Exploring Florida Once Again

A couple of weeks ago I went to visit some family in central Florida and discovered some lovely towns: Micanopy, Ocala and Tavares. And I mean old-americana kind of lovely. On Saturday we visited Coon Hollo in Micanopy which is about 30 minutes north of Ocala. Coon Hollo this adorable outdoor fall festival. They had a corn maze, fair games, a hay ride where you get to feed cows and an assortment of other games and play areas for kids. It was very cute and like nothing I had ever seen before. In Miami we may have a few pumpkin patches (tents set up on an empty lot with a lot of pumpkins lined out for you to choose from) and festivals of different kinds but I had never seen anything like this. I won't claim to have seen everything there is to see in Miami, but I've been here for over twenty years so generally, if it's in Miami, I would hope that I've probably heard of it. I'm not unfamiliar with farm animals though as we do have cow and horse pastures in more rural areas and I have been to quite a few zoos and the like.

A happy Micanopy cow

The next day, we traveled to Tavares which is about 20 minutes east of Ocala. I'm referencing Ocala because it's the largest town in the area where we were staying. The morning mission was to ride the Orange Blossom Cannonball, a 100+ year old train that's been featured in many movies, new and old. They told a Halloween story, gave a magic show and all the children got treats. The actual train ride was about 40 minutes long and we didn't get off, but I heard that during past Christmas rides, patrons got off the train and visited a magical Christmas village. Sounds too cute.  

The Orange Blossom Cannonball

After the ride, a few folks stayed behind so the kids could play in the most elaborate treehouse-looking play park. Wished I was 6 again just to get in on that action. It looked very cool. We drove back through the scenic rural roads and once we got back, I helped set up for a Halloween party. We made mummy dogs and taco salad. Once those were done, I left to get ready for mine and my boyfriend's debut as a dapper cat and mouse pair. He decided I should be the cat. I'm still figuring that one out. 

Hope you had a great Halloween holiday!

Hello, View

The new view, not to mention the extra space, makes the move totally worth it...Hello, Miami!

Anxiety Over a Snack; Having One and Being One

Sandy and I went back into the wild yesterday. A trip to Everglades National Park hopefully makes for an entertaining and scenic post: 

Open road in Redland, Florida

We took the dark red road in the center of the map (the only road in this area).

Everglades National Park visitors center.

Beware of panthers crossing.

Vultures attacking their own reflections at the parking lot for the Royal Palm Trail. If there's anything you learn from this story, it's that vultures hurt cars and prefer the shade. You should leave your car far, far away and in the sun. Once our car was safe, we had to decide on a path for getting to the visitors center. The options were a) run through bee infested grass or b) run underneath vulture infested tree branches. We went with the vultures. I hate bees.

This decision was easy. The entrance to Gumbo Limbo was flooded with vultures flying around making barking sounds.

Royal Palm Trail visitors center

Where we heard the first alligator snort.

Taken right around the time we got attacked by wild and furious swamp flies.

First alligator sighting. I was filming the water rippling and trying to capture some wild sounds when I spotted him (for the purposes of this post, the gator is a male). Sandy was turned the other way, looking at an apple palm. Still filming, I turn to look at Sandy and whisper-yell, "Sandy, there's an alligator," as I point at him floating toward us. 

Just shy of the boardwalk that we're standing on.

Coming out from under it and measuring at least 9ft long.

Some underwater life.

Alligators resting in the shade. Another situation where a whisper-yell seemed like the best option for us as they were laying inches from our feet. This time it was Sandy who my smacked my arm and said something like "Oh no no no, ha ha ha, no. They are right there."

Thought this sign would help give context for the previous two.

As we're walking back to the entrance, Sandy warned a group of Asian tourists about the alligators under the boardwalk. Seconds later, you hear the woman scream and a splash. We laughed and ran through the swamp fly area so we wouldn't get attacked again. Once we were past the threshold, I took out my snack and asked Sandy if she thought I would get attacked by a bird wanting my food. This is where the title of this post was born.

Entering Mahogany Hammock Trail.

Attacked by swamp flies once again, we decided to run back and come back to the wild during the dry season (winter).

On our way out of Redland, we decided to stop in at Robert is Here. Family owned and operated for 60 years, the stand began as a vacant corner with a young boy selling his father's crop. Look it up. Highly recommend the strawberry key lime shake and local sauces/honeys/jams/juices/pies/you name it.

Tomorrow

Hello! I'm working on a custom order and wanted to share a sneak peek:

Also, I may be paying the Florida Everglades National Park a visit tomorrow morning so stay tuned for that.

Goodbye, View

We just recently gave the standard thirty day notice about leaving our current apartment and have been looking at new places. This has got me feeling nostalgic and wanting to document different aspects of our layout and view for a couple of reasons; a) so I can recreate it if I want to and b) in case we go somewhere that isn't as scenic. With that said, I decided to grab my camera, drop in my newly charged battery, and head out to the balcony.

