiding winter elsewhere in North America), families with young kids and us!

I love warm weather architecture. Lots of deep porches, pretty house trimmings and white and pastel colours.

Two boat trips were called for. One to see dolphins and to go snorkelling. Our guides thought the water was a bit cold. As a Canadian, I thought is was a lovely temperature!!

And, my favourite part of the trip, a perfect evening on a sail boat. We watched the sunset as our hosts took us through eight wine tastings with paired snacks.

A few more shots to end the tour of Key West. Next post … Hemingway House.

The Everglades

Posted on March 4, 2014 by WendyA

For a break from the grey, Vancouver rain, I escaped to southern Florida for some sun and warmth.

First stop … the Everglades. We stayed at a B&B that used to be the old bank. Our room was called the Credit Department and it was a bit like sleeping on a bed in someone’s old office. Probably because that’s exactly what it was! But, it was comfy and air-conditioned. And, better the credit department than the loan department!

The Everglades is a tropical wetland, with lots and lots of mangrove islands. We did a boat tour into the mangrove islands and I asked our intrepid pilot how old the islands were. He answered, “that’s a political question, like climate change”. No, no it’s not. It’s a science question. The answer is not 6,000 years. Human habitation in the islands goes back at least 15,000 years. I was very proud of myself that my head didn’t explode. Must have been the vacation spirit. (or spirits?)

Three trips out into the islands – a large boat, the small mangrove swamp trip and a rented canoe – made for some lovely time in nature. And, some great photos …

And, of course, we saw alligators!

We were smiling as we left, too.

Wordless Wednesday – Miami Beach Breakfast

Posted on February 26, 2014 by WendyA

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Sailing Away

Posted on November 24, 2013 by WendyA

Sometimes, you just need to sail away for a few days.

I am incredibly lucky to live in a place where I can do that. And, I am even luckier to have good friends to sail away with.

There was a long run on my favourite running routes.

There was lots of wildlife.

There was one of my favourite beaches.

And, there were good friends.

And, then, on the ferry on the way home, there were two orcas. A momma and a baby.

I just don’t think it gets better than that.

Tofino

Posted on September 1, 2013 by WendyA

Sometimes, I forget how lucky I am.

In July, I spent a week in Tofino with my sister and brother-in-law and my niece and nephew who travelled across Canada to spend time with me. Lots of the pictures from the last month have been from that week. Looking back through them, I realize how lucky I am to live so close to such an amazing place. And, to have family that I love spending time with.

Tofino is located on the west coast of the West Coast of Canada in Clayoquot Sound. That is, the west coast of Vancouver Island. From Vancouver, you take a ferry across to the Island, then drive all the way across the island til you get to the Hesquiaht Peninsula and travel to the end on the only road. There you will find Tofino.

Incredible long beaches with big waves that roll in off the Pacific ocean just ready to be surfed. Huge cedar trees, hundreds of years old and some over a thousand. Incredible marine and terrestrial wildlife – whales and seals and sea lions and eagles and bears and wolves. Oh my!!

Tofino’s economy is based on eco-tourism. Surfing, kayaking, whale-watching, hiking, sailing, bird-watching. Storm-watching in the winter. They’ve got it all. A wide range of artists and artisans and First Nations culture.

The other economic staple of the region is forestry and logging. In the summer of 1993, environmentalists and First Nations groups spear-headed a large, mostly peaceful protest against the intended logging of old-growth forest. Dubbed The War in the Woods, over 800 people were arrested in Canada’s largest incident of civil disobedience. Due largely to these protests, which gained world-wide attention, and a Greenpeace-initiated boycott of BC forest products, an agreement was reached between environmental groups, First Nations groups, the Provincial Government and MacMillan Bloedel, the logging company. There has been mostly peace in the woods since then.

For us, the week consisted of surfing, sea kayaking, whale-watching, kite-flying, long walks and bike rides along the beach, great food, a trip to the local aquarium, lots of photography and art, and a crazy game app called Space Team, where we all had to try to work together to fly a space ship. It mostly resulted in us yelling crazy instructions to each other as the ship eventually crashed into oblivion. If we ever get invaded by aliens, don’t rely on us to hijack and fly the alien ship!

It was a great week. The kids are teenagers now so they finally sleep in (yay!) and they both now like sushi (double yay!). And, my sister and I had lots of time for long talks, as opposed to our regular, cross time zone text-chatting.

People come long way from all over the world to visit Tofino – UK, Germany, France, Australia and New Zealand, China and Japan. And, here it is right in my own backyard.

Yup, sometimes I forget just how lucky I really am. May I never take my many blessings for granted.