Athens, Greece

Greece Day One

I arrived here in Athens with my friends Tom and Kirk last night after a long day of travel.  We left Atlanta at 10:45 on Friday night, flying Turkish Airlines first to Istanbul on an 11 hour plane ride and then on another flight here to Athens last night.  We enjoyed the brief time we had in the Istanbul airport sampling Turkish Delight, but were happy to finally arrive here safely late last night.  Because of jet lag, we were not tired and so walked around a bit, got a bite to eat and some wine at a small cafe near our hotel, and finished it off with ice cream.  We were out past 1am which would normally be very unusual for me, but we hadn't quite adjusted yet.  During our stroll we saw several cars getting parking tickets, but not only did they get a fine, but their license plates were removed by the police; we assumed this was to make sure they paid.  Ouch.

Today we took a walking tour of the city center of Athens and the Acropolis.  The tour included sites of both modern and ancient Athens, such as Sintagma Square, the Temple of Zeus, the Plaka district, and of course the Parthenon.  Our first stop was Sintagma Square where our guide gave us an overview of modern Greek history from the fall of Constantinople (about 500 years ago today, actually) to the fall of the monarchy in the 1970s.  The guide basically told a tragic story of the Greeks being dominated by outsiders, such as the Turks, and then by the great powers of Europe since their independence in the 19th century.  You could hear a little resentment in his voice, especially when he mentioned that while the Greeks are mourning the fall of Constantinople to the Turks, today in Turkey, it is a national holiday.  Anyway, we watched the changing of the guards at the tomb of the unknown soldier and then made our way through the public gardens, designed by the first Queen of modern Greece, past the Zappeon hall, to the temple of Olympian Zeus.  Not much of the temple is left, only 16 Corinthian columns, but it was still an impressive site.  Our guide also spoke with us of some of the inventions of the ancient Greeks, including a machine that some consider to be the world's first computer.  He was obviously very proud of his country's history and heritage.

After visiting the temple, we made our way to the Acropolis.  Perhaps the most famous archeological site in the world, the Acropolis was the center of ancient Athens and contains several temple to the goddess Athena, for whom the city was named.  Surrounding the hill are many other ancient sites, such as the Theatre of Dionysius, where the dramatic arts were born.  This was where Thespis stepped forward from the chorus and spoke independently, becoming the first actor.  It is from him that we get the word Thespian.  The climb to the top of the Acropolis is a steep and somewhat treacherous walk.  The rocks have been stepped on for 1000s of years and are therefore smooth and slippery.  There are very few handrails and no handicap access.  They must not have as many lawsuits  as we do, because surely someone over the years has gotten seriously hurt.  At the top are three temples dedicated to Athena: the temple of Athena Nike (victory), the Parthenon, and the Erechtheion, the Parthenon, or just "Parthenon" as our guide called it, being the most famous.  Here too was another story of Greek tragedy.  When the city was occupied by the Turks, the temples were actually in good shape, so much so that the Turks decided they would be a good place to store gunpowder.  During a war with the the Venetians, there were several explosions which destroyed much of the monuments.  After that, the temples were looted for several hundred years, most famously by a British Lord who wanted statuary for his villa in Scotland.  Today, the British refuse to return the artifacts, a very sore point for the Greeks, and our guide.

Following the tour of the Acropolis, we stopped at a large rocky hill where Paul is said to have preached to the Athenians.  Although it was neat to be able to stand where Paul once stood, this was another treacherous site and I slipped several times, but fortunately, did not get hurt.  I figure that Paul couldn't have preached for too long, since he would have surely lost his balance at some point, wearing only sanders.  We then made our way into the Plaka, the old district of Athens on the side of the Acropolis where we stopped for lunch.  The Plaka is characterized by winding streets, tourists shops, and numerous outdoor cafes and restaurants.  We had gyros for lunch and Greek Coffee, which appeared to be Turkish coffee, but obviously not called that here.  It came with what looked like Turkish Delight, but they had a different name for that too, which I can't remember.  We talked with a mother and daughter next to us who were traveling from Colorado.  The daughter is about to begin law school and I told her to get out of it while there's still time left.  

