Farewell to Doug

The trip to Key West as well as Doug's trip to the US seemed to go by in a blur. His last week here was spent finishing up projects around the house. In a future section of this blog I will cover that as well as the fun time that we had with Sandy and Adrian, wonderful friends of mine from Jacksonville, FL. We had a ball making a movie for Sandy to show to her first grade class. They were fascinated that Sandy knew an Australian and had lots of questions. Sandy turned those questions into an interview format with Doug as the star. The thank you letters from Sandy's class were treasured reminders of Doug's time here.
The day after I took Doug to the airport it poured buckets here and I noticed this poor heron standing in the river that is produced in my front yard every time it rains. He looked so sad and lonely. I knew exactly how he felt.

South Beach, Florida

South Beach is known for having gorgeous models and movie stars running around, but we seemed to hit it when half the colleges on the east coast decided to go to South Beach. No movie stars, no models, just wall to wall very loud people. We had one drink (where the waiter automatically added an %18 tip) and then continued on - driving up the Atlantic Coast until we turned to head to Epcot. We both enjoyed the Epcot experience, especially the rides in which you design your own ride. The mission to Mars was a bit much for me and I turned a tad green. Much of Epcot seems oriented to children and the International section seemed focused on selling products and food. We did manage to see most of the park before setting the GPS for home.

Chuck and Leslie's second recommendation was the Key West Butterfly and Nature Conservancy and it was my favorite. The entire experience was so perfectly crafted. In an huge hothouse, a wooden trail takes you through trees and brush where hundreds of butterflies and birds are flying around in such a thick mass that it is hard to take it all in. The music is new age but perfectly suited to the experience. There were so many breeds that were otherwordly in their colors and decorations. You could spend a week in there but I am sure that is why there are no benches. So many people are going through and everyone wants to just stop and look at everything. Perceptually your senses just can't take it all in at one time. Our first reaction when leaving was -"Let's go through again."
The little guy on Doug's shirt was determined to go home with him, but we finally found a curator to remove him (the butterfly, not Doug).

Key West, Florida

I tried to show Doug many of the typical tourist attractions, but Key West really is about the ambience isn't it? We took the tourist train and I was surprised that Calvin Klein and Kenny Chesney have homes there and I was also surprised that real estate values have held fairly well in the Keys. Mel Fisher's Museum was a disappointment. I remember that it used to be about the drama and sacrifices that his family made to discover the treasure, but now it looks like a Disney display. It poured buckets of rain for some of the trip which had us dodging from shop to shop. Some of the more interesting parts of the trip were both recommendations from friends Chuck and Leslie in the Outer Banks. As you leave Key West and cross the bridge to the next island, turn left into a road that takes you to a botanical garden. There you will find a collection of  boats that Cuban refugees used to try to make it to the US. Some of them look like paper glued together. It shows the desperation and ingenuity of the people who used them to come here.

Key West Welcome

This was our welcoming committee when we checked into our hotel in Key West. He was well over 4 feet long. What you are not seeing is that this is our second floor balcony and, if we had left the sliding door open, he could have invited himself in. 

Everglades Surprise

How can you travel across the Everglades without an airboat ride? We were crossing the Everglades on Rt 41 and saw the signs everywhere for the rides, but as soon as we decided to try it, the boats were shutting down for the night. We decided to stay at the next closest hotel and try again in the morning. As luck would have it, we found a casino in the middle of nowhere. The Miccosukee Indian tribe has a Resort and Gaming Casino where Rt 41 crosses US 1, and believe me that there is nothing else there for miles. Rooms are $130 a night, but if you sign up to be a club member you get the room for $85, you receive $30 to gamble away, and a two for one breakfast pass. It was amazing. The rooms were beautiful and the food first rate. It was like finding an oasisi in the middle of the desert! And best of all, we were first in line the next morning for the airboat ride through the Everglades - and there were plenty of alligators to see - all hanging out about a foot from where we sat!

Road Trip Around Florida!!!

In the final couple of weeks of Doug's visit we took a meandering trip down the Gulf coast all the way to the Keys and then up through Palm Beach and over to Epcot Center. We were very serious about this "meandering" business and took every opportunity to drive as close to the water as possible. The cost of houses, boats, and cars in Australia are 2-3 times more then they are here and Doug is fascinated with our real estate values. For me it was a first time to see the Gulf side of Florida. We made no advance plans and no reservations ahead of time. It was the perfect trip! Lots of junk food and no deadlines or plans.

For our second day in Tampa we went on a boat ride to view the harbor side homes of the "famous people who live in Tampa." The homes were all gorgeous, but the only name that I recognized was Derek Jeter, the ball player. This is a photo of his 36,000 square foot home that he had built. One reason that he may be divorced from Halle Berry is that they could never find each other in this massive house.

Tampa Florida

In between working 12 hours a day on Home Improvement projects, I did manage to drag Doug away for a weekend in Tampa, a 45 minute drive from Hudson. For this occasion we "put on the dog" and had our only formal time. We dined at Ruth's Chris, in my opinion the best steak house in the US, and then went to see the opera Aida. It was just luck that we went to the opera on the last weekend of the 91 year old conducter's performances.His retirement was announced that night. He is Francis Ford Copploa's (the Hollywood Director) Uncle and a tiny white haired leprochaun of a man who throughly enjoyed himself with all the curtain calls and applause for his last performance..

