VIZCAYA

The cultural highlight of our Miami Tour-a-Thon yesterday was a couple of hours at Vizcaya. You can make it mean "place to see the islands" but it's really an amalgam of names and languages to add to the pretense of the place. James Deering built the place in 1914-1916 in what was then farmland south of Miami proper. He had made a fortune in farm equipment such as tractors and plows (International Harvester, maybe you've heard of it?). But he had ambitions to be seen as a cultured international harvester of antiquities and especially Italian style and design, which was the ultra of the day.

So he had a Master Designer create a mansion, gardens, boat landing, tea house, fountains, statues, etc. on 150 acres and shoreline. All in ornate furnishings that were brought over at great expense. Or exact detail replicas and honorifics. (No pictures allowed inside --- I snuck just one.)Hard to describe the over-the-top feeling you get now, but if this estate hadn't been lovingly created and then preserved ---- you wouldn't be able to muse about the first electric dumb waiter or the private balcony (private except for the secret connected guest room!). Or the sense of being at a gondola stop in Venice with its barber-shop painted poles.Or the swimming pool reached by private baroque elevator from Mr. Deering's study. Did he ever skinny dip??

Words can't do justice. From tractor sales to wanna-be Italian.

MIAMI TOUR-A-THON

We're into the busiest days of my niece's visit, enough to put blisters on my already walk-hardened feet. The dawn powerwalk featured sunrise views, a construction safety meeting, and crews pruning the coconut palms. If those nuts fall, someone's gonna get hurt!

Yesterday the 3 of us power-toured Miami highlights. At the Botanical Gardens, the two Pats channeled their inner Marilyn. Over to Little Havana for the Cuban musical Walk Of Fame where the only names I recognized were mainstream like Gloria Estefan, Perez Prado, and old what's-his-name. Very intriguing to watch the games at domino park. A kindly senior Cuban explained the strategy to win, like the last man standing in the USA-Cuba standoff. The 2 Pats channeled their inner salsa dancers.

Then a walkabout in glam old Coral Gables where thankfully none of us were interested in the expensive retail shops and bistros. Snacks in the car, anyone?? Most of the afternoon being gobsmacked by classical and pretentious Vizcaya --- see the separate blog posting today.

Over to the Wynwood section of Miami. Amazingly, a derelict industrial area has been transformed into a massive outdoor art gallery, with walls painted by international artists for dozens of blocks around. This could be done in your town! Not graffiti, these are permanent art works lit up at night and perused by thousands of gawkers/gazers as they walk by. Even the soap-bottle parrots overhead were impressed by the colours!

SoBe AND SO BE IT!

Yesterday we drove the five hours to SOuth BEach, Miami's party and trendoid neighbourhood. It's great to hear more Spanish (and lately, Russian!) than English on the streets. But on the way through the Everglades, the alligators and ditch-birds waited in the sun for unsuspecting fish, like dogs waiting for table scraps. Also passed through Little Havana, the Cuban section where more hot salsa music pours out of shopfronts than out of passing lowriders.

After settling into our rental unit (more on that later), it was just a two-block stroll to Lincoln Mall. On this holiday weekend, it was jammed with diners, fashionistas, and colours. No recession here. And Ocean Drive yelled out Welcome Back! in neon, flamenco, and Ferraris.

This morning it was back to the speedwalking for my rehab, a bit more sweaty because of the 2-day layoff and the heat/humidity still here. The boardwalk is a great place for all the morning exercisers. But there are still misguided people feeding the throngs of feral cats along the beach --- against the law and against common sense when both the city and real cat lovers are trying to limit them.

P.S. So much news from back home! First the Toronto Argos won Canada's pro football championship and the 100th Grey Cup. Then the Bank of England hired away Canada's steadfast Finance minister. Our loss, their gain. But the most encouraging news was the court decision throwing out the current mayor of Toronto. A brutish buffoon, a man totally lacking in integrity, an embarrassment. Probably the worst mayor in Toronto's history ---- now what will it take to remove the worst Prime Minister in our history??

CYCLISTS TO SNOWMAN

It's our last full day in St. Pete's and there was a lot to pack in. It's a holiday weekend so there are more cycling clubs on the street than usual. The Christmas tree lighting last night combined traditional music with a tropical setting ---- reindeer among the palms!

We passed the inspection this morning and got our depo$it back. Then the familiar route over to the Gulf beaches side and some goodbyes to favourite neighbourhoods. I object to fishermen feeding the pelicans --- shouldn't they catch their own? Up the road to Clearwater dolphins arched, vendors hyped, and the sunset backlit some girls practicing their busker act.

The Holiday Lights of the Florida Botanical garden provided the day's finale, like fireworks with your  own soundtrack of oohs and ahhs. Truly magical lighting effects and images among the garden paths. My favourite --- the cardinal and blue jay, evoking home and a beloved sister. Pat's favourite --- the hummingbird: what else spends so much time with flowers??

COUNT THE "P"s!

BLOGGER'S NOTE: This is another in a series of guest-written blog posts. Guess who??

It’s so easy here for me to find other People Passionate about Plants.  This time it was visits to the Sunken Gardens and the Gizella Kopstick Palm Arboretum --- both started from nothing by personal passion. The Sunken Gardens was created in 1903 by a plumber who drained a lake and grew a rare tropical plant collection. Since 1924 visitors have come to see papayas, citrus and rare tropical plants.  Through a resident approved 1% tax called Penny for Pinellas, this site is now publicly owned. This is my favourite kind of Florida theme park --- a unique collection of 50,000 plants, and some exotic wildlife who call this garden home.

Nearby, the shoreline of Tampa Bay practically begs us to be active on the many recreational trails, parks, sports fields and swimming pools.  Two blocks away from us on this trail in downtown St. Pete’s is the Gizella Kopsick Palm Arboretum.  Once the site of a city owned mini golf course it is now an arboretum.  With a passion for palms in 1976 wheelchair-bound Gizella donated 60 palms representing 10 species to create the arboretum.  Donations have continued and today the count is 500 palms representing 150 species.

What’s your passion? What would you start from scratch??