Today we went for a morning swim, Barbara finished the curtains for the living room and we decided to go out for the rest of the day. We drove down Route 1 to Fort Pierce and went to Heathcote Botanical Garden (http://heathcotebotanicalgardens.org/). The Garden covers about 2 acres and has many different types of gardens. As you walk from one small garden to the next you get a sense of the diversity of plants that will grow in Florida’s climate. In the back of the garden there is a replica of a 1880’s frontier cabin. In the one room cabin you can see the fireplace at one end and how they put a door on each side for ventilation. They also have a Seminole chickee (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chickee), it did not have the raised floor of a true chickee but we think that is because they do not want children to crawl under it. I liked the Japanese garden with it’s coy pond and the bonsai collection. I also found a clump of Tropical Blue Bamboo which was a new variety for me and as you can see from the pictures it has a blue tint to it. It took us just over an hour to walk through the garden and we enjoyed it very much.
Saturday, January 30, 2010
Thursday, January 28, 2010
New Stove, Finally
Well today Barbara finally got her new stove and if you look carefully at the pictures you will see that there are cookies (chocolate chip) in the oven already. WOO HOO!!!
Wednesday, January 27, 2010
Barn Cat Sail
Today I went sailing with my Brother-In-law George on the Barn Cat, his cat boat. We started out around 9:40 AM and were in the water around 10:15. Then we had to motor down the St. Sebastian River until we got under the railroad bridge and the US Highway 1 bridge. Once we were on the other side of the bridges George got the mast and sail up. Once this was done we turned the motor off and tacked up the Indian River Lagoon heading north. We sailed back and forth across the Inter Costal Water Way always getting a little bit further north with each tack. Around 2:15 after sailing north all day it was time to head back south. The wind had changed from due north to more easterly so we had a straight sail on a broad reach (If you want to know what a broad reach is look here http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Points_of_sail) all the way back to the US Hwy 1 bridge. This took about 40 minutes, 2 hours to go north, 40 minutes to go south, which point of sail do you think is more efficient? Then it was time to start the motor and take down the sail and mast. Once we were back at the dock George got the Barn Cat back onto the trailer and we were on our way home. Back at Whispering Palms RV Park we rinsed out the motor and also got the salt off of the hull and deck and then parked the trailer back into it’s storage spot.
Sunday, January 17, 2010
New Stove and Used Refrigerator
Today I got up and got busy finishing up the work needed to be done for the new stove and refrigerator (ok the refrigerator is used, but it is newer then the one we have). First up was to put new tiles on the floor under the stove and paint around the edges of the cabinets. After finishing that I had to pull the old refrigerator out of the space. That was a bit of a challenge but I got it out, the old frig does not have wheels on it (I hope the new one does, forgot to check). After cleaning the walls and floor I put new tile down for under the refrigerator and painted around the edges. Tomorrow when the new appliances are delivered I will have to take the glass doors out again (This time I know were all the screws are) to get the refrigerator through it.
Saturday, January 16, 2010
Ray Goes Sailing
Barbara and I arrived at Ed’s condo around 10 AM as planned and after saying good bye to our respective wives Ed, Joe and I were off to the marina. We boarded Ed’s 31 foot sailboat around 11:00 AM and after removing the sail and windshield covers and unplugging from shore power we untied her from the dock and we were on our way. Ed let me steer out of the marina and out into the channel on the river, it is a section of the inter-coastal water way that runs up and down the east coast. On the map below the top pushpin is were we started and the bottom one was our goal to get out the Ponce Inlet and do some ocean sailing.