After lunch we wandered through the Plaka district back to our hotel where we are now resting.  We plan to go back that way for drinks and dinner later.  It is wonderful to be back in Europe again and so far, I like Athens.  We had heard a lot of negative things about Athens, and although it is obvious that the Greeks have fallen on hard times, the city has its charms.   I'm looking forward to spending another day here.  Until then...

New York City; September 19-22, 2013

I recently went to New York City with my good friend Drew Abernathy.  The original purpose of our trip was to go see Patricia Kaas perform at The Town Hall.  Kaas is a French singer that I have been following for 20 years and she recently did a tribute album to Edith Piaf, my all time favorite singer.  I asked Drew to go with me and we decided to make a long weekend out of it.

We arrived Thursday night by way of Newark Airport.  We took a train into New York to Penn Station.  Normally, I wouldn't bother blogging about how we got into the city, but on this train trip we had the pleasure to share the car with a crack addict who kept singing lullabies to a baby that wasn't hers.  I think everyone was afraid of her so no one said anything.  When we got to Penn Station and were heading to the elevator, Drew suggested we take an escalator instead because the elevator would be crowded.  I said, "I only see five people, Drew."  So we got on and guess who got on behind us?  The poor woman from the train.  "Sorry, Drew," I said.

We made it safely into the city and walked around to find a place to eat dinner.  We ended up eating outside at a restaurant in Bryant Park.  The park is situated next to the New York public library and neither of us had even heard of it, even though we had each been to New York numerous times.  Turns out, it's where a lot of the events of fashion week take place.  We had a lovely dinner outside in perfect weather under Sycamore trees admiring the skyline of Midtown Manhattan.

Friday, I awoke to find myself quoted in the Wall Street Journal.  Actually, I knew I was going to be in it because I had been interviewed the day before, but it was fun to read it in New York with my breakfast and see my name in print.  The article was in reference to the Affordable Care Act and the online Insurance Marketplace which opens October 1.  You can read the article HERE.  My quote is about two thirds of the way down.  Later that morning I had an interview with a reporter from CBS Radio News about the article, but I never heard the story.

Friday was a low key day.  After the media left me alone, Drew met a friend for lunch and I went on a long walk in Central Park.  The highlight of my walk was stopping for a Hot Dog and reading my Kindle in Strawberry Fields, the part of the park that Yoko Ono financed as a tribute to John Lennon who was assassinated nearby in front of his home at the Dakota on December 8, 1980.  The weather was perfect, a beautiful fall day with blue sky and a cool breeze.

Drew and I met up later for drink before we went to dinner and the concert.  Our hotel was in the Hell's Kitchen neighborhood just west of Times Square.  This neighborhood used to be very rough--hence the name--but is now a trendy place to live.  We had  dinner at a place called HK and then walked over to Town Hall for Patricia Kaas.  The concert was everything I wanted it to be and more.  Ever since I was introduced to the music of Edith Piaf years ago, I always wished I could see her in concert.  But of course that's impossible since she died before I was born.  I have seen dozens of video clips though.  She didn't just sing her songs, but expressed them from her heart as well.  You can see a classic Piaf performance HERE.  Kaas gave it all she had as well and I felt like I was finally seeing that concert in France that I've always dreamed of but couldn't see.  Not just her voice, but also the emotion and feeling she put into the songs.  Not a big fan, even Drew was impressed.  I think we were the youngest people there and two of the only Americans in the audience.  You can see Kaas singing a classic Piaf song HERE.  I don't think you need to understand French to hear the emotion both women express in their singing.

Saturday morning we ran with Front Runners New York.  Front Runners was started as a gay and lesbian running club named after a book by Patricia Nell Warren about a gay Olympic runner.  Most large American cities have a Front Runners club and Drew and I are active with the group in Atlanta.  While we normally have around 20 or 25 people at our Saturday runs, the New York club has several 100.  We jogged with them around the jogging path in Central Park for a six mile run.  Afterward, everyone walked over to nearby Rutgers Presbyterian Church for Bagels and Coffee in the church basement.  I would definitely run with them again.  It was nice to get a different perspective of the park and to meet people who actually live and work in New York.

