"A Hotbed Of Evil Activity"

That is how Treasure Coast Ghosts, which gives ghost tours in Fort Pierce, Florida, describes the former location of Treasure Coast Antique Mall, now, ironically, the home of The Power of Faith Ministries and seen in the photograph above. Treasure Coast Ghost's website claims that a "cursed relic" called Robert the Doll "spent years residing at various antique stores in Florida," including at Treasure Coast Antique Mall in Fort Pierce, and "its presence acted as a catalyst for the unexplained activity that now envelopes the city." Now THAT'S heavy. I actually looked up Robert the Doll, and it is actually a well-known "haunted doll" that now resides in the East Martello Museum in Key West, Florida. It has a page on Wikipedia, an article on Atlas Obscura, and even has its own webpage. All kinds of supernatural activities have been attributed to it, and it is said that visitors to the museum who disrespect him have experienced "misfortunes." I have read a few of these accounts and in each one, possession of the doll goes from its original owner, Robert Eugene Otto, who lived at the Artist House in Key West, to a woman named Myrtle Reuter, who purchased the house after Otto passed away, to the East Martello Museum, never ever leaving Key West. So how did the doll wind up spending years at various antique stores in Florida? Unfortunately, the only way to find out is to sign up for that Fort Pierce Ghost Tour, which takes place every night at 8:00 P.M. and would set me back $26. I'll have to think about it. By the way, I am pretty sure I can make out a ghost standing in a doorway on the far righthand side of that photograph. And I do have to wonder if anyone has ever told that ministry that their building is a "hotbed of evil activity." I sure don't intend to - they might take that the wrong way.

Mid-Summer At the Sailor's Return

The patio at the Sailor's Return Restaurant, located in the Sunset Bay Marina here in Stuart, Florida, is pretty empty these days, a major difference from back in March, when it was almost impossible to find a parking spot, let alone a table. And in addition to that, if you did find a parking space, the valets were parking cars in a line behind the cars in those parking spaces, requiring you to ask those valets to move the car blocking yours. However, this time of year, you have the patio all to yourself. Even so, they still have live music almost every night, as seen in the background of the photograph on the left that I took of my sister Susan. I was told by one of the bartenders that business does pick up around sunset, when it gets a little cooler outside. Of course, they might avoid the sun and extreme heat, but they miss happy hour. What are 90-degree temperatures and high humidity compared to drinking bargain beers?

I like to refer to the patio of the Sailor's Return as the Jolly Sailor Pub, due to the sign hanging over the entrance to the restaurant portion of the place, as seen on the left side of the photograph on the right. The Jolly Sailor Pub was actually the restaurant in downtown Stuart that was owned by the couple that now run the Sailor's Return. They decided to retire, closed the Jolly Sailor Pub - which featured a hackney cab always parked in front - but opened the Sailor's Return when they decided they did not like retirement. And how is the food at the Sailor's Return? I believe it must be pretty good, based on how popular the place is during the season. As for prices, I browsed the menu, and it appears that the lunch and early dinner menu (before 5 P.M.) are reasonable, considering the atmosphere, but the dinner menu is way out of my price range. But keep in mind I am a confirmed cheapskate.

The thing I like the best about the Jolly Sailor is that you can sit and have a beer and look out at all the boats in the marina, some of which are for sale. When my sister Susan and I were still renting out our condo in Stuart, I actually looked into buying a used cabin cruiser and docking it at the marina just south of our condo complex. I called about one boat I thought I could afford, asked about it, and was told you get what you pay for, which I assume meant it would probably sink before it left the dock. I have since decided it is better to just sit around, have a beer, and look at those boats from the patio instead of actually owning one. Definitely much cheaper, especially during happy hour.

 

A Visit To Fort Lauderdale

My sister Susan and I drove down to Fort Lauderdale from Stuart, Florida this past Saturday afternoon to walk the Riverwalk, which runs along the New River from the Historic Stranahan House to just past the Broward Center for the Performing Arts. I really love this walk - the landscaping is beautifully done, and boats large and small are continuously cruising up and down the river. We first started visiting this area with my mother Mary back in the 1990s. I had read about a new shopping and entertainment complex there called Las Olas Riverfront which I wanted to check out. We drove down, parked near the Stranahan House, and walked along the Riverwalk to that complex, which we thought was great, filled with interesting restaurants and shops and lots of people. 

