Category Archives: Rhode Island
Final Hours in Fort Lauderdale
My Mexico cruise/ Fort Lauderdale adventure is winding down. I have one last thing to squeeze in and that is a visit to family.
I met my cousin at Lester’s Diner in Fort Lauderdale where we enjoyed a real good old-fashioned breakfast of pancakes and bacon. The diner is like a blast from the past, an authentic 50′s style restaurant and home to the infamous 14oz coffee cup. This signature landmark has been a family owned and operated business in South Florida for over 43 years.
My cousin told me she used to work there and met her husband there. Another old-fashioned touch. She was a waitress, he was a trucker. Sounds like the basis for a romantic movie. 🙂
My cousin is the outgoing one and she seemed to know everyone as we made out way to our booth.
After breakfast we headed to my aunt’s home which turned out to be literally around the corner from the Diner and after a short visit there we went on to the airport also just “around the corner.”
That should have been the end of the story. Drop off rental car, get on plane , arrive home but it turned out it wasn’t quite that easy. I dropped off the rental and grabbed the shuttle to the terminal. I checked my bags curbside and headed into the security line. It was huge. As I stood there looking around I realized I didn’t have my coat! It was still in the rental car. I tried calling the lost and found but kept getting lost in the IVR prompts so back to the shuttle to reverse my previous trip.
At the Hertz counter they directed me to lost & found and there was my coat. Yay! Now back on the shuttle again to the terminal and back on the line. It hadn’t moved much. I was in the same place as when I left. Slowly , very slowly the line began to creep forward.
In the Fort Lauderdale airport the security is on a slightly lower level from the check in counters. As the line crept forward I eventually reach a point where there was a ramp that led down to the TSA agent and security scanners. I wish the TSA had allowed pictures because at that point I could look out over all the travelers and it was a wall to wall sea of people all jostling and pushing for position! It was an amazing sight and I had lots of time to watch as I waited for my line to move forward again.
Once at the scanners the routine was the same…shoes off, lap top out of the luggage, walk through scanner, retrieve, put shoes back on and find the gate. Whew! from the time I got back on line the 2nd time until I made it to my gate it was over 1 hour! So glad I went early. My cousin had suggested I chat a little longer saying I’d be through security in 10 minutes. Maybe if I was on an early flight but apparently not if you are flying mid-day!
The rest of my flights were uneventful. I offered to be “bumped” in exchange for a $400 voucher but I would have to fly out the next day, not just a later flight on the same day so I passed it up.
My flight finally landed around 8:30 pm amid snow and sleet. The parking valet had my car warmed up and cleaned off when I got off the shuttle. The drive home was not too bad in spite of the weather and there they were. 2 little furry faces meeting me at the door.
I love travel but I love coming home too.
A teeny tiny “Farm-ette”
Boy have I been slacking! Statement not question. I always get lazy when the weather gets cold. Each year it gets harder and harder to motivate myself to brave the weather. Seems like I get cold easier and warm up harder. Winter hasn’t even “officially” begun and I’m trying to go into hibernation.
In the midst of this seasonal malaise I got an invitation from one of my co-workers. He knew I have an interest in photographing “critters’ as he refers to them and his pygmy goats had just had babies. He wondered if I’d like to come down to see his little “farm-ette” and take some pictures. He warned me to wear boots because it might be muddy. I assured him that wasn’t a problem as I had grown up on the same kind of “farm-ette” (I love that word)
Our definition of a “farm-ette” is a little land on which a few animals are raised for fun and maybe a little profit. Whatever combination of animals you like. This includes the old-fashioned “family farm” as long as it isn’t too big. The homeowner has another job that pays the bills and for the animal hobby. I grew up on a “family farm”. At various times we had chickens, pigs, cows, sheep, goats and horses but my Dad worked at his business every day as well as the farming.
My friend has a similar situation. He raises Silky chickens, Alpacas and pygmy goats and a couple of horses along with the family pets like cats and birds. Although I didn’t get to see them I believe he said he had a couple of parrots.
We started our tour in the chicken coop. These aren’t the regular run-of-the-mill chickens. These are called silky chickens and they are cute as can be. The hens have a Pom-Pom on the top of their heads and male and female are really fluffy. They are just the cutest things. There were some chicks and I went about trying to catch them in pictures…boy are they fast!
After my only partly successful attempt to photograph those feisty birds we walked through the alpaca paddock heading to the pygmy goats. The Alpacas were a bit more willing to stand still and “pose” but still kind of wary of a stranger.
Then we reached the goats. Pygmy goats aren’t even as tall as a big dog. I think the adults only came to about my knees and they were very friendly.
The little “kids” were bouncing all over, climbing on feed sacks, opening and closing the barn door, just getting into everything.
Here the light was very dim so it was once again a photographic challenge but I can tell you these are really cute babies.
I’m glad my friend thought to invite me over and take the time to show me around. Like “Charlie” of Charlie’s Angels my friend wished to remain in the background so all we’ll see of him are his hands . 🙂
I just love the animals. It was a great afternoon and the “shot-in-the-arm” I needed.
The Search for Angry Seas continues.
After a quick lunch at an IHOP in Newport, RI I reviewed my options. There’s a lighthouse I’d been meaning to try to find so this seemed a good opportunity. The Lighthouse is on Goat Island. I don’t know anything about that island either so the whole thing would be an adventure…and maybe there’d be some surf there.