Later that day, I met my friend Russell Gibson for lunch in Chelsea.  Russell was in medical school at the University of Florida while I was in law school.  We were good friends but had lost touch and I hadn't seen him in about 15 years.  We had  a nice lunch catching up and it was as if we had never been separated.  After lunch we walked down to the West Village, lined up, and bought cupcakes at the Magnolia Bakery and ate them in a little park nearby.  A lovely afternoon, catching up with an old friend.

Later, Drew and I walked on the Highline from 34th street on the west side to the Meat Packing District where we had dinner.  The Highline is an old elevated freight railroad line that has been converted into a walking trail.  It is fairly new and has become a bit of a novelty so, of course, it was full of tourists.  It is landscaped with lawns, benches, flowers, and trees and it was perfect weather for a little walk before dinner.  Drew treated me to an early birthday dinner at Pastis, a French restaurant in the Meatpacking district.  The area that was once famous for transexual prostitutes is now another gentrified New York neighborhood.  The weather was nice enough that we could eat outside, which was just as well, because inside was a bit crowded with a large table for the diplomatic delegation from Ecuador.  Later I learned that the UN General Assembly was about to start meeting.  In fact, several Ecuadoran secret service agents patrolled inside and outside of the restaurant the whole time we were there.  For dinner, I had the veal scallops.  I know, I know, it's veal, but wow, was it good.  So tender.  And with it was a vegetable that I had never had before.  I thought it was Spinach but the waiter told me it was broccoli rabe.  I don't like regular broccoli, but I'm now hooked on the rabe variety.  During our entire dinner, there was a constant parade of young women, dressed in miniskirts and sky high heels making their way to a nearby popular bar over cobble stones!  Their outfits were scandalous and I hope my goddaughter Baikal (age 7) never dresses like that.  I know here Dad would never stand for it.

After that amazing meal, Drew and I went to see the Broadway musical Kinky Boots, written by Harvey Fierstein and Cindy Lauper.  The musical won several Tony awards this past year and did not disappoint.  It tells the story of the son of a shoe factory owner who starts making shoes for drag queens in order to save his late father's factory.  As it just opened in April, we got to see the original cast, including Billy Porter who won the Tony for best actor in a musical.  I highly recommend it.  After the show, we had to run back to the hotel in the rain, the only time it rained while we were there.

Sunday morning, we took the subway down to Ground Zero to go to the 9/11 memorial.  We were a little early so we walked down to Battery Park at the tip of Manhattan for great views of the harbor and the Statue of Liberty.  We lined up for the memorial in front of the building at Greenwich and Albany where my good friend Davis Candler used to live.  Davis has since passed away and seeing his building choked me up and brought back a lot of great memories of visiting him when he was there.  The 9/11 Memorial is in the middle of a giant construction site.  After going through a metal detector, we walked under numerous construction boardwalks before we got to the main memorial.  Where the two towers used to be are now two square shaped fountains in their foot prints with the names of victims around the fountains.  We noticed white roses by some people's names and later learned this was done on their birthdays.  We walked quietly around both memorials and I tried to read as many names as possible.  At one point, a gust of wind blew some of the water at us and I like to think it was the departed thanking us for visiting them.  Rising above the memorial is the new One World Trade Center also known as the Freedom Tower, now the tallest building in the United States.  Other buildings are also going up around the memorial.

We had a great little trip and vowed to go back soon and more often.  Since we had both been several times before, we didn't really have an agenda and enjoyed taking it easy, hanging out, and doing just a handful of sites.  I have posted an album of pictures on Facebook of the trip.  You can view them HERE if you like and you don't need a Facebook account to do so.

Christmas 2010: Family, Everglades, and Wild Animals

I hope everyone had a nice Christmas and is so far having a Happy New Year. I am finally getting things back to normal after the holidays and looking forward to school starting next week. Before then, however, I think it's time for another blog entry and this one is about my Christmas in Florida where I not only saw family and friends but also got to go to two Florida attractions I had never seen: Everglades National Park and Lion Country Safari.