We motor sailed (that is running under power with at least one sail up) down the channel to Ponce Inlet. On the way we saw many dolphins and other wild life. When we got to the inlet the tide was going out and with the waves from the ocean coming in we were hitting some 5 to 6 foot swells, nothing that the boat could not handle. Captain Ed said that if the wind had been out of the east instead of the north we would not have even tried to get out the inlet. Once we got into the ocean we set a course of 050 degrees, set the auto pilot and enjoyed the peace and quite after we shut the engine off. We sailed along for about 40 minutes until one of the crew (me) started to turn a bit green so we turned around a bit early and headed back toward the inlet. Once we got back to the inlet and the boat stopped going up and down so much the crew member made a complete recovery (with out losing his lunch). On the way back through the inlet to the channel a coast guard boat was coming back in and slowed down so I could get a good picture. We tried to sail back up the channel but the wind was coming straight at us out of the north so it was just a boat ride all the way back. Once back at the slip we tied up the boat and then put the dingy on the foredeck. We were back at the condo around 17:30 (5:30 PM). I totally enjoyed the whole day, even with getting a bit sick, the next time I will remember to take some Dramamine before we set sail.
Thursday, January 14, 2010
Electric All Done
After climbing under the trailer about a dozen times I got the electric for the new stove installed.
Wednesday, January 13, 2010
New Project
Well after getting back to the trailer we decided to go and look into getting a new stove. We went to two local appliance stores and bought one from the local Maytag dealer. They need to go get it from their Orlando storehouse so we do not know when they will deliver (the sales man/manager said he would have it by Friday). Well the new stove has electronic ignition so it needs electric to plug into so I have been working on that. I went to Lowe’s and bought three different circuit breakers hoping one would be the correct one, no such luck. I took pictures of the circuit breakers and went back to Lowe’s to see if I could find one. After showing the picture to the sales associate he told me the company that made that breaker has been out of business for about thirty years, just what i needed to hear. He told me I might find it at one of the local electric supply stores in Vero Beach. So I went to three different electric supply stores with out finding the correct breaker. One of the electric supply stores said I could try Amazon.com, so I decided to try that. When I got home I went online to Amazon put in the name of the breaker I need and bingo there it was. I ordered it and it should get here tomorrow (paid extra for two day delivery). In the mean time I got the old stove out of the way and found that the wall behind the stove was in bad shape due to the heat from the stove. So I cut out the bad spot and I have been working on yet another repair. Well I should get the new breaker tomorrow and be able to finish this project before the stove is delivered.
Also we bought a used refrigerator that will be better then the one we have now (also it will be white to match the stove) which will be delivered with the stove.
On a positive note the weather is warming up here in Florida. Also I will be going sailing with Barbara’s cousin Ed on his sail boat (it is 30+ feet), I have been reading up on my sailing but I am sure it will come back to me once I am onboard. I can’t hardly wait for Friday.
Sunday, January 10, 2010
The Quest Ends
Well while we where unsuccessful in our quest for warmer weather we did have a nice trip. Today before heading back to the trailer we had heard of a place were manatees gather to stay warm in this cold weather. The place is called Manatee Park. We put manatee Park into Hyacinth (our GPS) and she took us to the wrong place, this happens more often then you would think. So we knew the park was by the power plant so we went down the road further to find the power plant. We found the power plant and kept going thinking the park has to be on one side or the other of the power plant (at least I did). We then stopped at a Publics to use the restrooms and ask for directions. We were told that the park was across the street from the power plant, silly me I was looking on the same side as the power plant. We found the park and I am glad we did not give up. Then it was back to Sebastian and the trailer.
Saturday, January 9, 2010
Quest: Day Four and Five
Yesterday we went to De Soto National Memorial ( http://www.nps.gov/deso/index.htm ) to walk around a bit and get some more history. The Spanish explorer Hernando De Soto came to the west coast of La Florida in search of gold. Unfortunately after traveling as far north as present day Tennessee and as far west as Texas he never found any gold. Upon his death his men buried him in the Mississippi River. It seems that the Native Americans always told De Soto that the gold he was looking for was just a bit farther that way and the greedy Spaniards believed them. While we where there they had a demonstration of some of the weapons the explorers had with them including a cross bow and musket (look carefully at the picture of the cross bow and to the right you will see the bolt on it’s way to the target).