Evidently Las Olas Riverfront declined in popularity over the years. A new owner bought it in 2005, proposing to replace the complex with high-rise condos. That drove many of the tenants out, looking for a more permanent location. When the Great Recession hit in 2008, the redevelopment plans were shelved, the place fell into receivership, and it became a ghost town, populated at night by the homeless. I had no idea this had happened, since in 2005 my mother Mary began living with me up in Denver, and although we did go down to Stuart 3 times a year, we never had time visit Fort Lauderdale or other points to the south. It wasn't until Susan and I took back the condo from renters last year that we visited Fort Lauderdale again, and Las Olas Riverfront was long gone, replaced by high-rise condos. But the Riverwalk is still very nice.

The only negative was that last year, when we returned from our walk, we stopped at the outdoor patio of a place called Salt7 for a beer. Not only was it right on the Riverwalk, with tables and couches allowing you to do a bit of peoplewatching, as well as check out all the yachts cruising by, but it was happy hour, and actually very reasonable: beers for $5 and wine for $7. This time, the patio was empty - no tables or couches, and the building where the bar was located was all closed up. I checked online and the website said it did not have happy hour on Saturday or Sunday. It also said Salt7 still has an outdoor patio. Do they take everything in on weekends and bring it all back out on weekdays, or do they close the outdoor patio during the summer? Or is the patio really gone for good? Beats me. I'll have to head back down there on a weekday and find out. Fort Lauderdale, by the way, is known as the yachting capital of the world. It has 50,000 registered yachts and 100 marinas, which means you have plenty of boats to check out as you sit on a couch and have one of those $5 beers. If Salt7 ever opens up their damn patio again, that is.

Hemingway Days 2025

Hemingway Days, one of Key West, Florida's most popular annual events, took place last week in that quirky little town, finishing up yesterday, appropriately enough, with a Hemingway Rum Bar Stroll across eight Key West locations. The festival began this past Wednesday with a "Meet and Greet the Papas" event at Sloppy Joe's Bar, which sponsors a Hemingway look-a-like contest that takes place there Thursday through Saturday, with the winner picked Saturday night. I have always wanted to go to Hemingway Days just to see the annual "Running of the Bulls," which takes place on Saturday and actually can be better described as the running of the Hemingways, and seen in the photograph above that I took off the internet. The festival also has a Carribean Street Fair on Duval Street on Saturday, too, which also sounds fun. Other events include the Lorian Hemingway Short Story Competition, the Key West Marlin Tournament, and a Papa Birthday Bash on Sunday. And why didn't I attend the festival this year? For one thing, hotel rooms are expensive in Key West, costing a minimum of $200 a night if you are lucky. Food and drink are not cheap there, either. And it might get a tad crowded there that weekend, judging by the photograph. Perhaps once they restart the overnight ferry service between Key West and Havana, I'll spend the afternoon there before I drive the car onto that ship on my way to visit Cuba. Surely that ferry will be up and running again by next July. It might take a 16-million-dollar bribe to Trump, but it is doable, right? Right?

My Parent's 85th Wedding Anniversary

This would have been my parents Nelson and Mary's 85th wedding anniversary if they were still alive today. That is indeed a long, long time ago. And with this thought in mind, I finally took the 8mm movie film taken of their wedding back in 1940, which has been sitting in a cigar box in my den for almost 50 years, and had it converted to digital. I wasn't sure if film that old would even be useable, but the digital copy is perfect. Years ago, we would have family get-togethers with my mother's family, and our cousin Betty's husband Tom spliced about 4 family weddings together and would sometimes play them at these parties on a screen, in chronical order, to everyone's great amusement. When my parents moved to Stuart, Florida back in 1976, I became the keeper of the film, and I'm very glad I did. Talk about a blast from the past. The photograph above, by the way, was taken in the kitchen of our house in the South Side Brainerd neighborhood of Chicago back in 1957. And no, I did not take that photo. I was only 4 years old at the time. I think my parents were hosting Easter dinner that year, and I suspect my Grandfather Spillard, my mother's father, probably took it. And I'm glad for that, too.

The Big Empty

I just finished reading The Big Empty, Robert Crais's latest Elvis Cole and Joe Pike novel. It actually came out last January, but I didn't realize it until recently. Which is good, since a copy was available at the Blake Library here in Stuart, Florida, and I didn't have to go on a waiting list for a couple of months. These stories feature Los Angeles private detective Elvis Cole and his ex-Marine, ex-cop partner Joe Pike. I really enjoy reading this series, and I liked this latest book, too, although not as much as some of Crais's previous stories. Perhaps because Pike, a no-nonsense, take no prisoners type of guy did not play a major role in this particular adventure. In any case, this time an influencer/podcaster named Traci Beller hires Cole to investigate the disappearance of her father 10 years earlier when she was 13 years old. The assumption has been that he deserted the family, but Traci doesn't believe that. Cole heads to the town of Rancha, just east of L.A., where her father disappeared, and starts asking questions, and soon finds that there are people there who don't want the truth unearthed. And he also learns that the disappearance might be connected to something far more sinister. This is a good mystery, and I do recommend it, even if Joe Pike takes a back seat in this particular adventure. Pick up a copy at your local library today - it should definitely be available by now.

