Florida (2013)

Prolog

As we do each year, in the last five years, we visit the East Coast of the U.S during the Fall. 

This year we decided to spend a week in South Florida.

Around September we received a call from a friend we haven’t seen nor heard for the last 28 years.  Na’ama was our close friend when we lived in Queens, NY and for no reason we lost communications with her. Na’ama had told us that she became a widow a couple of years ago and that she lives by herself in Marathon, Florida.  I told Na’ama about our plans for December and we decided to hook up while in Florida. 

 

As it turned out, Na’ama was available for traveling with us and we decided to spend the week with her.
 

Dec 13^th, 2013 – Friday

We headed to LAX to our awaiting Virgin American Flight to Ft. Lauderdale.

The red-eye flight left at 11:00 PM and it was a pleasure one.  We arrived in Ft. Lauderdale International Airport at 6:00 AM and with our rental from Hertz we headed to our resort: Hollywood Beach Tower in Hollywood, in Hollywood, Florida.

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Dec 14^th, 2013 – Saturday

As expected our room was not available and we were notified by Imacule, the nice receptionist, that it will be ready around noon.  We headed to the near Starbucks for breakfast and called Na’ama, who was staying with her friends, not far from the resort, and told her that that we will pick her up shortly.

We arrived at the address, where Na’ama stayed and our reunion was very emotional.  We met Na’ama friends, Richard & Gianna, who gave us many suggestions as far as our plans were.

We left the house at around 10:30 and headed to the Design District in Miami, a creative neighborhood and shopping destination dedicated to innovative fashion, design, art, architecture and dining.

           
    

  

A week before our arrival, an event called “Pulse” was held here where artists exhibited their art, which is mainly graffiti on the neighborhood walls.  Pulse is an art fair founded to recognize emerging contemporary programs and their artists from around the world. This mantra rang true for this year edition, as always held at the spacious Ice Palace in Wynwood Park, which was our first stop.  

                 

Wynwood Walls brought the greatest artists from all over the world and we were overwhelmed as we walked from one wall to another looking at the beautiful painted walls.  At one point we saw a camera crew taking pictures of some models.  They explained to us that they are using these walls for a new international marketing campaign for “America Eagle” clothing line.  We followed some of the crews (there were 16 different crews!) and by doing so, were able to view the most exciting walls during the next couple of hours.

   

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It was time for lunch. We took Richard & Gianna advice and headed to Little Havana and to a restaurant called La Camaronera on West Flagler Street.  This Hole-in-The-Wall was everything you might want in a good restaurant.  The staff was accommodating and friendly and the food was fresh and delicious.  We started with Shrimp Empanada’s, which were out of this world and then came the Fried Calamari’s with a special house tartar sauce and finally we had the fresh fried Snapper, which was tender and tasty.  The price for all the above, including soft drinks was around $35.  As we exited, we spotted a window in the front of a supermarket where we stood in line and ordered Cuban coffee.  It was the best tasting coffee I have ever had. (If only Starbucks could make this rich, strong coffee…)

We headed back to the resort, which is situated right next to the ocean, and this time the room was ready.  I don’t know why I called it a room, where in a matter of fact we received a condo with two bedrooms (with TV in each one of them), dining room, 2 bathrooms and a kitchen.  The only disappointment I had was that the room did not face the ocean.  The facilities included a free Wi FI services, a pretty large pool, a Jacuzzi, a dining room, an arcade/game room, and a lobby with a computer and a large screen TV.

We also found out that almost every evening there is a street-performance at the boardwalk, not far from the resort.

We unpacked and then headed to a nearby supermarket called Publix, where we bought food, drinks, and snacks. 

While Tova & Na’ama decided to rest in the room, I headed to the pool and enjoyed swimming in the pool and relaxing in the spa.

         

In the evening we headed towards the street theater, located 5 minutes’ walk from the resort, and watched a Rock group called Cat Daddies, which was pretty good and was joined by the spectators, as they sang-along and danced away in front of the stage.

View the short video:  Cat Daddies Live!

We were back in the resort at around 10:00 and fell asleep as soon as our heads hit the pillows.

