Flamingos!

Lee and I visited the "Jungle Gardens" in Sarasota yesterday, a park created in 1940.  I LOVED it!   We saw a reptile show, with phython and baby alligator, and a bird of prey show with red-shouldered hawk, great horned owl, and Kookaburra!  (Sounds like the Academy, doesn't it?)  And then, I got to feed the flamingos.  Lee took three great videos with his iPhone, the first of a spinning cockatoo, the other two of flamingos.  I have placed them on YouTube - just click on the links below.  Enjoy!  (I can't help myself - I love animals of all kinds.)

Spinning cockatoo:   http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0OjR-wSl86M

Eileen feeding the flamingos:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5MJBLZ9kXZ8 

Marching flamingos (this one is hysterical, although short - you must watch!):  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_lO6AaaGAyg 

More to come later.

Eileen

Ringling mansion

I mentioned that the Ringling museum compound could easily take a full day to visit.   The home of John and Mabel Ringling, completed in 1925, is based on a home in Venice, Italy.   We did not take the indoor tour, alas (ran out of time), but know that it was lavish and extravagant.  Below are photographs of the house itself, ending with a photo of a marble landing on the bay, looking across to the keys, where Mabel “parked” her gondola.  

 The Front Door

  The back porch!

Gandola parking in the foreground, highrises on the key in the distance.

Mabel Ringling loved roses, and created her own rose garden.  Today, the best roses of each year are added to the garden and its roses now consist of the best of the last two centuries.

 Peace rose

Princess Diana rose

Ringling museum and grounds in Sarasota

I will skip Sunday, since we spent that day with my friend Janet and her two kids, at the pool.  Monday, however, was a day of more sightseeing.  We spent most of the day at the John and Mabel Ringling Art Museum and grounds, with enough to see to keep one busy for several hours.  John Ringling was one of 7 Ringling brothers, who all became involved in their circus.   On the grounds of the museum is the home of John and Mabel, a circus museum, a miniature model circus, and a very nice art museum.  

We went to the art museum late in the day, to see a temporary exhibit on botanical art of the 16th through 18th centuries.  All the familiar names where there - nicely done exhibit.  No photos to show.

Lee and I first saw the miniature model, to scale, created over several years.  It was one man's hobby.  He did a lot of research, down to the names of real circus performers and their animals.  People who had relatives in the Barnum and Bailey Circus can actually pick out their kinfolk from the models!  This exhibit was installed in 2006, and is still being worked on.  I have several photos - it was so amazing.  I enjoyed it especially because it told the story of the Big Top from beginning to end - pulling into town, setting up the Big Top and performing for the day, then packing up and pulling out late the same day.  The Big Top was used into the 1950's, but no longer.  The circus came with a kitchen that cooked three meals a day for the 1300 entertainers, every day!!  Managing the logistics of it all was quite a feat.

       Pulling in to town

       The side shows before the main show (this is where most of the money was made, apparently)

                                                                                 The entrance to the Big Show!!

                                                                                       Procession of elephants

                                                                                          Tigers and Lions!

                                                                                Ostriches pulling caged birds!!

                                                                                               The center ring

 

One of two side rings

                                                                                               As seen from above

I have more photos of the museum grounds, but will send later.

Finally, good WiFi

I finally found good WiFi in the computer center, so will post a few blogs today.

We arrived in Sarasota late Saturday.  The traffic through Orlando was horrific!  It's amazing how many people are here in Florida.  In the county where St. Augustine is located, the population has grown by 25% in the last 10 years.  Phenomenal growth.

So, this is embarrassing.  We are in a place called “Sun N Fun”, with over 1400 sites.  Lee likes it because it has a wood shop, can you imagine?  It also has a lapidary shop, a computer center, pool heated to 85 degrees, two hot tubs, shuffle board, etc.  Not your typical wilderness experience (!)   Lee took a couple of photos the first evening, the first across the bowling green, and the second of the "Pet bath", with both hot and cold running water.

Bad WiFi

Due to bad WiFi at the present location, there are no posts for Saturday and Sunday.  More Monday, hopefully.

St. Augustine, con't

Today we started with laundry and then a trip to Home Depot.  This is because, in vacuuming the carpet, a kleenex got sucked into the system.  All by itself. (I am not taking responsibility for the actions taken by the kleenex.)  Lee, because of the resourceful person he is, was able to remedy the situation, so now the vacuum cleaner is again working.  : )

I have meant to show Lee's handiwork for awhile now.  In order to make room for the parakeets, we removed a chair from the motor home and Lee made a cabinet for their cage.  We keep bird supplies in the cabinet - food, extra bowls, newspaper for the bottom of the cage, and so on.  Here is a photo of the cabinet.  We secure the cage with bungee cords, which works really well.  The doors match the cabinet doors in the motor home.  I think he did a really nice job - I am very pleased with it.