Alligator Attack!

Alligators can be scary things. A woman was attacked by an 11-foot-long alligator in the South Fork of the St Lucie River Wednesday night while she was going for a swim. It grabbed her hand and began to pull her under, but her boyfriend helped her get free and got her to the EMTs. The reports on the television news came from Charlie Leighton Park in Palm City, Florida, just across the Palm City Bridge from our condo complex, as seen in the photograph on the left. I originally assumed that the alligator attack took place there. 

It occurred to me at the time that the damn thing might be wandering around here, too. Not that I was afraid - I was just hoping to get a photograph of an 11-foot-long alligator. However, reading the newspaper the next day, I found out the incident actually happened farther south, in a more deserted part of the river, and the boyfriend got the woman back in their boat and took her to the best place for the EMTs to meet them. So much for that photo opportunity. Of course, I could just drive down to where the attack took place, wade into the river up to my waist with a camera and perhaps get that photograph after all. I have taken photos of alligators in the past, such as the one in the photograph on the right, but nothing that big. I'll have to give that plan some serious thought. What could go wrong, right?

Who's Got The Beef?

Evidently, the answer is Archie's Seabreeze Bar and Grill, at least according to the message over the cow in the photograph above. This outdoor tiki bar was established back in 1947 to serve men attending the Naval Combat Demolition Unit School (who would become what are today called Navy Seals) and is located across the street from the beach in Fort Pierce, Florida. I have never patronized this bar, but have driven past that cow many times, and finally decided to stop and take a photo. The place looked nice, but unfortunately, it was not a good day for hanging out on an outdoor patio. It looked like it was going to pour any minute. Plus, just a short time before, a boat carrying 11 illegal immigrants from Haiti, Jamaica, Guyana, Venezuela, and the Bahamas landed a few blocks away near the Fort Pierce Jetty and promptly scattered, resulting in more city, state, and federal police cars out on the streets looking for them than I have ever seen in my life. Not a relaxing atmosphere. I even had to make a detour through the beach parking lot because police were apprehending one of those illegals in the middle of the main road out of town. Needless to say, the welcome mat is not out for immigrants these days, especially in a red state like Florida. There would definitely not be a welcoming party on the patio at Archie's Seabreeze, that's for sure.

The Ghosts Of Fort Pierce, Florida

I have never thought of Fort Pierce, Florida as a hotbed of paranormal activity, but when doing a search on the internet for the date Fort Pierce's PP Cobb Building, seen in the photograph on the left, was built, I stumbled across a link promoting "Fort Pierce's #1 Rated Ghost Tour." This tour takes place every night at 8:00 P.M. and one of the buildings they visit is the PP Cobb Building. It was built in 1882 as a trading post, later turned into a grocery store and post office, and is said to be haunted. A man wanting revenge on P.P. Cobb for foreclosing on him wound up shooting his business partner instead. That business partner evidently haunts the building to this day.

Another haunted location in Fort Pierce is the Sunrise Theater, built in 1923 and renovated in 2006. Evidently that renovation stirred up a lot of spirits, and at night their whispers and banter can be heard, along with a phantom piano "permeating the night's tonal landscape." You would think that would interfere with the current performance going on, but what do I know? When I looked at the site a little more, it turns out this tour is run by a company called US Ghost Adventures, and they have ghost tours in over 100 cities, including right here in Stuart, Florida. In other words, it is a business, started and run to make a profit. Do they really believe in the tales they are telling? The cynic in me says no, but that's just me. 

I remember years ago the Denver Art Museum had a Halloween "Final Friday" event which featured an employee telling her experiences with ghosts, one of which took place when she was involved in a restoration project in an English castle. Her co-workers had her walk down a certain corridor, where she was confronted by a very angry female ghost (did she mention it might have been Anne Boleyn?), which all of them had evidently also encountered. Now her I believed. She might have been crazy, but I really think she believed that is what happened. In any case, a third place the Fort Pierce Ghost Tour takes you to is The Boston House, built in 1909 and seen in the photograph on the left. The "agonizing cry" from the spirit of a red-haired woman, pleading "Please help me find my son, Timmy" has tormented the occupants of this building for years. Once a law office, it will soon become a restaurant, and hopefully that red haired spirit will be the main floor show. I can hear it now: Bartender, I definitely need another, please.