I drove down to Orlando on Monday Dec. 20th and was prepared for warm weather. I spent that night at my parents in Orlando where we decorated the family Christmas tree. It had been about three years since we had put up the big tree, so it was nice to get the decorations out of the box and enjoy the time together. I especially enjoyed being able to lie on the living couch and stare at the colorful tree when we finished.

Tuesday afternoon, I drove down to Fort Lauderdale where I stayed a few days with my friend Robert Merrill. That night while at dinner at a local Italian Restaurant we talked about what I wanted to do and the Everglades came up in conversation. While I had been to Sawgrass Recreation Park outside of Fort Lauderdale the year before, I had never been to the National Park or the tip of Florida. Robert said it was only about an hour away and that he was up for it if I was. I was delighted he said that because I had always wanted to go but thought it was too far.

We left Wednesday morning about 9:00 and it took a little over an hour to get there. The east entrance to the park is just west of Florida City which is at the end of the Turnpike extension. There's not much to say about Florida City except that it is a small farming town that appears to be out in the middle of nowhere but is actually on the edge of suburban Miami. We bought sandwiches there and headed to the park.

Our first stop was the Royal Palm visitors center where we took the Anhinga Trail over boardwalks out into the Taylor Slough and adjacent swamp. The trail is named for a local bird but we saw Egrets, Pelicans, Great Blue Heron, and Buzzards as well. And while there were numerous turtles and fish, the main attractions in this area were the Alligators. I don't think I have ever seen so many. At one overlook point we counted 20 laying around on little islands in the swamp. In one location, one was just laying on the grass at the side of the trail with no barrier between us. I got a good close up shot and then later saw a sign saying to stay 15 feet away from alligators. Oh well, he seemed harmless.

We then continued along the main road of the park and stopped at the Pa-hay-okee overlook where we got a good view of the Shark Slough. Slough is pronounced like Slew and is a large body of water which moves slowly, draining an area. In this case, it is an 8 mile wide river of grass slowly emptying into Florida Bay. There were signs in that area showing how the Everglades had changed over the years. The glades used to begin at Lake Okeechobee much further north and moved slowly through the entire area south of the lake; however, today, because of development, the slough is a much smaller body of water at the very lower part of the peninsula. Efforts are underway to "restore" the Everglades by expanding the area in the slough through artificial means. The view of the Shark Slough reminded me of pictures I have seen of the African Savannah. Because it was the dry season, I couldn't see the water below all the grass, unless I looked straight down. As far as I could see there was grass and a smattering of bald cypress saplings. I could not see a single sign of civilization. No roads, no power lines, and no cell phone towers. The only noise was the wind and an occasional bird. We stood there for quite some time just absorbing the peacefulness of the whole scene.

We then continued on down the road all the way to the end at the small village and marina of Flamingo at the tip of the peninsula with a great view of Florida Bay. The bay is a shallow water bay formed by the mainland on the north and the Florida Keys on the South. We could just make out Key Largo from the waterfront. We were told this was the only area in Florida where we might see an American Crocodile, as they live mainly in salt water. As we wandered around the docks of the marina, we saw a tour boat go by announcing there was a crocodile on the opposite bank but hard as we tried we couldn't see it. After walking around for several minutes scoping out all possible viewing angles, we gave up. Oh well. In case you are wondering, alligators are black and have wide fat mouths and live in primarily fresh water environments whereas crocodiles are grey with narrow skinny mouths and prefer salt water. Unfortunately, I am not telling you this based on my observations but on what I have read.

We had seen most of what we wanted to but did stop at one point on the way back to take a bit of a trail into the Mangrove Swamp. We saw another alligator here and probably would have stayed longer but the mosquitoes were getting pretty fierce. In fact, this was the only area where we encountered them as they are not very active in the winter. We were told that in the summer it can be unbearable.

For pictures of my Everglades trip, CLICK HERE. This is an album I have made on Facebook but you don't have to be a member to see it.