I pulled out my trusty GPS and plugged in the address. It began by leading me back toward the Claiborne-Pell Bridge. I didn’t want to go over the bridge again and have to pay another toll but I decided to trust the GPS and sure enough…right before the bridge entrance was a left with a sign “Goat Island”.
Taking the left took me into historic downtown Newport. There were lots of signs for Goat Island to support the directions my GPS was shouting at me. Right by the Newport Visitor Center and Terminal a right turn took me to “The Causeway to Goat Island”. There was a little park on the right and a place to pull off the road so I stopped . I could see the Lighthouse and a great view of the bridge.
It’s just a little lighthouse.
The seas here were pretty calm too but the sun was starting to go in and out. It wasn’t quite so bright and sunny and a breeze had sprung up. A sailboat was cruising around the harbor.
I wanted to see if I could get a different angle on the lighthouse but when I crossed the bridge it became clear that the Lighthouse is located on the property that belongs to the Hyatt Hotel. There wasn’t much parking except for guests so I decided to move on.
Retracing my steps brought me back to downtown Newport. I wasn’t that far from the Mansions so I decided to try Ocean Ave. On the way I drove into Fort Adams. I just pulled into the parking area but I have added it to my list of spots I want to return to on a better day. The sky was rapidly clouding up and it was starting to sprinkle. A large helicopter circled over the bay.
Leaving Fort Adams I took a right. When I reached Ocean Ave. there was a barricade but it had been moved to the side of the road. The car in front of me didn’t hesitate so neither did I. And that’s where I found them…those angry seas that I knew had to be out there.
As I took pictures it began to rain harder. I moved on along up the road to Breton Park.
Along here the ocean was even wilder.
What an adventure! This had my adrenaline pumping. The wind was really blowing now and it was raining quite hard. I do believe the waves were getting bigger while I watched.
But all things must come to an end. The Newport Police arrived to throw everyone out.
They were nice about it but made it clear that it was time to leave. Like the road in Jamestown to Beavertail State Park, the end of Ocean ave was closed while crews removed sand and debris so I had to take a twisty series of side streets to get back to Broadway. By now it was really raining hard as I settled in for what looked to be a long , wet ride home. But I was satisfied. I’d found the angry seas.
I wonder what it would have been like on the Newport Cliff Walk? Now why didn’t I think of that!
In Search of Angry Seas
Ok I was a good girl. I did not go out in the hurricane looking for storm photos. I stayed home. I was bored. But every time I’d think about venturing out I’d hear another horror story about tree limbs hitting cars or even whole trees falling… but one day is about my limit.
I was thrilled when I got up this morning and saw the sun trying to peak through. By 9 am it was shining brightly. There was a breeze but no major wind gusts. There was no reason for me to stay in today.
I had lots of places I could check out..The cape, Falmouth, Scituate, Jamestown and Newport RI??? No way would I get to all of them they were too spread out.
Scituate was on the news. Photos there looked pretty tame now so I headed south to Mattapoisett. Neds Point Light is pretty easy to get to and I figured it would give me an idea of what the ocean was like today. Getting there turned out to be the challenge. The Neds Point Rd. was closed with a huge tree down but one of the residents gave me directions to get around it. Those took me through a residential area with a lot of pine trees. It was easy to tell when you would see down branches because you’d smell that wonderful pine sent before you even saw them.
Once I got to the lighthouse in its little park I couldn’t believe it. It was like nothing had happened.
The sky was blue, there was no damage and the seas were calm.
I enjoyed the ambiance for a bit then decided to head to RI, specifically Beavertail Sate Park. That place can kick up a surf without any storm. I was sure I’d find some big waves there.
To get there I had to go over the Claiborne -Pell Bridge. It’s a beautiful bridge. It’s huge!
When I got to the toll booth I asked if it had stayed open during the hurricane. The collector told me he was only going to tell me once…they need SUSTAINED winds of 69 miles per hour. He said they only had sustained winds of 45 MPH during hurricane Sandy.
I mentioned that I’d seen quite a few boats moored in the harbor as I came over the bridge, did they ride out the storm out there? He said yes, not the smartest thing to do.
Then my time was up. Another car was behind me. I wished my toll collector a good day and continues on my way.
Along the shore you could see the debris left by the storm so it was easy to judge how far up the waves had come but the road was clear and before I knew it I was tuning down the road to Beavertail State Park. That’s when I saw the blue lights. Oh oh road block. I made a left and parked, grabbed the camera and headed down the hill to the corner. A women coming up the hill said I was a day late..I should have seen it yesterday. As I suspected the road had been completely under water. (This is what it normally looks like)
Today they were cleaning it up and had the road closed so the workmen could complete the chore.
On a side note I was told that IF I was able to get across to the other side I would see a car floating in the bay. A woman had run 2 police barricades because she didn’t want to be trapped on the “wrong side” of the bay. When she got to the low-lying section the water was too high and carried her car into the bay. Here the story changes depending on who is telling it. Some says she swam to shore and was rescued by the police others say she got out before her car went in the drink. Either way what she did after that was walk to the nearest bar and get drunk. Most of the folks I spoke with said they hoped her insurance turned her down. They were pretty irritated by her irresponsibility.
I hung around for a bit but by 1:30 it was pretty clear it would be several more hours before they opened the road so I headed back across the bridge to Newport, RI.