John & Anne Wiley

2013/04/06

Both Sides

Filed under: Happiness,Has Photos,Inner World,Islander Adventure,Nature,People,Random — John @ 04:07

We’ve seen Miami and Vizcaya from both sides now. After a fun time with Bob & Georgia over coffee and bagels we took a rainy trainy day from Boca to and around Miami.

0188 EnTrance

0188 EnTrance

First stop after three different trains was the short walk over to an enchanted entrance to the Vizcaya attraction (that last manse I snapped from the air yesterday). Anne took nearly all the pix on her little camera today, so it’s especially fun for me to see what caught her eye.

13-55-03_73 Beauty

13-55-03_73 Beauty

As you can see, I snapped this one using my cellphone since we were traveling light. This other side of the mansion is quite different from what we saw flying past, yet similar in what it says about the man who had it built and only lived in it a few years. The whole story is on the links (two words in the text about it) from yesterday’s article if you’re interested.

0194 Barge

0194 Barge

That barge we saw out front yesterday is a popular photo spot. I wonder how many people arrived here by boat rather than from the grand entrance by road. The barge appears to have also been used as a theater in the round, but I haven’t read anything about that.

0200 Nancy's Realm

0200 Nancy’s Realm

We imagined our dear friend Nancy in this kitchen with a full staff bustling about, creating a memorable menu and glad to have that high-power fan in the ceiling during typical Miami muggy heat.

0211 Servant Stair

0211 Servant Stair

The “home” has a zillion bedrooms and an elevator with also several grand staircases as you’d imagine, but we were fascinated by this cantilevered stairway for the servants.

14-03-38_572 Grounds

14-03-38_572 Grounds

Vizcaya is a very popular Miami attraction, and many visitors say the gardens and grounds are their favorite part. Lots of nice touches, combining natural and human elements.

0240 Train Tour

0240 Train Tour

We’d hoped to walk a lot and explore several other popular destinations, but the rain found us riding the various trains for an impromptu city tour instead. Fascinating architecture everywhere, with a distinctive quality quite different from other big cities.

0184 City Scape

0184 City Scape

That glass building was our favorite, with the lights and colors of the sky compressed into reflections of the city in a giant lens.

We were repeatedly struck by how friendly and helpful the people of Miami are. So many times total strangers went far out of their way to offer directions, suggestions and friendly conversation. Hope we’ll be back on a sunny (but not hot) day sometime soon. 🙂

2013/04/05

Keys to Happiness

Filed under: Aviation,Flying,Happiness,Has Photos,Inner World,Islander Adventure,Nature,People,Random,Relationships,Tripp — John @ 02:58

Recent studies have definitively shown that happiness is independent of wealth, fame and even health. People are happiest when we love and are loved, and when we enjoy what we are doing. No surprise then, that we’re happy. 🙂

0148 Gumbo Limbo

0148 Gumbo Limbo

Yesterday we went with Bob and Georgia to a sweet little park named Gumbo Limbo after a tree featured there, and toured aquaria and conservation exhibits including sea turtle rehabilitation. They also feature a walkway through the mangrove forest with this tower providing a quiet view to the sea. That was a happy day.

1461 Plenty

1461 Plenty

Today they drove us to the Boca airport and we flew to Key West while they had a visit with the most precious great-grandsons you can imagine. We of course have hundreds of pix from the flight, and much of the Keys looks quite like the Bahamas. Similar land and water forms. But the mansions here are more grand. This one looks like plenty of home, and the sort of place that spells Happy for many people at first glance. I wonder if the people living here could possibly be happier than we.

1456 Spacious

1456 Spacious

Or this ample place. I hope they are at least as happy as we, who flew quietly past in our magic carpet that has made all of this continent our home.

1471 Marathon

1471 Marathon

This was literally a Marathon flight, because after flying over Key West we headed back up the Keys to land at Marathon. We went to the recommended Island Fish Co. restaurant for lunch while Tripp got some refreshing cool fuel and a rest.

1474 Silent Frenzy

1474 Silent Frenzy

Right from our table on the shaded deck we could throw rice and beans to the fish and initiate a silent frenzy. Those are fish along the bottom to the right corner and when they’d come up for the food some birds would swoop down only to see the fish instantly dart out of reach. Some even flashed their silver bellies at the birds as if to taunt them. Being so relaxed, at first I didn’t see the “L” in this name of a fishing charter company.

1488 Angler Management

1488 Angler Management

Back at the airport Anne rearranged some things in Tripp while I did a ten minute tour of the Experimental Aircraft Association (EAA) chapter 1241 aviation museum. Avery proudly showed their prize plane, this 1930s twin very like the one I snapped when we waited for takeoff Tuesday.

1498 EAA Prize

1498 EAA Prize

Then we flew back for another night with Bob & Georgia, snapping out both windows the whole way. Another mansion on a grand estate stood out to me. It even seems to have its own grounded freighter to protect it from the storms. Are these people happy?

1549 Happiness?

1549 Happiness?

I can tell you that we’ve been very happy nearly every minute of this marvelous “Islander Adventure” and most of that is within and between us. Yet somehow it is augmented by scenes and contemplations as we drift by glimpses of other lives.