For more information on the Everglades, you can visit the National Park website at www.nps.gov/ever

The next day we mainly just hung out and went to the beach. On Christmas Eve, I drove back to Orlando and stopped at Lion Country Safari near West Palm Beach. This is an old Florida attraction that I had heard of since childhood but had never experienced. The park is a wild animal preserve that one drives through on a four mile road. There are large open areas based on regions of Africa where animals simply roam free, including in front of and alongside the cars. The cost was $26 and I could take as long as I wanted. I pulled over numerous times and took over 100 pictures. The only problem I had was that you are not suppose to lower your windows and in some places it was hard to get a good picture through the glass. I have to admit that I lowered the window a few times just to get a good shot, but only when the animals were not near.

For pictures from Lion Country Safari, CLICK HERE. Once again this is a Facebook album that you can view without being a member.

For more information, visit their website at http://www.lioncountrysafari.com/

Finally, I had a nice Christmas with my family in Orlando, despite the below average temperatures and not having a heavy coat. We weren't sick this year like we all were last Christmas and we had a pleasant visit. Plus Santa Claus was good to me this year. I got a new TV from my parents and a Kindle from my brother. We also saw three movies while I was home: The King's Speech, Black Swan, and Secretariat. They were all good but I don't recommend seeing Black Swan with one's mother. Additionally, I got to spend some time with my friends Curt Barnes and Joe Sandillo who I know from UF.

For a few more Christmas pictures, CLICK HERE.

Thanks for reading and Happy New Year everyone!

Washington, DC

I spent most of Friday in Washington, DC hanging out with my friend Joe Sandillo who I know from my time at the University of Florida. But it seemed to take a long time to travel just 30 or so miles to get to DC from Baltimore. I took Baltimore’s Light Rail to Penn Station after waiting 20 minutes for the train to arrive. It seemed to take another 20 or more minutes to get to Penn Station. So much time, in fact, that although I left the hotel at 9:30 I barely made it to Penn Station in time to get my ticket for the 10:50 MARC commuter train to Washington. It was a relief to finally get to Joe’s. He recently bought a condo in the Logan Circle neighborhood at N St. and 14th St. and I was excited to see him and his new home. We had lunch al fresco at a nearby restaurant and then took a long walk through his neighborhood up to Meridian Hill Park overlooking the city and then back down to the DuPont Circle area. It was nice to be away from tourists and since I have been to DC many times and seen most of the tourist attractions, I didn‘t really care what we did. I think the highlight of the day for me was sitting outside at a bar on 17th Street, having a few beers, catching up, and talking about old time. Good times; good times.

Drew came back from his class that evening and the three of us, along with Joe’s friend Andrew, went to a restaurant called Marvin in the U Street neighborhood. U Street was historically the cultural center of African American Washington, sort of the Harlem of DC, but today it has become a neighborhood of various groups and seems to be going through a renaissance. Many of the establishments are named for Jazz greats like Duke Ellington and others. Marvin is a restaurant named for Marvin Gay and the food is a mixture of Southern and Belgian food as Marvin Gay once spent several years in Belgium. They had a large menu of Belgian beers and mussels. For dinner, I had fried chicken on top of a waffle. It seemed at first like a strange combination, but I enjoyed the flavor of chicken, waffle, and maple syrup and would have it again. After dinner, we walked down the street to a bar called Nellie’s and hung out on the roof deck for a little while. Drew and I felt like two old men when we pooped out at 11:00 and went back to our hotel. Going out on the town is just not what it used to be when we were young.

