March 19, 2011 Palm Beach is really something…

We resolve our TomTom vs. Garman contest when we find Radio Shack wants a 15% restocking fee It has been a tough competition with each GPS, same price-point, having unique strengths and deficiencies, but we had to make a decision while we still could, so today we return the TomTom without challenge to Costco. Thank you again, Costco.

Leaving Costco in beautiful weather, we drive to Palm Beach and visit the Flagler Museum and the Breakers hotel.

This is the same Henry Flagler we talked about in our St. Augustine posts, relatively unknown to us but one of the founding partners in Standard Oil.

In his fifties, his interests moved from Standard Oil to developing Florida. By 1912 Flagler had connected Jacksonville in the north with Key West in the south by railway, an impressive engineering and construction accomplishment, particularly along the southern keys. The railway and seven luxury hotels he built along the route drove the modern Florida economy, one based on agriculture, tourism, and real estate development.

Grand Hall, at 5000 square feet, much larger than our home.

Marble lacework similar to one see in St. Johns Newfoundland last year.

I wonder which one is Henry.

A nice use of aluminum in the mansion.

Flagler’s first wife died naturally. His second wife (the first wife’s nurse) became delusional and was hospitalized and was eventually divorced by Henry, although he provided for her maintenance until her death. In 1902, he built Whitewall, a 75-room mansion in Palm Beach, as a gift for his 3rd wife, 37 years his junior. They used it “several weeks a year”. It is now the Flagler Museum, and we paid an expensive $18/each for a very good audio tour. As Marcia observed, our entire house would fit easily into Flagler’s 5000 square-foot Grand Hall. (But our bed in our master bedroom is bigger than his.)

But everything in Palm Beach is expensive, and grand. Afterwards we dashed to The Breakers, an immense Flagler luxury hotel project. The grounds and building are beautiful and the people are truly not like you and me, or at least not like me. Young, beautiful, 99% white, many accents, money everywhere. As we walked in the front door a Ferrari is idling in the drive, and a Ferrari idling does not sound like a Nissan Murano idling.

March 19, 2011 We got trouble…

Bad luck struck again on this caravan – Ben slipped in a Flying J and ended up in the emergency room getting 18 stitches – beating SueB’s 8 stitches by a margin nobody will dare challenge. Way to go, Ben. And today it is his birthday, so naturally we sing a round of Happy Birthday for him.

His wife Marcia – not my Marcia, his Marcia – is one of the caravaners that came down with the ship-flu, or whatever it is. She is doing better and Ben seems positively chipper, the two of them enjoying tonight’s very good dinner at the Seminole Inn with the rest of the group.

(See the post for March 14-17 “Umatiilla, Umatilla" for more about bad things happening to good people. I’ve updated it with something I forgot: Gracie, our co-leader, fell and cracked a bone the day prior to the start of this caravan and is on crutches for the duration.)

March 19, 2011 “Good morning, this is Gracie…”

We’ve had a problem adjusting to the time change.  Normally I’m up at 7 AM, but now it is still dark at 7AM.  So for several days I’ve been waking to the cheerful voice of our caravan leader saying, “Good morning, this is Gracie…”

This wake-up call comes from a very old technology.  We find it handy to have a CB radio both in our truck and in the trailer.  The truck CB of course is for communicating with our caravan mates on the road.  The trailer CB is less critical but is great for communications within the camp.  Many leaders like to hold drivers meetings by CB if the weather is bad – nobody need get wet.

Al and Gracie like to give 8:00 AM and 9:00 PM schedule updates and reminders by CB.  We leave the trailer CB on 24 hours a day, tuned so we don’t hear truckers; otherwise we will forget to turn it on and miss the updates.

So previously we were up and around by the time of her 8:00 AM broadcast; lately we have been half-asleep when she comes on the air.  And good morning to you, too, Gracie.

I’ll miss that pleasant morning wake-up.

March 14 - 17, 2011 Umatilla, Umatilla, Umatilla, Um—-Uh, oh.

Florida is beautiful and comfortable this time of year and we have a wonderful drive to our new location of Umatilla, and the Olde Mill Stream RV Park.

This is a good-sized park with most of the spots owned by snowbirds. It faces on a large lake and the county has many other lakes also surrounded by green grass. Our park used to be orange groves but after several hard freezes in the 1980s the owner decided to turn it into a campground.

We “follow the yellow line” to the rally corner, which turns out to be excellent for our purposes, although we will have to use dump stations as this area does not have sewer connections. What it does have is a large meeting and kitchen area – perfect because tonight we are having one of the few group meals the caravaners prepare, and it is our turn to do the work (along with three other couples). Marcia does her great lemon chicken and Elain does her famous jello salad and all the caravaners go home happy and full.