Security - Gator Style

The Kennedy Space Center Security System is not what I expected. Other than the usual fences, etc. it consists of over 60,000 alligators. I had no idea that the immense property surrounding the Space Center is the largest nature reserve in the USA. The tour bus driver pointed out alligators all along the route, as well as a ten foot wide eagle's nest in one of the trees.

Bill Pogue, Astronaut Extrordinaire

The cost of "Dine With An Astronaut" was absolutely justified when we met with Bill Pogue. the real deal. He has been on numerous missions and spent months in space. The personal stories were fascinating. He had a slide presentation of his personal photos and went into great detail about aspects of space journeys that aren't usually covered by the press. It was an intimate look at what goes on behind the scenes. He was so personable and took questions from the folks who had come to meet him. Doug asked him a question about what the astronauts had to change in their personal habits before going on a mission and Bill said "nothing!" I was touched when one of the diners raised his hand and then thanked Bill for everything he had given to this country.

Dine With An Astronaut

An expensive add-on to your trip to Kennedy Space Center is called "Dine With An Astronaut" and I have to admit when I signed up for this added bit, I was cynical about how they would define "astronaut." I could envision us having lunch with Fred Bortwalder, someone who had gone to a few days of astronaut training and then washed out of the program. On a leap of faith I signed up anyway.

Doug at Kennedy Space Center

Only 12 more badges and he can go up with the next launch!!!

Lunch at the Kennedy Space Center

The best place to have lunch at the Kennedy Space Center is sitting right next to the Jupiter rocket which is lying on its side next your table. It is as high as a 36 story building. This is the end with the rocket boosters, just to give you some idea of how big it is.

Recycled Space Capsules

Even NASA recycles. This capsule named Orion has been used before but it is now being readied for a manned flight in some future launch. You can check out the details on nasa.gov/orion .

A Walk On The Moon

For so many of us, it feels like yesterday that this happened. While at the Kennedy Space Center they are already talking about manned missions beyond the moon, but with the shut down of operations, most at the center were talking about five years in the future for this next stage of space flight to be operational.

Where To Build A Rocket

Nothing that you see on television or in photos prepares you for how massive everything is at the Space Center. A rocket is over 36 stories high so it take a VERY BIG building to house everything needed to build a rocket. This is a photo shot straight up inside the building where they are built but you have to be there to truly understand how big everything is.

Kennedy Space Center

I am guessing that if you asked Doug what his favorite tourist area in Florida was, I would bet he will say the Kennedy Space Center. Knowing his love of all things technological, I signed us up for the entire two day package and I think both of us came away in awe of the "up close and personal" look at the US space program. The visit was bittersweet because our visit followed on the news that the space program was being shut down. The good part of this timing was that we were able to see areas that would not have been available previously.

Homosassa Springs, Florida

During one outing with my visitors we went to Homosassa Springs Wildlife State Park, about a 45 minute drive north of Hudson. It was exquisite - a beautifully designed board walkway system meandering through tall shading trees that lead from one animal setting to another. The variety of animals there is astounding, from wild foxes and exotic reptiles to an amazing array of birds, all shown in their natural settings. The photo is from an underwater room where you can see the manatees enjoying their lettuce lunch. I realized how helpless these giant creatures are when I saw that they have no way of helping themselves to food. They can only float up to where the lettuce had been dropped and munch on it as it was falling. This entire area is home to manatees where they come into the warm springs to have their young. Sadly, so many are hurt by boat propellers because they move too slowly to quickly get out of the way. During my first week in Hudson I was fortunate to see a baby manatee swimming up my canal. What an amazing welcome to my new home!

Hudson House Party

For one week the house turned into party central when my  Brother Eddie and his wife Debbie came down from Richmond, Virginia, and good friends Janet and Lee ( with their puppy Vixen) came down from Norfolk, Virginia. Lots of laughter, copious amounts of food and drink, fishing, shopping, and sightseeing were enjoyed by all. We almost managed to sink the floating dock when we saw manta rays approaching one evening. The curled wings of the rays above the water look like shark fins and we all rushed to the edge to get a better look. Doug saw the dock tilting dangerously and stopped us all just in time. No drinks were spilled, thank goodness. In the photo clockwise left to right - Eddie, moi, Lee, Janet, Doug, and Debbie, enjoying a late lunch at Sam's.

Pine Island, Florida

Almost 90% of Doug's visit was spent on home improvement projects so this entire section of my blog should be filled with photos of Home Depot to accurately depict his visit, but everyone knows what Home Depot looks like. I finally managed to talk him into visiting Pine Island, a quaint secluded private paradise about an hours drive from home. Just before the last causeway to the Island there is a restaurant called the Bayport Inn which is first rate - great service and food, funky beach type atmosphere, live music most days, and an outdoor seating area with an overlook to see the gators that live there.

"Right, right, right" not "left, left, left!"

On previous trips we had agreed that in all countries that drove on the right, I would drive, and in all countries driving on the left, he would take over. It took Doug 2 days to start driving like a pro and, for the remainder of his trip here, he managed to drive all over Florida without a hitch.

Welcome To The USA

My Australian partner Doug recently came to the USA mainland for the first time. What better way to welcome him than to share a 45 oz margarita at Sam's, the only Hudson restaurant with a view of the Gulf of Mexico?