Saturday, Drew and I still had half a day before our flight home but had no plans as to what we wanted to do before then. After breakfast we decided to go to the National Cathedral which is a straight shot up Massachusetts Ave. from our hotel in Dupont Circle. As we waited for a taxi in front of our hotel we noticed a long line forming at the Portuguese embassy across the street (Mass. Ave. is often called Embassy Row). We wondered what it was about as they didn’t look like asylum seekers or anything, but didn’t pay to much attention to it. Once in the taxi heading to the cathedral we learned that it was European Union Embassies’ open house day. We passed several more on our way up the street and were especially impressed with the goings-on at the British embassy. We made a quick loop through the cathedral and then walked back down the street to the British embassy. Out in front a children’s choir was singing Let It Be and the gates where decorated with union jack bunting. Once inside, we were able to walk through the gardens of the ambassador’s residence, take pictures, listen to bag pipes, try some scotch, and browse the booths. We probably stayed for about 45 minutes. The anglophile in me was in heaven and I kept wondering what Hyacinth Bucket (from the BritCom Keeping Up Appearances) would think about my getting to go to a garden party at the ambassador’s. We didn’t have time to go to any of the other embassies and by then the lines were getting long anyway. We met my friend Donald Hitchcock for lunch who filled us in on all the political goings-on behind the scenes in DC--he and his partner Paul are very well connected politically--and then drove us to the airport for our flight home.

It was nice to travel with my friend Drew again as it had been sometime since we had gone on a trip together and I found it interesting that my trip that began with a visit to Fort McHenry ended with a visit to the British Embassy. Thanks Drew for a great trip.

Here is a link to some pictures I posted on Facebook (you do not need to be a member of Facebook to view them):

Just click here to view pictures.

Baltimore

Greetings from Baltimore! I am here with my friend Drew who is here for a doctors' continuing education class and invited me along. This is my first real time in Baltimore (I came when I was five to a Baltimore Orioles game with my Dad and uncle and cousin who lived in DC but that's all we did, so I don't think that really counts).

We arrived Wednesday by various transportation modes: we flew into Washington, DC, took the Metro to Union Station, a commuter train to Baltimore, and a taxi to our hotel. We are staying in downtown Baltimore across the street from Camden Yards baseball stadium. Once we finally got settled in, we walked down to Baltimore's Inner Harbor. Baltimore has a natural harbor formed by the Patapsco river which snakes it way into the inner city. The final end of it is almost surrounded on four sides by land. We had drinks at a bar with a great view of the National Aquarium and the USS Constellation, a ship from the War of 1812. We later met up with some friends of Drew's and their newborn for dinner and then walked back to their row house in the Federal Hill neighborhood. Baltimore seems covered with row houses. I had no idea it was such a "real" city like Boston or Washington, DC--very dense with houses right on the street, walkable neighborhoods, and lots of parallel parking. The Federal Hill neighborhood was particularly charming. On a large hill overlooking the harbor, was a large American flag on the spot where there was once a huge union garrison stationed during the civil war to "keep an eye on the rebellious elements in Baltimore." At least that's what the historic marker said.

Today, I took a water taxi to Fort McHenry at the opposite end of the harbor. The fort was heavily bombarded by the British during the War of 1812. During the bombardment the flag flying over the fort was not damaged and Francis Scott Key wrote a poem about it, called "The Star-Spangled Banner, " which was eventually set to music and became our national anthem. The flag that inspired our anthem is now in Washington, DC at the Smithsonian but there is a replica of it flying over the fort. It has fifteen stars and fifteen stripes for the 15 states that were part of the union at the time. Before heading to the fort I stopped at the visitor center for a short film. When the film was over, the curtain to the right of us parted revealing a large picture window with a perfect view of the fort and the flag. We were asked to stand and the national anthem was played over the speakers. I thought it was a little hokie and wondered what would happen if I started to sing, "There'll Always be an England?" But I didn't and actually, the rest of the day I couldn't get the national anthem out of my head. There were several elementary school groups there on field trips but somehow I managed to avoid them by seeing various parts of the fort at just the right time. After seeing all I wanted, I took the water taxi to the historic Fell's Point neighborhood where I had lunch at a pub. I took a long walk after lunch, partly by accident, back to the harbor. After walking around the Mount Vernon neighborhood a bit, I returned to the hotel for a nice nap.