March 14 - 15, 2011 Going to the birds…

This has not been an event-free caravan.

Gracie, our co-leader, fell and cracked a bone the day prior to the start of this caravan and is on crutches for the duration. She hopes to be off crutches for their Newfoundland caravan this summer, the final of their illustrious post-career lives as unpaid caravan developers and leaders for WBCCI.

Then Deanna found she could not get over an infection and she and Tom decided they needed to go home. Her situation wasn’t made any easier by having to monitor the insulin levels of their diabetic dog Rocky, including administering daily shots.

Then Al and Pat had a minor collision with Dave and Sue’s motor home, breaking two trailer windows and the rearview mirror on the motor home. These windows are safety glass so when a one breaks you are left with lots of broken glass and a large opening. They were unable to replace the windows on the road and drove with plastic bags duck-taped to the openings.

Ken became sick on the cruise, and soon after others from the cruise began coming down with congestive problems and fevers. Then non-cruise people also became ill.

Al and Pat became ill. Then, I’m not clear how; Al and Pat lost a third trailer window. They decided to drop out of the caravan.

While driving to Umatilla Frank head a small noise that he dismissed but on arrival discovered bird-strikes are a problem even if you are not an airplane. This one left a calling card – a brown feather, possibly from a turkey, stuck in the a seam of the now-dented front end of Frank’s trailer. The dent is deep enough to have distorted the ceiling inside, but duck-tape should hold things until the end of the trip.

Then Herbert, a school superintendent in his working years, and his wife VJ dropped out unable to get over their flu. They were followed by Howard and Heather deciding they could not get better on the caravan.

Elain, Marcia and Maryann in Mount Dora.

John, Cam, and Tom in front of the Lakeside Inn.

The porch of the Lakeside Inn--seconds to disaster.

That evening, the Two-Sues reaffirm their friendship.

On our second day in Umatilla we go to the nearby resort community of Mount Dora (maximum elevation: 183 feet).

As we enter the old Lakeside Inn for a group lunch SueW slips on the steps and falls backward, her camera flying from her hand and striking SueB on the forehead. Two people down. SueW (she also had the rearview mirror problem) is sore and scrapped but otherwise fine (and her mirror has been repaired). SueB’s cut bleeds profusely and the Inn calls 9-1-1. She later gets 8 stitches but is doing fine. While administering to the two Sues we realize Kathy is now down; she seems OK but has not recovered from the ship-flu and apparently experienced a low blood pressure situation while seeing the Two-Sues Disaster. (We think the venerable Lakeside Inn, which has hosted at least three presidents in its time, at this point is glad to have our group move on. Not good for business with three people down and paramedics at the door.  We notice they charge the caravan for the lunches the Two-Sues never get to eat.)

Marcia and I are doing just fine.

March 16, 2011   We check out the Florida Carriage Museum and The Villages “over 55” development

For want of anything better to do, several of us today visit the Florida Carriage Museum and Resort in Weirsdale, a very rural part of Florida.

We have a good time as hopefully reflected in the pictures.

Dress chariot used by Emperor Franz Joseph of Austria.

A Hummer transformed to a horse-drawn carriage.

This carriage contained a hidden potty.

Sharp points along the backside keep street urchins from hitching rides.

This unusual long-haired donkey has a miniature pony named Gracie as a friend.

Citrus trees intermingle with pines.  Perhaps after the '80s freezes the owner decided to replant with pines.

“Founded in 1995 by entrepreneur and philanthropist, Gloria Austin, the Florida Carriage Museum & Resort is a carriage museum, driving, riding, and education center, equine resort and home to the not-for-profit 501(c)(3) Equine Heritage Institute, Inc.” (Their website. She used to be married to the guy that founded Paychex, where she also worked.)

Afterwards, the six of us visit the retirement community of The Villages, well known in Florida.

Our two vehicles become separated so Marcia and I investigate on our own. (Later we found Kathy, Larry, Bob and Elaine were more skillful in dealing with their salesman. It took us are least a half-hour more to win our freedom.)

The Villages began more than 40 years ago and now has over 70,000 residents. Although the architecture, size, and amenities differ somewhat from the familiar Sun City developments, the idea is the same: motivated people over 55 buy a home in a gated community and in return hopefully gain instant friends with similar interests, and a support structure. We hope we heard the salesman wrong, but it seemed like he said they have 29 golf courses, although according to him the number one interest is bowling (we didn’t notice any lanes, but surely they are here) and the second is pickleball. (We wonder if he meant billiards instead of bowling.)