Dec 15^th, 2013 – Sunday

We woke up at 8:00 and since we skipped dinner last night we were ready for a good healthy breakfast, which I prepared and enjoyed looking at the two hungry women consuming their entire portions.

 

     

We headed to South Beach in Miami Beach and arrived there some 40 minutes later.  We found the area to have hundreds of people, strolling down the streets, sitting in the restaurants and cafés, enjoying the glorious morning (It was around 80 degrees with the most bluish skies you could imagine).  

       

The South Beach neighborhood, also nicknamed SoBe, is a major entertainment destination with hundreds of nightclubs, restaurants, boutiques and hotels also houses one of the most known homes, where Gianni Versace was shot to death on the steps of his house in 1997, as he returned from a morning walk on Ocean Drive. He was murdered by Andrew Cunanan, who used the same gun to commit suicide on a boat eight days later. Until today his death remained a mystery as police have claimed they do not know why he was killed.

AT the end of the strip we turned to the right, towards the beach and then walked back to our parked car.  We decided to walk a bit more as the girls had the urge to do some shopping.

    

Our next stop was at Little Havana where we found Versailles, the famous Cuban restaurant.  It is a landmark eating establishment located on Calle Ocho (8th St) in Little Havana. The large restaurant seats about 400 people features an ornate etched glass and statuettes, a bakery, a takeout area, a counter window and the ability to host banquets and parties.  Founded in 1971, Versailles is a popular restaurant among local Cuban exiles and tourists for its Cuban cuisine and connection to anti-Castro politics.

The food was fantastic as we ordered assorted plates with seafood and meat.

After the delicious meal we headed back to the resort and took a long rest.  We decided to once again to walk on the boardwalk and enjoyed the aroma coming out of the various restaurants, listening to the many languages spoken by tourists like us and watching the varieties of people walking like us.

     

We returned to the resort at around 10:00.

Dec 16^th, 2013 – Monday

We woke up at 6:00 (!)

After yet another delicious breakfast, prepared by (who else but) me, we headed towards Cape Canaveral and to the world famous Kennedy Space Center.

  

The drive, which took about 3 hours, was smooth only after we left the rush hour mess around the city.  

We arrived at 10:00 to this magnificent place and had a day full of activities and sights seeing.  We watched a 3D movie about the center and then walked to the nearby museum where we learned about this place:

  

The John F. Kennedy Space Center is the United States launch site that has been used for every NASA (The National Aeronautics and Space Administration) human space flight since December 1968. Although such flights are currently on hold, the center continues to manage and operate unmanned rocket launch facilities for the U.S. government's civilian space program from three pads at the adjoining Cape Canaveral Air Force Station.  Its Vehicle Assembly Building is the fourth-largest structure in the world by volume (!), and was the largest when completed in 1965.  Located on Merritt Island, the center is north-northwest of Cape Canaveral on the Atlantic Ocean. It is 34 miles long and roughly 6 miles wide, covering 219 square miles.  Its location was picked up because of its proximity to the equator (the closest in the US) and the comfortable weather conditions most of the year.

              

We visited few exhibits and then climbed the bus, which took us to the Launch Site where we saw the actual facilities used to launch many space shuttles in the last 5 decades, including the famous Apollo 11, Discovery and Columbia.  The bus driver was great.  He explained many things we saw along the way, and answered all questions asked.  Along the way we saw that the tall fences had 90 degrees reclined tops.  The bus driver explained that they were shaped this way to prevent alligators, which we spotted along the way, from entering the site.

             

 

 We spent the last stop at the Atlantis Building where we viewed the actual space shuttle and walked around the many different exhibits.  

   

I will never forget the Memorial Wall, which exhibits all astronauts that perished while on their missions.  The most memorable one for me was Ilan Ramon, the first Israeli astronaut, who died almost 11 years ago, in the terrible accident of the Space Shuttle Columbia, 16 minutes away of completing its 28^th mission.

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 We left the park at 5:00 and headed to Cocoa Beach where we had dinner at an excellent seafood restaurant named Florida's Seafood Bar & Grill.  The atmosphere, service, presentation, and quality of food were superb.