Some background information before heading into the woods: My boyfriend and I live in a really nice part of a city within the city of Miami, called Coral Gables. The building we live in is particularly nice and very highly regarded in the world of rentals. But don't think for a second that we are in any way snobby, my boyfriend is an ambitious man who works in a great industry and I have two part-time jobs as well as my Etsy shop to live off of. With that said, we just found an awesome place at a steal of a deal.

Until today, I felt that I could safely say that only people with a certain level of appropriateness lived in our building. But no, my friends. Never underestimate the randomness you can find when you're not looking. I step out onto the balcony with my camera, giddy about taking a couple great shots for this post when, lo and behold, our neighbor is sitting on her martha-stewart-blue adirondack chair in a t-shirt and panties. Yes, you read that right. Panties. Not only is she in her panties, but she is lounging like she's in her living room and no one can see her. So I find myself standing on the balcony not knowing what to do, but feeling the time-sensitive nature of the situation. I have to make a decision before she notices that a) I'm outside b) I can see her and c) I have a camera. I immediately turn my gaze to the opposite side of the balcony and another neighbor is heading outside. This neighbor is definitely the kind that I have seen here before. Very nicely dressed, a drink in hand and giving someone a tour of her place. We make eye contact and she proceeds to ignore me. I turn back to the offender and make a move toward the apartment. I put one foot in the doorway and whisper to my boyfriend who is just inside watching a baseball game on tv; "Guess what our neighbor is wearing?! A t-shirt and panties! She's crazy, right?" He laughs and proceeds to watch the game. Best part: I decide that going back outside is the right move at this point. Why? Not sure, but I was determined to get the photos and told myself that I needed to check if she was still there. She had been smoking a cigarette (this is how I even noticed her in the first place) and maybe, just maybe, she was done with it by now and has done the right thing by going inside. I was not so lucky. I immediately turned back into our place, dropped the camera, started this post and left for dinner.

P.S. This journey began at around 7:30 pm which in July means that there is still enough sun to get a tan. It is now 9:21 pm and this is what I've got to show for the day.

Downtown Coral Gables (West)

Downtown Miami (East)

P.S.S. The next day at 1:36 pm: My ode to the best pigeon-less view (so far).

Downtown Coral Gables (West)

Downtown Miami (East)

Fairchild Adventure

The flora, fauna and architecture found at the Fairchild Tropical Botanical Gardens in southeast Miami-Dade represent the way I picture my home state. Here's my version of a photo narrative:

  Walking down Old Cutler Road--one of Miami's most beautiful streets. We ran into a large and colorful lizard. There's no telling what kind it was, but it was scary. By 'ran into' I mean it was running beside us on a coral ledge about 10 feet away and doing those weird push-up movements they do when they get excited or mad. This is my theory. When you grow up in a place where reptiles run rampant outside, you derive theories on why they do what they do. 

Main entrance signage and building

Around the office building on the FTBG grounds. Check out the limestone pillars which are carved and made to look like bricks. Also, the building exterior is painted in classic Florida colors, orange and green. A combination famously known because of the University of Miami.

I'm not going to know the names of most of the plants you'll see here, but they're all pretty cool and friendly.

Natural stone steps embedded into the grass. This is also right around the spot where we overheard a woman threaten her children with melanoma because they weren't wearing sunscreen. Whatever works.

  We were honored to meet the oldest FTBG resident. Like most old Floridian dudes, he's pretty chill.

Lily pads living in one of the many ponds and water structures at FTBG.

This is called Bailey Palm Glade (looked it up)...not sure what that means, but my takeaway from this structure is the mom and daughter combo on the left racing their way up. It was adorable.

A single-parent family of raccoons (also known as masked bandits) crossed our path. This was monumental for my friend, Sandy, who proceeded to beat my arm until I turned to see them. As they scurried away, I had to remind her that the "mommas don't play" animal instinct was going to kick in so that she'd stop following them. I was just able to capture them running through the grass toward a creek.

A building which is part of the conservatory and butterfly structure. A prime example of old southern Florida architecture with a wrap-around porch and stone incorporated into the facade.

A Florida resident, the banyan tree (with some spanish moss hanging from it--do not touch spanish moss, it will be painful). Growing up, I nicknamed them walking trees because the roots grow from the branches and embed themselves in the ground wherever they fall. Once the new branch is full, it almost looks like the tree has legs and is about to walk away. 

 

We left FTBG and rewarded ourselves with some delicious eats at the Pinecrest Wayside Market--"Home of the Famous Strawberry Shake!"We didn't have shakes today (although they are awesome), but we indulged in some water and Terra brand "Sweets and Beets" chips then headed home.