When we landed again it was minutes ahead of an approaching thunderstorm at Palm County (KLNA) where Tripp has a cozy but less expensive spot to rest. It’s right next to Lake Worth which was once home to some of my ancestors, so taking a taxi through downtown was a bit magical. Tomorrow we’ll take the train into Miami, which we passed not long before that landing this evening.

1555 Miami

1555 Miami

2013/04/03

Second Crossing

Filed under: Aviation,Flying,Happiness,Has Photos,Inner World,Islander Adventure,Nature,People,Random,Relationships — John @ 03:41

Coming home to our native soil has become an even more powerful experience in recent years. We do so love our country and all it stands for. At the same time, the draconian border experience seems to be getting ever more intense. Thankfully, most of the actual agents are reasonably friendly and helpful though they do seem to put on a scary face when they go over Tripp with their magic wand that “detects hundreds of illegal things.” But anticipating all that was pushed to the back of our minds as we climbed out of Freeport and looked back at our temporary island “home.”

1260 Leaving Lucaya

1260 Leaving Lucaya

I think the cruise ship we’d seen anchored off the beach this morning went to this oil port after dropping passengers in Lucaya, though the town didn’t seem overwhelmed with tourists as we’d expected if a cruise ship was in.

1266 Tight Turn

1266 Tight Turn

That’s definitely a cruise ship stirring up the coral sand by making tight turns at the dock. The air was less smoky, so we got a better look at some of the reefs on the southwest shore.

1269 Reef Puzzle

1269 Reef Puzzle

For some reason this pic reminds me of those zillion-piece jigsaw puzzles with subtle color and shape variations that make it challenging to assemble them and are always missing a few pieces. Happily, this one is complete. Nearby another reef has a very different look and I wonder what diving in these two areas is like.

1270 Another Shore

1270 Another Shore

We seem to have jumped through all the CBP and ATC hoops without serious misstep (tho I still have an illogical fear that an unmarked car will pull up and spill out a bunch of men in black). After landing in Ft. Lauderdale (KFXE) to take care of all that, we made an 11 mile beeline to meet sweet Georgia and Bob at Boca. He’s a former pilot par excellence, and it’s always fun to talk airplanes with him. Tomorrow I’ll show him this pic I got waiting in line for takeoff at KFXE, of what looks to me like a 1930s vintage classic.

1275 Air Heritage

1275 Air Heritage

Boca USA

Filed under: Flying,Happiness,Has Photos,Islander Adventure,People,Random,Relationships — John @ 01:37

We’re happy to be back in FL where our phones work. Once we get net access I’ll share some words & pix. Meanwhile here’s Anne demonstrating how happy we are to see dear Georgia & Bob.

(sent from my phone)

2013/04/02

Strange Wind

Filed under: Aviation,Happiness,Has Photos,Islander Adventure,People,Random — John @ 05:41

It feels like there’s a strange wind blowing. For all the fun and relaxation we’re finding here, as the wind died down a little this afternoon our thoughts began turning to flying on. We stayed late in the room after breakfast, looking into weather and talking about continuing our trip. Then we took a break to go snorkeling. Our plan was to ride the several buses out to Paradise Cove where it’s said the snorkeling is among the best on Grand Bahama at the grimly named Deadman’s Reef.

Well, for a variety of reasons we instead decided to take a short and thrilling $5 boat ride in the still potent wind and waves to go explore nearby Coral Beach. The water was pretty murky due to the storm, but we did see some fish and our first large coral. No pix because we don’t have a waterproof camera and only brought one cellphone to hide by burying it in a baggie in the sand (nobody ever took notice of our little pile of stuff on the beach tho).

34_704 Coral Beach Bar

34_704 Coral Beach Bar

Does she look happy to have been swimming? 🙂

After drying off we had a beer at the funky and friendly bar, then headed out to the road for the walk back to our hotel. We had to pause for a photo op with this sign.

26_1 Coconut Zone

26_1 Coconut Zone

Getting hit by a falling coconut is no joke of course, but we found the sign fun and luckily the crop was still green. Then after a shower and my first shave in over a week (I was getting pretty grizzled), a last romantic dinner at Cappuccino’s across the street in the Port Lucaya shop area.

0114 Happy Diner

0114 Happy Diner

We’d enjoyed meals at several of the good restaurants in the area, but this was Anne’s fav so we came back. The pix kindly taken of us together by a passing tourist didn’t turn out so I decided to post this one of her, and this next one of me at the candy shop afterward.

0117 Happy Candyman

0117 Happy Candyman

We’d gotten into this little ritual of going in there every night after dinner and buying a small bag of selected bulk candies. Then back to the lounge in Churchill’s restaurant at the hotel to meet Kent and Kelsey. He and I each had posted on the Pilots Of America online forum about our respective flights to the Bahamas, and when he saw my photo from our balcony he realized we’re in the same hotel! So while he and I talked aviation, the gals talked about gal stuff. Such fun to meet another couple doing something similar.

So where will the wind take us tomorrow? Will we end up here for another night? Stay tuned… 🙂

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