Golf carts are used for golf and general transportation along with cars, and the main streets are crowded. They have nice medical and retail centers, and live free music every afternoon in the three town centers.

The three development areas are gated and can’t be viewed without a salesman, but we were able to drive through the oldest area (looks like refurbished off-base Navy housing) and could look across golf courses at the newer area (looked a lot better). Prices range from $150,000 for 1627 square feet to over $400,000 for over 3100 square feet. Additionally, you owe an amenities fee of $135/month and your share of a development bond that ranges from $97 to $448/month.

We stop at a Johnny Rockets for cool drinks and watch the people walking and carting by, a number with grandchildren in tow. There are many middlebrow chain restaurants and a Starbucks. They have a Fidelity center (as well as other brokerages) and I was able to pay some bills. But we aren’t buying.

Larry, Gary, Bob and Donna harmonize, sort-of.

Donna and Harold find you can dance to it.

We end the day with a professional.

That night we attend a one-man music concert by Cahal Dunne in the main park clubhouse. The biggest kegger I’ve attended since college. Hundreds of seniors, each paying $10 for the entertainment and unlimited potato chips and beer. Dunne is from Ireland and looks a little like Conan; he now lives in Philadelphia. He was one of the acts at our Sarasota rally and his comedic patter, singing, and music playing is good but it has to be a rough way to make a living.

March 10 – 13, 2011 St. Augustine – Bikers, Airstreamers, wine tasting, and leprechauns…

St. Augustine, on the northeast coast of Florida, is reputed to be the first permanent European settlement in North America.

Castillo San Marcos - 1672

The Spanish built a fort here in 1672. It withstood English attacks but was occupied by the British during the American Revolution.

Flagler College, formerly Hotel Ponce De Leon.

And each has a bellybutton.

Interior dome of "the Ponce".

Not much else seems to have happened until the arrival of Henry Flagler, a cofounder of Standard Oil, in 1885. Flagler was a very wealthy man with great influence in Florida and did not think much of the St. Augustine tourist facilities. He built the Hotel Ponce De Leon and other luxury St. Augustine buildings, or acquired them from others – all to provide vacation space for his wealthy friends.

Today St. Augustine is a major tourist town. We resist the pull of large billboards (“Drink from Ponce De Leon’s Fountain of Youth for only $1”, “Visit Ripley’s original ‘Believe it or Not’”), and enjoy the beautiful bay, the historic fort, the restaurant-filled downtown, and the early resort architecture.

"Spanish moss" draped trees, actually a form of air fern.

Bridge of Lions, built 1920s recently refurbished.

We wait on our morning walk as a sailboat passes underneath the Bridge of Lions.

Stainless steel cross commemorating introduction of Christianity in America.

Pirates are still a problem.

We begin the day with a very cold trolley tour of the city. As the day progressed hundreds of bikers arrive, as well as many others attracted by St Patrick’s Day celebrations and a local seafood festival. The weather much improves.

The next day we barely make a scheduled bay cruise became of extremely heavy traffic.

Although warned away by Larry, late one afternoon we go to a wine tasting at a St. Augustine winery. It is crowded, a regular trolley stop. And this is a Saturday night and an easy walk from Flagler College – a cheap date.

We begin with the dry wines and progress (?) to the sweet, alternating (with the winery’s guidance) between whites and reds. The wines are made from the muscadine grape and try to mimic more popular varieties. I taste one and involuntarily grimace, making some sort of voluntary critical remark. Marcia tells me to stop that. I try another and again uncontrollably grimace but don’t think I say anything – Marcia again tells me to quit acting that way. This continues through about eight wines, after which we leave and have a very nice dinner and bottle of out-of-state wine with Mike and Jane at The Tasting Room, a restaurant.

The next day Marcia and I again enter town to photograph a monument to The Old Spanish Trail, running from St. Augustine to San Diego. Our trolley guide said there is a corresponding monument in San Diego’s Balboa Park, but we don’t remember it. (Later I do some Internet research and find the monument is actually in Horton Plaza in downtown San Diego and looks much more conventional than the St. Augustine monument. Also, it is more a monument to the first automobile road between the cities than anything having to do with the early Spanish.)

Since we are downtown and have heard raves about a restaurant called Columbia featuring Cuban food, we decide to have an early dinner: their 100-year-old salad recipe (a little over-dressed) and a Cuban sandwich consisting of cheese, various meats such as salami, and pickles. The sandwich is quite good and tastes similar to a pastrami/swiss.

1879 Episcopal Church, Intracoastal Waterway.

Gracie always has the last word in drivers meetings.