Next we headed to John & Mable Ringling Museum ( http://www.ringling.org/ ). Barbara really wanted to see the Ca’ d’Zan (translated as house of John, but the blueprints were all labeled “House for Mable Ringling) and so for $5 each we got our tickets for the 12:10 PM tour (of course we got into the grounds for free with one of our museum memberships) and we hopped on a tram fro the ride to the house. The house was started in 1924 and completed just before Christmas 1925. As you can see from the pictures it was full of very opulent furniture and decorating.
Today we just went to the Edison and Ford Winter Estates (http://www.efwefla.org/), it was cold (in the 30’s) and rainy. We decided to do the self guided tour of the grounds in the rain in stead of waiting for a guided tour. You could not go into any of the houses but the way they have it set up you can see into the rooms with out having to look through glass. The cold and the rain caused us to not stay long but we did see Edison’s House and Guest House and Ford’s House that he bought right next door to his good friend Thomas Edison. We then went back to the museum to sit and get warm. Tomorrow we head back to the trailer in Sebastian and hope the weather gets warmer soon.
Thursday, January 7, 2010
Quest: Day Three
Today we went to Gamble Plantation Historic State Park ( http://www.floridastateparks.org/gambleplantation/ ). It is a plantation house from before the civil war that was once used by Judah P. Benjamin the Confederate Secretary of State. After the civil war he stayed here while he made arrangements for his passage to England. This is the only reason that it was saved by the United Daughters of the Confederacy in 1925. It was not a very successful plantation in the 12 years the Gamble brothers ran it they had 3 profitable growing seasons. Our tour guide was very knowledgeable and answered all our questions.
Then we were off to Marie Selby Botanical Gardens ( http://www.selby.org ). We had a lovely lunch in the café there and then a walk around the grounds which included a conservatory full of orchids, my favorite flower. They had many different types of trees and plants as you can see from the pictures.
After walking around all afternoon we left and went back to the hotel but first we stopped at one of the local food stores called The Fresh Market. We bought some prepared foods we could heat up in the microwave oven. It was a bit expensive but still cheaper then eating dinner out. We had bourbon salmon with roasted potatoes and green beans followed by some stuffed cabbage. Barbara had a fruit tart and I had some cherries and a cappuccino chip cookie for desert.
Today was a little warmer it made it into the 60’s but still not what we would call Florida weather.
Wednesday, January 6, 2010
Quest; Day Two
We got up and headed to Sarasota, Florida which is farther south, evidentially not far enough south still cold.
The first stop for the day was the Yuengling brewery for a tour. We got there around 9AM and the tour started at 10AM so we just hung around until the tour started. It was one of the best brewery tours I have been on. After the tour there was the tasting, I had a Black and Tan and a Special both were very good.
We did go to MOTE Aquarium and Marine Laboratory ( www.mote.org ). They had many interesting exhibits including a sting ray touch pool, rays are so smooth they feel like silk, if you ever have a chance to touch them do it. The rays in the touch pool were very active and seemed to invite you to touch them. They also have a turtle that is blind, so he can not be released back into the wild like so many of the sea animals that come there. And in another pool an almost albino turtle, it is missing a lot of it’s pigment so once again can not be released into the wild. This is a must see place and we will go back again (we bought a membership for the year).
We then headed to the motel in hell; well there were several things wrong. First it was the kind were the room doors are on the outside, we like a hallway. Then the heat was not working in the room. But the thing that broke the camels back was there were no wall outlets to plug the computers, all the outlets were behind furniture. The clerk tried to satisfy us by giving us a different room but while the heat in the second room worked there still were no electrical outlets to plug anything into. So after getting out of paying for the room as not being satisfied we went to a Quality Suites (our standard) and got a room we are very happy with.
Included are pictures I took at MOTE.
Tuesday, January 5, 2010
In Search of Warmer Weather
Today Barbara and I took off in search of warmer weather. We decided to go to Tampa and went to one of the museums we get into for free, Museum Of Science and Industry ( www.mosi.org ). It was geared to children but most science museums are and some of the displays needed work. Then it was off to the motel for some heat in the room what an idea. The trailer would not be bad but we do not have any heat to speak of, just a space heater that only heats one room at a time. Here are some pictures that I took at the museum.
