The Stories That Didn't Get Told
I did learn about buried treasures and shipwrecks and many other things. I had delightful visits with two cousins -- one who lives at Cocoa Beach and one who leaves just outside Miami Beach -- and an old high school buddy and his entirely wonderful wife who live in Plantation.
I saw the cruise capitol of the U.S. -- Port Canaveral. I went antiqueing in a very ritzy 'burb at the  Antique and Bibelot ( bibelot info) and was given a Bible. So maybe it should have been Biblelot, hmm? I went puttering about on the Indian River Lagoon in a pontoon boat with dolphins and roaring through the Everglades on an airboat looking for alligators (and found some too). I saw the exquisite  McKee Botanical Garden and the funky and fun Driftwood Inn in Vero Beach and the elegant homes of movie starts in Palm Beach and the Loggerhead Marinelife Center and turtle hospital in Juno Beach. I saw "The African Queen" on view at a Holiday Inn in Key Largo. I saw the wonders of the beaches and the boys in Ft. Lauderdale--but these are not the boys Connie Francis sang about, I'm pretty sure. (American cultural reference explanation for you "foreigners." "Where the Boys Are" was a big teen-agers-discovering-sex movie from 1960 and Connie Francis sang the title song. Ft. Lauderdale now attracts a rather flamboyant gay community (male).)
I saw a  manatee close up and personal. S/he (even they have a hard time telling) was covered with propellor scars and exuded peace and venerable antiquity. Walking on the beach Sheila found a pear whelk case and we saw a group of seniors doing tai chi to the morning sun and watched the pelicans fish. I ate a Krispy Kreme and a tiramisu gellato cone (not at the same time) and lots and lots of fresh fish and my cousin's world-famous tomato pie. I listened to the cardinals sing.
Indeed, the last of the trip was as good as the first, but I never got around to writing it up. So here's my plan, I'll just go and do the whole thing all over again and this time I will. Until then, I've posted a few photos to tide you over.
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