When Drew got out of his class we took a free shuttle bus to an Irish pub by the harbor for a beer before going on to Obrycki's restaurant back in Fell's Point for a traditional Baltimore Blue Crab dinner. We got three jumbo Blue Crabs as well as two crab cakes. I had never had a traditional crab meal before and while it was delicious, I think it was the messiest meal I have ever had. We went through a whole big stack of paper napkins and had crab and goo all over our hands. I have since washed my hands three time and they still smell like crab. But it was a lot of fun and we got some good pictures and had some good laughs. Tomorrow Drew goes back to class (something with cadavers and tracheotomies) and I am heading back to Washington, DC to spend the day with my friend Joe. Stay tuned for more.

Christmas 2009

I went to Orlando for Christmas this year as I always do, but this year I drove and stayed longer. While I was there I also visited Fort Lauderdale to see some friends. Besides just hanging out a lot, I did a couple of things that I would like to blog about.

On my way back from Fort Lauderdale to Orlando, I decided to forgo the turnpike and take back roads through the Everglades and past Lake Okeechobee. I stopped about 20 miles west of Fort Lauderdale at the Sawgrass Recreation Park on US Hwy 27. The park is situated in the northeast corner of the vast Everglades and has both a boat launch and a small zoo. I took an air boat ride first. I have always wanted to go on one but until then had never even been to the Everglades despite having grown up in Florida. The boat took us out for about a half an hour over the sawgrass swamp where we saw a couple of alligators and some birds. The Everglades used to be a giant 60 foot wide slow moving waterway that went from Lake Okeechobee down to Florida Bay at the end of the state. But because of all the levies, canals, and roads that have been built over them, most of the glades are now a non-moving marsh. Such was the condition of the swamp we were seeing. We also stopped at an island where some Malaluca trees had been planted and an Osprey was resting on one. These foreign trees were at one time planted all over the everglades in the hope that they would drink up the water and help convert the land to farmland. The trees reproduced like crazy and now the state is trying all kinds of methods to try and kill them. After the boat ride, I walked around the small zoo and saw more alligators and a Florida Panther, the state animal. I also read a display about efforts to "restore" the Everglades, which basically involve more dams, canals, and pumping stations to try to recreate the natural flow. I'll believe it when I see it. You can read more about Sawgrass Recreation Park at their website: http://www.evergladestours.com.

After my air boat adventure, I headed north on Hwy 27 toward Lake Okeechobee. On my way there I passed more swamp which eventually gave way to sugarcane fields as far as I could see in both directions. Eventually I did pass other farms including several palm tree farms where several varieties were being grown to be used later for landscaping. At the southeast corner of the lake, I passed through the town of Belle Glade. Although it is in Palm Beach county, it must be one of the poorest cities in the state. It was certainly the poorest place in Florida that I remember visiting. I took a wrong turn at one point and ended up going through downtown and then through a neighborhood that reminded me of some of the poverty I have seen in Honduras. You know things are bad when the main store downtown is the Goodwill. Apparently most of the economy comes from people working on the sugarcane fields. God bless them. In Pahokee, I drove up on the levy surrounding the lake and walked around the marina. Lake Okeechobee is the second largest lake in the US that is entirely within the US. It is so large that I could not see across it. As I continued on and drove around it, I did not see much more of the lake as it is surrounded by a high levy to prevent flooding during hurricanes. While it serves its purpose it has damaged the Everglades ecosystem south of it, which depended on it flooding. So I drove north with the levy on my left and passed numerous Sabal Palms (the state tree) and Live Oaks and fishing camps and felt like I was in the "real" Florida.

On the Monday after Christmas, my parents and I went to Lake Wales to see Bok Tower and its surrounding gardens, about an hour southwest of Orlando. It is situated on a hill known locally as iron mountain which rises 342 feet above sea level, making it the highest point in peninsular Florida and the second highest point in the state. The tower was built in the 1920s for Edward Bok and the gardens surrounding it were designed by Frank Law Olmstead, Jr. After Bok's death, it was given to the State of Florida. Although one cannot go up in the tower we did get to hear the 60 bell carillon give a concert and we enjoyed walking around the grounds taking in the views of the surrounding orange groves and enjoying the scenery of the ponds and native Florida trees. We also visited the Pinewood Estate property next door and enjoyed seeing the house professionally decorated for the holidays. The house was at onetime the winter home of C. Austin Buck, the one-time president of the Bethlehem Steel Corporation. Although the Christmas decorations were very pretty, we would have rather been there on an ordinary day when they give the regular tour which would have been more informative. You can read more about Bok Tower and the Pinewood Estate at their website: http://www.boktowergardens.org.