We returned to our resort at around 9:00.

Dec 17^th, 2013 – Tuesday

I woke up at 6:00 and turned on my cell phone.  There was a message from Israel.  Ofri Okladek, Tova’s nephew, informed us that Tova’s brother, Hanan Okladek died in his sleep last night at his home in Tel Aviv.  The news was shocking.  Hanan was only 63 years old.  We called Ofri and he told us more details and that the funeral will take place the next day.  We called our daughter Emly, who lives in Tel Aviv, and asked her to present us in the funeral.  Tova took the news with shock but after long minutes of sobbing she said that Hanan wouldn’t want us to stop the trip on his account and we should continue as plan.  She continued to say that we would mourn his death once we get home to California.

I prepared breakfast and the three of us sat around the table and ate quietly…

        

 We headed towards the Everglades National Park and arrived an hour later to Gator Park and purchased our tickets to ride an Air Boat in the swamps.  The ride was full of fun and the only disappointment was the length of the trip compared to its price.  

        

We spent the next 30 minutes spotting lots of Wild Life in the park.  Among the highlights were few beautiful birds, a baby alligator, few adult alligators and a pair of water-turtles. 

    

After the ride we watched a live show where the performer was teasing an alligator, which seems drugged out.  (How else could he walk around the predator, holding different animals and not be afraid?).

             


    

We took the highway and drove east along the reservation.  The Everglades is known for its vast wildlife.  We were able to spot many gators, many of bird species, of which some are on the endangered or threatened list, such as the Roseate Spoonbill, Great Blue Heron, White Ibis and a variety of Egrets, as well as the Osprey.

We headed back and took the highway towards the keys as we had planned to take Na’ama back home spend the night in Marathon.

 

We arrived in the late afternoon and found Na’ama home to be very cozy and clean.  She lives right next to the canal and only few steps from the ocean.  Tova & I were watching TV, while Na’ama prepared a delicious meal for the three of us, which included a lobster tail and a baked fish all was very tasty!

We talked for a while and then called it a day.

Dec 18^th, 2013 – Wednesday

We woke up at around 8:00 and had fresh smoothie for breakfast.

           

We used Na’ama’s car and drove around the key.  Na’ama was showing us her favorite spots, including a charming beach and her friends’ home located on the water front.

     


 

 For lunch we went to a restaurant called Island Fish Company, located at the key and facing the ocean, right next to a small marina.  Na’ama told us that many residents from the keys are using their boats to come there for a meal, docking in front of the restaurant.  

We chose to sit on the deck, facing the marina and watched couples of pelicans and about 20 seagulls that were diving above our tables, waiting for the restaurant’s patrons to be generous with them and let them taste the wonderful food. The calamari was absolutely wonderful and the grouper fish was also fantastic. The atmosphere was friendly and pleasant.

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We returned to Na’ama home for a short coffee and cookies.  While sitting in her backyard, I spotted 2 iguanas who decided to join me for the coffee break.

      

An hour later we picked up our belongings and after a tearful goodbye we left.

We arrived to Miami Beach a couple of hours later and headed to Lincoln Mall, a pedestrian road running east-west between 16th Street and 17th Street.  Once open to vehicular traffic, it now hosts a pedestrian row of shops, restaurants, galleries, and other businesses.  We waked up and down the eight blocks and had a wonderful time, watching windows displays and people…

      

We drove back towards our resort in Hollywood and stopped at an Israeli restaurant, named Yaakov, for dinner.  We had humus, tahini, rice & beans and some other complimentary dishes. Yaakov Kosher Restaurant was clean, tasty and expensive…

We arrived to the resort at around 10:00

Dec 19^th, 2013 – Thursday

We woke up at 9:00 (!)

For breakfast we consumed all the leftover items we had in the refrigerator!

We walked on the promenade and enjoyed the warm day a lot.  We ended up walking for six miles and returned at 2:30 back to the condo.  

     

  

We then packed, checked out from the resort and headed to the airport.

 

Our 7:00 o’clock flight to Los Angeles was pleasant.
We were back in our home at 11:30 pm.


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