Okeechobee and Venice

 

Leaving John Prince we headed west towards Venice making an intermediate stop at a motorcoach resort at Okeechobee called Silver Palms.

            

While here we biked on the trail that goes around Lake Okeechobee.

            

This year in Venice we stayed at Royal Coachman RV resort right on the Legacy Trail in Nokomis.

            

We biked into Venice, had lunch at the jetty area on the north side of town, and then biked to the end of the trail just south of the Venice airport. Along the way Irene got a picture of a baby bald eagle.

            

            

We also enjoy seeing the gopher tortoises that are native to the area.

            

Returning north to downtown Venice we took the road and trail paralleling the beach and stopped at Sharky’s on the Pier.  It was a breezy day!

            

West Palm

Of all the places in Florida we have visited, West Palm Beach seems like the ideal place to retire to. It is clean, cosmopolitan, and interesting.

For RVing, nearby John Prince County Park is one of our favorite places too. This year we were lucky enough to bag possibly the best site in the park.

            

We love the Green Market that is held in West Palm every Saturday.

            

West Palm has a marvelous trail running along the water front. Here we are exploring the south side.

            

Last year we were enthralled with this Mediterranean style home that was being built on the south side, and we were pleased to see completed house this year.

            

One day we rode our bikes about five miles north of West Palm to John D. McArthur State Park.

            

            

Upon our return to Singer Island we had a pleasant lunch at Sailfish Marina Resort.

            

We ended up the ride with a visit to the south end of Singer Island where we could look across the channel to Palm Beach where we had earlier enjoyed a ride.

            

Ft. Lauderdale

 

We made a two night stop at Ft. Lauderdale mainly to ride our bikes on the Hollywood Boardwalk, now renamed “Hollywood Broadwalk.” It is said to be one of the top ten public spaces in the U.S. We think it is beautiful with its brick pavers and blue water beach.

         

As before we stayed at TY Park, an acronym for Topeekeegee Yugnee Park, a Broward County park. One thing George likes is that the campground is located right on the Tri Rail and CSX Amtrak rail lines. Frequently passing Tri Rail and twice daily Amtrak trains provide continual entertainment.

          

          

The Hollywood boardwalk was only one part of our bike outing. We decided this year to bike on further to downtown Hollywood where we ate at an al fresco restaurant. The ride took us over the Intracoastal Waterway.

           

         

After lunch we returned to Hollywood beach and caught the Hollywood Water Taxi which took us initially south to the Diplomat Hotel. The Diplomat is a special place for George because he came here with his parents when he was in college. His dad was attending an RCA meeting for dealers. George was surprised to see a new Diplomat hotel had been built.

         

After the stop at the Diplomat, the water taxi took us north to Ft. Lauderdale. Along the way we saw the port of Ft. Lauderdale, a private yacht owned by a Russian tycoon, and a cruise ship.

           

         

         

Miami my Amy

Just like Keith Whitley sang, we were bound for Miami - to a nice Dade county park known as Larry and Penny Thompson Park in south Miami. It was built on the site of Naval Air Station Richmond, one of the old WW II Navy blimp station sites. There were several blimp stations around the country that the Navy built during WWII after the Goodyear company convinced the Navy of their utility in tracking Nazi submarines that were menacing the Atlantic coast.

Coconut Grove

In our first bike foray we headed to Coconut Grove, a community with a hip reputation. After first running into traffic and routing problems due to a marathon race, we finally made it to Miami City Hall and parked. Miami City Hall is in the old Pan Am seaplane port at Coconut Grove..

           

We had lunch at Scotty’s on the water.

           

After lunch we biked north towards Miami and saw some interesting homes.

             

           

Coral Gables

We started our ride in Coral Gables in the downtown district. We rode west along the north side of the Coral Gables golf course and made a stop at the water tower.

                        

Then we made a pass by the marvelous Biltmore Hotel built during the 1920’s and now beautifully restored. We visited there last year and took a tour.

                        

We then headed for the Venetian Pool which is carved out of bedrock coral.

            

           

Then on to the Desoto Plaza fountain.

           

Old Cutler Road Ride

We decided to ride from the Deering Estate north to Matheson Park just south of Coconut Grove. George forgot to check the mileage, and on the way over Irene came up with 3.6 miles, a nice little round trip ride of 7.1 miles. The information was wrong and we wound up riding about 16 miles. Nonetheless, the highpoint was Matheson Park. We reached a point where we had a beautiful view of the Miami skyline and saw sail boarders plying the bay. We included one of Irene’s pictures as our current theme pic. 

Here is a map of the ride:

           

             

           

Gold Coast Railroad Museum

On our last day in Miami we visited the Gold Coast Railroad Museum which we first visited a number of years ago.  It was subsequently damaged by Hurricane Andrew, but has since been restored.  Of special interest was the display about the old Naval Air Station Richmond, a blimp facility during World War II, largest of all the U.S. blimp stations.  The site is now the home of Larry and Penny Thompson Park and the Miami Zoo as well as the railroad museum.

           

The museum paid homage to Henry Flagler’s ambitious dream to build a railroad from Jacksonville down the east coast of Florida all the way to Key West – the Florida East Coast Railroad (FEC).  The FEC logo depicts the miles of overseas bridges required to build the line to Key West. 

                         

In another FEC logo we see that people of that era loved the same things we love about south Florida – palm trees and sunsets.

                        

The California Zephyr beaver tail - dome car brought back many good memories for George of America’s streamliner era of the 40’s and 50’s  This car saw service on the crack streamliner “The California Zephyr” on the Western Pacific line. The train ran between Chicago and San Francisco during the streamline era and was one of America’s greatest luxury streamliners.  The car had a limited number of private rooms plus a lounge area and was and is a rare car. 

           

           

The most famous car at the Gold Coast RR Museum is the Ferdinand Magellan which was specially outfitted for President Franklin D. Roosevelt during WWII complete with armor plated walls and 2 escape hatches.  It was built by the Pullman company and is an end observation car, ideal for presidential campaigning. Presidents Truman and Reagan also used this beautifully restored car.

           

           

FDR’s room in the Ferdinand Magellan also contains the wheelchair that he used on the train, small enough to pass through the narrow doorways.

           

Eleanor Roosevelt’s room:

           

George and the director of the museum who led the tour of the Ferdinand Magellan stand in the dining room.

           

Presidential china:

           

 

The sitting area at the back of the the car includes newly renovated leather panels above the windows. 

           

Our tour of this historic car ended just in time for us to ride the train!

           

A train fan since childhood, George loves riding trains – any trains.