Month: May 2022

a florida road trip {part one}: miami

May 25, 2022

We took a road trip to South Florida in March 2022. Our itinerary included Miami, Everglades National Park, the Florida Keys, and Fort Lauderdale. On our way back home, at the northeast corner of Florida, we spent two nights in St. Augustine. This post includes our time in Miami, which was my favorite part of the trip. Part two will include Everglades National Park & The Keys, and part three will include Fort Lauderdale and St. Augustine.

I first stopped at Falls Park on the Reedy in Greenville, South Carolina. I visited my youngest brother Robbie and his partner Rob at their new house in Columbus, Georgia, where we commiserated over politics, ate sushi and chile rellenos, and drank sake and margaritas. I bought beach cover-ups at Ron Jon Surf Shop in Cocoa Beach, Florida.

Falls Park on the Reedy in Greenville, SC
Falls Park on the Reedy in Greenville, SC
my brother Rob & me in Columbus, GA
Columbus, GA
Ron Jon Surf Shop in Cocoa Beach, FL

I met Mike at the Miami Airport and we strolled through the Art Deco Historic District on South Beach, saw an adorable pink lifeguard tower, and spent a feisty evening on Calle Ocho in Little Havana among roosters and coffee stores. Mike puffed on a cigar at Guantanamera. We immersed ourselves at Wynwood Walls, an outdoor museum of funky international street art. We wandered among orchids, coral trees, palms, cyads, and a rainforest at Fairchild Tropical Botanic Garden. We spent a barefoot morning lollygagging on South Beach, admiring the colorful art deco lifeguard stands then spent the afternoon basking in the sun at Bill Baggs Cape Florida State Park. We returned to Little Havana for another night of Cuban food and a history lesson on the failed Bay of Pigs Invasion (April 17, 1961) and paid tribute at the Eternal Torch in Honor of the 2506th Brigade, many of whom lost their lives or were incarcerated in horrible conditions in Cuban prisons.

I recommend watching on YouTube for the best experience.

Our top experiences in Miami were:
7) Coconut Grove
6) Fairchild Tropical Botanic Garden
5) Bill Baggs Cape Florida State Park
4) Wynwood Walls
3) South Beach – the beach itself and the Art Deco lifeguard stands
2) South Beach Art Deco Historic District
1) Calle Ocho in Little Havana

our Florida road trip
Miami, The Everglades and Fort Lauderdale

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three days in boston

May 11, 2022

We spent three days in Boston, Massachusetts from November 10-14, 2021. We’d been to New England a number of times – to Cape Cod, New Hampshire and Vermont – but never to Boston. We very much enjoyed our fall getaway.

In this oldest of towns, the birthplace of American history, we cheered the Cheers bar and danced along with weeping willows and ginkgo trees in Boston Public Garden. We followed the redbrick road known as The Freedom Trail, from the Park Street Church, which played a key role in abolishing slavery, to the Granary Burying Ground, final resting place of Paul Revere, Samuel Adams, and John Hancock. We paid tribute to the Old South Meeting House, where arguments in 1773 led to the Boston Tea Party. We walked by Faneuil Hall, where Samuel Adams railed against “taxation without representation.” Finally we saluted Paul Revere’s house, his equestrian statue, and the Old North Church, of “One if by land, two if by sea” fame. We bumped our heads below deck on the U.S.S. Constitution, aka “Old Ironsides,” in Charlestown.

We admired harvest doors in Beacon Hill and circled Fenway park, where we were caught in a sudden deluge. We fought chaotic rain and gale force winds that turned our umbrellas inside out, while making our way to the marvelous Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, which we enjoyed despite being soaked through and through. On our final day, we strolled through Cambridge, admiring sculptures and architecture at The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and at Harvard. We ate lobster rolls, sushi and bibimbap and toasted autumn in New England with a Southern Tier Pumking Beer with cinnamon on the rim and a Cisco Gray Lady. In a flash, we were on the “T” to the airport and back home in plenty of time for Thanksgiving.

I recommend watching on YouTube for the best experience.

Our top ten experiences in Boston were:
10) Boston Irish Famine Memorial
9) Fenway Park
8) Acorn Street
7) Cambridge: (1) MIT & (2) Harvard
6) The North End, aka “Little Italy”
5) Boston Public Library
4) Beacon Hill (the neighborhood where we stayed)
3) Boston Public Garden
2) The Freedom Trail: (1) the statue of Paul Revere & the Old North Church; (2) Granary Burying Ground; (3) Old State House & Boston Massacre Site; (4) Copp’s Hill Burying Ground
1) Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum

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croatia: dalmatia

May 4, 2022

We visited Croatia in October of 2021.  After leaving Plitvice Lakes National Park, we headed to the east shore of the Adriatic Sea, known as Dalmatia, starting in Zadar then working our way south through Šibenik, Primošten, Split (including Hvar and Trogir), and finally Dubrovnik.

After leaving Plitvice Lakes National Park, we drove through tunnels and over mountains to Zadar, where we listened to the Sea Organ and watched the “Greeting to the Sun,” a light show powered by the sun’s energy. We enjoyed a fabulous dinner of John Dory fillet at Restaurant Bruschetta in Zadar and then strolled along the Riva. We climbed up to St. Michael’s Fortress in Šibenik and enjoyed a waterfront lunch. We wandered around the beaches of Primošten. We arrived in Split to cold and blustery weather and stopped for a warm-up with pear brandy at Semafor. We braved a miserable rainy and cold day in Split visiting Diocletian’s Palace, and then visited it again the next day when the sun came out. We climbed the Venetian bell tower at noon and got an earful of clanging bells. We drove to the Marjan Peninsula and visited Kašjuni Beach and then drove to Trogir and strolled the waterfront promenade. We ate one of our best meals of avocado & shrimp salad and stuffed green peppers with mashed potatoes at Semafor. We took the ferry to Hvar, where we zoomed through tunnels and mountain roads over the Island on a quad, with an enjoyable stop at a hidden winery in Jelsa. We took a ferry to the Pelješac Peninsula, saw shellfish cultivation, vineyards, and the Great Wall of Croatia, and imbibed in oysters at Mali Ston. We braved the hair-raising cliff drive into Dubrovnik. We strolled around Dubrovnik and stopped in at Buža I, where concrete stairs led to a beach. We ate delicious grilled calamari at Konoba Jezuite while bundled in a pink blanket against the frigid bura. We took our COVID tests with (luckily) negative results. We walked around the Dubrovnik City Walls and up to the Fort of St. Lawrence, where we had a birds’-eye view of the City Walls. We devoured Bosnian meatballs at the Taj Mahal and, the next morning, took the cable car to Mount Srd, where we had a great view of all of Dubrovnik. We climbed to Park Gradac for views and then ate our final meal at Restaurant Jezuite.

I recommend watching on YouTube for the best experience. 🙂

Our top eight experiences in Dalmatia were:
8) The Pelješac Peninsula and Mali Ston: eating shellfish, drinking wine. Climbing the “Great Wall of Croatia would have been fun, but we didn’t have time.
7) Primošten: the beach is beautiful and would be nice in summer.
6) Trogir: the rich and famous and their yachts.
5) Šibenik: Climbing to St. Michael’s Fortress for amazing views.
4) Dubrovnik: Walking around the City Walls. Otherwise, very touristy.
3) Split: lots to do. We were unlucky with weather but it would be great in warm weather.
2) Zadar: the town, restaurants, Sea Organ and “Greeting to the Sun.” Not so touristy.
1) Hvar: taking a quad and a secret winery at Jelsa. 🙂

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our Polarsteps map of our route in Dalmatia

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