Coral Gables

As we left Little Havana we passed a sculpture that seemed to reach for the sky. Our tour guide said it was the Challenger sculpture.

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The Challenger Memorial, sculpture by Isamu Noguchi, is located on Southwest corner of Bayfront Park in downtown Miami, Florida. The memorial is white, composed of metal piping, and rises 100 feet, designed with a twisted shaped to symbolize the contrail of the Challenger as it rose on its fateful, final flight.

As we enter the neighborhood known as Coral Gables we were back to ducking tree branches and palm fronds that over hang the streets.

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Coral Gables is unique in a couple of ways. Dubbed “The City Beautiful,” Coral Gables is known for its tree-lined boulevards, ivy-covered mansions and historical landmarks such as the world-famous Biltmore Hotel and the Venetian Pool, both built in the 1920s. According to our tour guide there are no homes valued at under $1,000,000 in Coral Gables.

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Coral Gables was one of the first “planned communities” and prefigured the development of the gated community.

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Most of the homes are made of Coral, the walkways and walls, foundations and decorative features , all coral.

Leaving Coral Gables behind we headed back to the Bayside, a shopping and entertainment complex where we would have lunch and then catch the boat ride through the harbor islands.

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People Movers and Cigars

As our tour continued we worked our way along Biscayne Blvd and through downtown Miami. I hate to say it but to me it looked like any large city. One thing that caught my eye was the People Mover.  It’s like a little elevated trolley car. It made me think of our “green line” trains in Boston but it’s just one car, not a train.

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The People Mover, officially known as the “Metromover” is a  4.4-mile electrically-powered, fully automated people mover system that connects with the Metrorail at Government Center and Brickell stations and with Metrobus at various locations throughout downtown and the best part…its free. Yup,  everyone rides FREE.

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Now that’s something I’d like to take a ride on.

From there we worked our way into Little Havana. Little Havana is an interesting place and one I don’t quite know how I feel about. One of the first things our tour guide stressed is that everyone speaks Spanish there even in the schools. The Cuban traditions are closely guarded and maintained.

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Not to get into a political discussion but I found myself torn because I think anyone who immigrates to another country has an obligation to assimilate into the new country’s culture and language. I guess Little Havana is an exception because the founders were not immigrants. They were/are refugees  with the hopes of someday returning to their own country. In any case it makes for an interesting excursion into strange land within our own USA.

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We stopped at a cigar factory where we were given a opportunity to tour the factory and, of course, purchase cigars in the gift shop. I opted to remain in my seat at the top of the bus. Pretty soon a man came around peddling peanuts. About all I understood was  that his sleeves of peanuts were a dollar and very, very good.  I figured a snack wouldn’t hurt so I bought one of his very, very good peanuts, and they were.

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We passed the legendary 1930’s night club known as the Ball and Chain. Formerly a gambling den, mobster-owned club and jazz venue hosting luminaries like Billie Holiday from the 1930s–1950s, this storied nightspot reemerges in Little Havana once again, embracing its colorful past with a 1930s-inspired design countered by modern-day live-music acts.

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My other observation of Little Havana are the architectural features that reflect the Cuban influence or so I assume. ( Never having been to Cuba) . There are beautiful wall paintings and murals and wrought iron window decorations.

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Once we had a head count the bus rumbled on to Coral Gables.

A Mix of Sun and Laundry

On the ride back from Holiday Park the sky opened up again. The rain that had been holding off came down in buckets. By the time we pulled up in front of the resort it was raining so hard that I was once again soaked to the skin before I could cross the street. This was starting to get habit forming!

Once again I arrived dripping wet at the Purple Penguin. It was raining so hard that they had closed the patio and meals were being served in the combination lobby restaurant. I didn’t care. The staff was starting to recognize me, at least when I was wet. I’m not sure they would if I was dry and put together.

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My afternoon was quiet just hanging out in my room with a book.

But finally Wednesday dawned sunny and warm! By 9 am it was already in the 80’s.

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This is what I’ve been waiting for. I’m hoping some lazy sun on the beach will toast out my cold.

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One other housekeeping item that I took care of mid day was my laundry. Now you may wonder what was news worthy about doing laundry but I assure you it was the most interesting laundry experience I’ve ever had.

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The public laundromat was several blocks away from the resort so I took a cab over. The facility was the usual except it looked like it had just suffered a roof leak as water stains were evident on the ceilings and walls. As you can imagine it was all local folks and Spanish was the dominant language.  I located a machine, tossed in my things and located a chair to wait out the wash cycle.

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As I was sitting there minding my own business a tall, attractive woman came in. She found a machine, added her bundle of clothing but then she started stripping. Off came her shirt, then her pants, she was down to her undies and clearly debating if she could take those off. As she stood there fingering the waistband of her panties one of the attendants came over and sprayed her with Lysol! Instead of being offended, the woman just ignored it. I don’t know what was being said because it was all in Spanish.

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Apparently whatever was said convinced the woman not to strip further and she took a seat a couple of chairs away from me. Soon after another attendant brought over some shorts and a T shirt. Apparently from the lost and found/abandoned clothing bin. She handed them over and the woman put them on.

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If she was embarrassed she didn’t give any sign of it. It was like it was the most natural thing in the world to sit there in her underwear! I suppose it was no worse than a bikini on the beach but I admit, I was surprised.

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I am guessing that she was one of the homeless people that seem to be everywhere. It’s quite the contrast with the high class “beautiful people” parading up and down Ocean Drive and the homeless sitting on benches and napping in the park.

Gator Wrestling Anyone?

Once we returned from air boat ride we followed the signs to the gator wrestling pit. This was in a different place from the old pit where I saw J Mark do his performance.

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The new pit had a cover so if the rain started only the wrestler would get wet. The audience would stay nice and dry. There were tip boxes placed along the fence.

We had a lady wrestler that I’d never seen before. I don’t think she was ever on the Gator Boys show but I could be wrong. I may have missed an episode or two.

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She did the usual tricks, nothing new. After the show you could have your picture taken with a baby alligator.

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I have to admit to feeling a bit let down. My last visit has so much emotion attached to it because J Mark passed away after I’d seen his show. As a result this visit left me feeling kind of flat. I would have liked to see one of the show’s principal’s make an appearance. But that was not to be on this day.

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The air boat ride was good, especially with the iguana at the end but I’ve been spoiled by going out on the smaller 6 person air boats. Now the big Holiday Park boats don’t have the same thrill as before.

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All I can say is they do good work, rescuing alligators and deserve support. I’m sure I’ll  continue to keep them on my South Florida activity list.

New Tags

I’m so excited. (Believe me it doesn’t take much). I started using custom luggage tags a couple of years ago and they have made spotting my luggage easy and they are great conversation starters.

My first tag was of Rocky. The picture wasn’t great. I was still getting the hang of creating these little gems.

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Then I upgraded to a better picture. Rocky doesn’t look very happy , does he. He hates when I pull the luggage out.

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I’ve got more luggage now so I needed more tags so I’ve added some of Buddy.

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The finished product has my name and cell # so if my luggage does get lost I can be contacted and reunited.

Aren’t they cute. I just love them! Can’t wait to get the new order!