I have posted an album on Facebook with some of my pictures from my trip. You do not need to be a member of Facebook to view these photos. Just click on the following link:

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=47835&id=1410030498&l=999cc50b56

After our visit to Bok Tower, we went to the nearby Spook Hill. I had always heard of Spook Hill, a hill where it appears that one can roll backwards up a hill. It is really just an optical illusion but it sure seemed real when we were there. Here is a video of my parents' car rolling backwards "up" the hill:

Birthday Weekend 2009

For my birthday (Monday Oct. 5) this year I decided to spend the weekend with my parents and my brother at my parents' condo in Ponce Inlet, Florida. We had a fun time and since it has been a while since I've blogged I thought I would write about it.

I arrived Sat. afternoon and spent the rest of the day just hanging out at the condo relaxing and doing nothing. We had dinner that night at Down the Hatch, overlooking the Halifax river and watched the sun set. Sunday morning we just relaxed once again but that afternoon we went to the science center down at the inlet. The science center consisted of a museum, a turtle rehabilitation center, and a bird rehabilitation center. We visited all three. The museum had several display aquariums of sea life in the area. As I have my own aquarium, albeit fresh water, I enjoyed these exhibits the most. The turtle rehab center is a small hospital where sick or injured turtles are isolated and cared for until they heal and are ready to return to the wild. There were turtles there for a variety of reasons, such as propeller injuries, digestive issues, and fight wounds. There was one display showing the kinds of things that often end up in their stomachs, such as fish hooks, cigarette butts, and deflated balloons! The bird sanctuary was a similar facility for birds and there were several varieties there including owls, pelicans, bald eagles, and even a stork with a broken wing. That night we went to one of my favorite restaurants Aunt Catfish's in Port Orange. I enjoyed Lobster (for $12.99!), the giant salad bar, and their cinnamon rolls.

Monday on my birthday we drove up to Saint Augustine for the day. Saint Augustine is the oldest city in the United States, founded by the Spanish in 1565. I had not been in about 15 years though I went several times as a kid with boy scouts and school. Our first stop was the Castillo de San Marcos fort built in 1762 to protect the city from the British and French. We took a self guided tour of the fort and saw various rooms, an old prison, a chapel, and a musket demonstration. We also walked around on the ramparts looking at the old canons and admiring the view. After the fort we went over to the Columbia restaurant for lunch but it was closed. We were all disappointed as we had been talking for several days about eating there. At this point it was super humid and we were super hungry. Not a good combination for four stubborn people. But after going to three other restaurants we finally found an Italian one that we all agreed on and ended up having a really nice time. After lunch we walked through the historic district to the Cathedral and went inside just as it started to rain. After that, we slowly made our way up St. George Street running from awning to awning dodging the rain. Before we left town we decided we would go take a tour of the oldest house in Florida. It looked simple enough to find on the map but we hadn't counted on their being so many one way streets and several being flooded. It was actually nice to get lost though and see the old city from a different perspective (that probably is not how my mom would describe it though as she was driving). The oldest house in Florida was built in 1702 shortly after the British burned St. Augustine. The house had had several owners over the last 300 years and the different rooms were decorated to each show a different time period in the history of the house. We then drove around a little more before leaving St. Augustine, having had a fun day. That night we had breakfast for dinner, an ancient Rencher Sunday tradition (even though it was Monday) which I enjoyed experiencing on my birthday.

Thanks Mom and Dad for a fun weekend.

I have posted an album on Facebook of pictures from the weekend. You do not have to be a member of Facebook to view them. Just click on the link below and enjoy:

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=38706&id=1410030498&l=27a846e850