We did do a little bit of sight seeing today.  We visited the old town jail and a small museum of St. Augustine history.  It had a few interesting items.  Of special interest to my entomologist friends might be a "Boot Jack, cast iron in the shape of a bug, ca. 1890."  I assume it was used to aid in the removal of boots.  It is a handsome piece, colored, and good sized, perhaps 10-12 inches in length.

Tomorrow, we head for Sarasota!

St. Augustine, Florida

To whomever it was that suggested we stop at St. Augustine, Thank you!!  What an amazing town!  The architecture is fascinating, starting with the early Spanish style, to the British contribution, finally culminating in the Ponce de Leon Hotel, built by Henry M.  Flagler.  He was a co-founder of Standard Oil and a multi-millionaire.  The Hotel, completed in 1887, was designed by New York architects John Carrère and Thomas Hastings, and was constructed entirely of poured concrete. The hotel was wired for electricity at the onset, the power being supplied by generators from Thomas Edison, a friend of Flagler's.  Flagler had several other buildings and churches constructed in town, all in the same Spanish Renaissance style. 

Hotel Ponce de Leon, today the Flagler College

Does it look familiar?   It reminds me of Philadelphia's Frank Furness of the same period, and of Bernard Maybeck of the San Francisco area, just a little bit later.  These artists were experimenting with new styles (based on old traditions) and new materials in their designs.
 

Cathedral Basilica of St. Augustine

Grace United Methodist Church

Lightner Museum

The Lightner Museum, also built by Flagler, was originally a hotel for those who could not afford to stay at the Hotel Ponce de Leon.

The original Spanish influence contributed to homes that were entered through gardens:

and second floor balconies.

The bridge crossing over to Anastasia Island:

Unique architecture, a unique history, a unique place!

Fountain of Youth

I remember learning about Ponce de Leon's "Fountain of Youth" way back in junior high school.  And today, I saw the place!  So thrilling, even though we know today the water doesn't extend life indefinitely.  But isn't it fun to see a place that made such an impression so many years ago?  I have only one photo for today, of the park where the Fountain of Youth resides.  It is a beautiful park, shady, quiet, with several peacocks strutting or lying around.  Here is the park:

Since today's installment is short, I will send one of my favorites from a few days ago, that most of you probably missed. 

St. Augustine, Florida

We left Blythe/Jekyll Island today and are now in St. Augustine.  We have learned that RV's require constant work and numerous repairs.  Today we parked in a sunny location with no trees, and discovered the air conditioner does not work.  So we moved to a shaded location in the same campground, and will have the air conditioner looked at next week in Sarasota. (Is "campground" and "air conditioning" in the same sentence an oxymoron?)  We spent the rest of the day taking it easy.  Tomorrow we will head into St. Augustine to see the sights. 

No photos today.  More tomorrow.

At the beach

We spent a few hours on the beach, reading, walking, watching, relaxing.  To the left is the beach on Jekyll Island.  What's missing??  Hoards of people!  It was perfectly lovely weather - a nice ocean breeze, not too hot, not too cold.

Later in the day we took a walk at the campground, and saw in the campground lake some domestic Muscovy ducks, although they seemed perfectly free to fly away at will.  And, hooded mergansers, male and female.  The photos are not the best, but you get the idea.

Hooded mergansers (wish I had a better look at them)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 And the rest are Muscovy ducks.  There were three, who had a squabble while we were there.

 
 

Pedro

Pedro is joining us on our journey.  He has a great view of everything!

By the way, I have decided living in a motor home isn't that bad.  I had thought it would be confining, but it is at least as large as a hotel room, if not larger, and is certainly more versatile.  The birds are adapting pretty well.  The parakeets are their usual happy selves.  Munchkin is content as long as we are here.  He doesn't like it when we leave particularly, but he has the antics of the parakeets to keep him entertained, and we have been turning on symphony music for them when we leave.

When I was young, we used to camp in Yosemite, in the higher elevations (Tuolumne Meadows).  It was certainly an entirely different experience!  How the world has changed.  We see very few people in tents.  I would say that more than 95% of campers are in vehicles with water, electricity, tv's, etc.  Unbelievable.

Jekyll Island, one last time

I usually don't like photos of me, but this one I like.  Lee took it of me as I was returning from a beach where two dolphins were feeding not too far off shore, once again on Jekyll Island.  A long vacation and lots of sleep agrees with me!
 

Jekyll Island, continued

At the northern most end of Jekyll Island is an amazing beach that one has to see to feel the full impact of the place.  The ocean seems a bit rougher here, the waves higher than on most Atlantic coast beaches.  According to the guide book, this beach has receded 1000 feet since 1905.  As the beach recedes, the trees and other plants fall victim to the ever-encroaching sea.   Below are several photographs of the beach - it is impossible not to take several.  It is a very eery place, the trees like fallen sentinels, overwhelmed by the incoming tides.  I will let the pictures speak for themselves.