Postcards from Miami

Miami Sunset

Phew-- it’s been a long time and it seems like we’ve been a lot of places or done a lot of things, or time is just flying as usual. If you’ve looked for us in the last couple of weeks, we’ve been a bit forgetful about putting the “SPOT” out where it can do its thing, so I’ll try to catch you up on the where and what we’ve been up to.

Cape Florida  Light, Key Biscayne

Before we left our Miami marina home on March 10, we managed to get in all our last errands and do some more sightseeing before turning in our car. We visited Vizcaya, the mansion and grounds of James Deering (International Harvester) and found it a great example of incredible excess, which of course makes for an interesting visit and a great audio tour! Built during WWI, at one time it employed 10% of the population of Miami. Whole rooms and crumbling ceilings were imported intact (or reconstructed crumbles) from sites in Italy and France, along with virtually all other furnishings which were chosen personally by Deering and his mentor/ architect on long trips abroad. Some difficulties apparently occurred with the shipping of his purchases due to the war in Europe. Our visit was enhanced by young women posing in elaborate costumes and gowns for their Quinceanera photos, very much a part of the everyday happenings at Vizcaya in the 21st century!

We spent a morning exploring Fairchild Botanical Gardens, the only subtropical plant collection in North America-- the themed gardens were all quite spectacular, particularly the orchids growing in the rain forest. Another morning we visited the Florida History Museum, one of the few things we did in downtown Miami. We had planned a quick hour to visit, but after a couple of hours had to give up finishing because of general overload, not to mention growling tummies. So--- enough on the sightseeing.

Stiltsvville,  Biscayne Bay

We spent a weekend on the hook at one of my favorite anchorages, in Miami Beach, below the Venetian Causeway. We were there last year and it was one of the reasons we become enthralled with the Miami area. As the sun goes down, lights begin to twinkle in 360 degrees from the skylines of Miami and South Beach. Combine that with the cruise ship traffic late in the afternoon and I always found myself looking forward to the end of the day. But then, another highlight is the dinghy trip from the boat through the Collins Canal over to South Beach-- what a kick going under the low bridges, the overhanging trees and tying up midway to make a quick trip to the grocery store across the street!

Dingy Route to South Beach

This year we timed our arrival at Cape Florida State Park/ Bill Baggs Recreation Area so that we were able to find a lovely spot with ample swinging room to drop our anchor in tiny No Name Harbor. After lunch I took the mile or so walk to the Cape Florida lighthouse at the lower tip of Key Biscayne, looking at the fisherman gathered at the small piers along the outer path and marveling once again at Stiltsville. The houses there, built in the 1930’s on a sandbar, have a colorful past. Barely surviving Hurricane Betsy in 1965, they were further devastated by Hurricane Andrew in 1992. They now lie legally protected from the wrecking ball, within the Biscayne Bay National Park area, but the seven structures remaining are now barely more than campsites.

We’ve had so little company on board this winter, so were delighted when our niece and her husband, along with our great-nephew, joined us for the short trip up from Miami to West Palm Beach. We had a great time, but it was a short visit, and we left them in West Palm Beach Friday evening to fly home again.

Skipper Resting, Collins Canal, Miami Beach

We’re now in Ft Pierce, having arrived Saturday from Palm Beach, traveling outside, along the coast to miss the three challenging and grumpy Jupiter bridge tenders. It’s been a long time since we’ve been underway any distance, and an even longer time out of the protected waters of the ICW. Bubba and I had our sea legs challenged-- I was fine by early afternoon after crackers and my seasick bands, but poor Bubba spent the day under the bedspread feeling miserable. 

All in all, we are feeling that we are in very good shape boatwise, with a little help 

from Scotty and a very flexible (physically, literally!) mechanic who was able to twist himself over, down and around to replace a part in the 12KW generator. And I’m happy to report to anyone who cares that our Florida registration numbers are now painted on our inflatable-- yes! I can finally cross that one off.

We’re all happy campers and it’s getting warm down here. We’ve loved our winter in Florida, but it’s time to head north and we’re looking forward to seeing friends and family in the Boston area. 

I think I’ve rambled on enough for one sitting-- the next entry will be shorter, I promise!

River of Grass—or Gators, Waders and Three Owls

Anhinga Drying Out

I’ve been interested in going to the Everglades, the third largest National Park in the US, since last winter, our first trip to South Florida. So last week we made a day trip down, entering the park near Homestead, the most accessible of the three entrances from the Miami area. We packed a picnic lunch, lots of water and insect repellent, although we almost didn’t need the last. We had been warned that amenities were few in the park outside Flamingo, where even the park run lodging is closed indefinitely due to hurricane damage.

We explored the Ernest Coe Center, checked out the bookstore and exhibits and went to meet the ranger for a guided walk on the Anhinga Trail. From what I know I would say that Anhingas are similar to Cormorants, although somewhat larger than those we commonly see in New England. They have a similar habit of spreading their wings to dry, as they are unable to fly with the extra weight of the water their feathers carry after being submerged. We have seen a few of these birds on the ICW in South Florida, but never so up close and personal as the many we saw on our walk. 

Everglades Cat & Mouse

It’s the dry season now and also alligator mating season (who knew?) so the alligators are beginning to congregate in “holes” with enough water to support them. The holes are shared with all the species of birds one would expect— white ibis, Great Blue Herons, Little Blue Herons, Snowy and Great Egrets, Wood Storks and Moorhens, a pretty little brown and blue bird, new to me. We and our fellow Anhinga trail walkers were transfixed by what seemed to be an elaborate cat and mouse game between the alligators and the wading birds. When the sleepy looking gators began to slowly move into the water, the birds warily moved a foot or two back. After the gators moved on, the birds resumed fishing until the next gator appeared. The sequence was repeated again and again. We were told that alligators need to eat only every couple of weeks, but when they’re hungry can be quite indiscriminate, even, the ranger reported, feeding on another smaller gator, as he recently witnessed. Quite a lesson in the food chain!

Gator Hole

After a drive down the road, a picnic lunch and another long drive down the road towards Flamingo, we made an excursion to the Mahogany Hammock, a seven hundred (or so) year old stand of mahogany trees, thought to be the oldest hardwood stand in North America. The park’s winding boardwalk through the grove was beautiful, but the scene stealer of the day were a pair of Barred Owls. Only four days old, these downy creatures were brought to our attention by a couple, with binoculars and a camera with a huge telephoto lens, fixed in mid-trail. I’m afraid we would have walked right by without their presence blocking the boardwalk. Instead, we were treated to a visit by the mother Barred Owl, a beautiful creature so named for her lovely striped brown and white foliage, who had come to bring the babies food. The babies, unable to fly before 42 days, were surprisingly large for their young age—they also looked a lot like very appealing lemurs!

Baby Barreds

That was it for the day, albeit a satisfying “it”. I will go back again next year, perhaps with my bird-watcher sister for an overnight trip. There is much to see in the Everglades and much to learn about man’s interaction with a natural phenomenon responsible for the water supply and ecology of South Florida. I am almost finished reading The Everglades, River of Grass by Marjorie Stoneman Douglas, written in 1947 but still relevant, which details the geological formation and anthropological history of the Everglades. I highly recommend it for an appreciation of this vast area of sawgrass, seasonal flowing water and a very important, endangered ecological system. 

Thanks to Sibley’s Field Guide to Birds for references!

Ferocious Felus Catus (Really!)

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