Walking Around Jupiter's Harbourside Place

The other day I walked around Harbourside Place, a mixed-use development located along Jupiter, Florida's Intercoastal Waterway that functions as Jupiter's downtown. It is a very pleasant spot with absolutely wonderful landscaping. The best part of the place is walking along the water. And if you choose to do so, you can dine at restaurants with a view of the Intercoastal. Harbourside Place is the home of The Woods, a restaurant owned by Tiger Woods, who lives on nearby Jupiter Island, but from the reviews I've read, you might have to dip into your child's college fund to pay for dinner. 

As a matter of fact, I looked at a few of the menus posted at some of the other restaurants in the complex, and the prices all seem very high indeed. As for the shops, not surprisingly, they cater to the wealthy, with an emphasis on resort wear, "island apparel," and, of course, luxury fashion, which seems to be clothing that I have never seen anyone wearing back in the real world. I myself just like to walk around, enjoy the view of the intracoastal, check out the yachts, and then head to the beach.

The complex does have a small marina, but did not have many boats docked there, perhaps because it was mid-summer. However, there was one large yacht docked right in front of the Hotel Wyndham Grand Jupiter called the Antares, with a home port of Jupiter, and seen in the photograph on the left. I looked it up on the internet, and it turns out it is for sale. It is 130 feet long, built in 2008, sleeps 10 in 5 cabins (once again singles will have to share a room), and has a crew of 5. All for the bargain price of 11.9 million dollars. And I'll be damned if I didn't bring my checkbook along. Oh well, hopefully it will still be on the market the next time I visit Harbourside Place. Perhaps I can even do a little haggling and get the price down to 10 million. One can always dream.

A Baseball Update - The White Sox Are Hot!

My South Side heroes, the Chicago White Sox, are 3 and 0 since the All-Star Break, and have swept their first series of the year. The last time they were 3-0 at the start of the 2nd half of the season was back in 2005. And that, as devoted White Sox fans know, was the year they won the World Series against Houston in 4 games. Definitely a positive sign. And the team has started hitting big time. They won the first game 10-1, the second 10-4, and yesterday 7-2. Of course, they were playing the Pittsburg Pirates, who have lost 10 out of their last 11 games, and have won only 4 games more than the White Sox, who currently have the second worst record in baseball, but you can't argue with success. The Sox looked great this past weekend, and this might well be the start of the big turnaround. Just to make sure the streak continues, television play-by-play guy Dan Plesac, who is filling in for Steve Stone on some White Sox road trips this year, has worn the same polo shirt three days straight, without washing it, in case that might be the reason for the turnaround. He does say he is spraying the shirt with deodorant each night and will continue wearing it - unwashed - as long as the streak continues. Never underestimate the power of superstition in baseball.

Those 3 games took place at PNC Park in Pittsburg, and looking at the view from the stadium that I saw on MLB.com and seen in the photograph on the right, Pittsburg looks like a pretty nice city. It appears that fans cross that yellow bridge from downtown to get to the park, which is kind of neat, and the ballpark itself looks pretty nice, too. As for the White Sox's North Side rival, the Chicago Cubs, they are tied with the Milwaukee Brewers for first place in the National League Central and are 6-4 over their last 10 games. Of course, the Cubs are famous for choking the last few weeks of the season, and so time will tell if they make the playoffs. As for my adopted hometown team, the Colorado Rockies, they currently have the worst record in baseball at 24-75 and have a very good chance of taking the title of worst season record in the history of Major League Baseball from the White Sox, who lost 121 games last year. Go Rockies!

The White City Story

Years ago, I remember taking my mother Mary to a very old antique store in a town called White City, located on the edge of Fort Pierce, not too far from her condo in Stuart, Florida. As I recall, we went into that store and browsed a fascinating collection of antiques, making for a very pleasant afternoon. And yesterday, just for fun, my sister Susan and I decided to see if that place was still there. And it is, although I must admit White City Mercantile, seen in the photograph on the left, does seem to need a little bit of paint and some additional tender loving care before the snowbirds come back to Florida next season.

However, the place is still filled with antiques, spilling out of the door and onto the porch, as seen in the photo on the right. And after visiting White City Mercantile, we drove around the town and found the place filled with a lot of old houses, many no more than tiny 19th century cottages. I looked the place up on the internet when I got home and found that White City was founded by Danish settlers, who attended the 1893 World's Fair and wanted to recreate Daniel Burnham's Great White City, the fair's main attraction.

Those Danish settlers founded White City in 1893, and it quickly became a prosperous agricultural community. However, the following year, a fellow named Colonel Myers arrived in town and set up a land scheme. He took down payments for land parcels and collected savings from residents to deposit in a future bank and then disappeared. That and the big freeze of 1894-95, which wiped out the farmers and growers, resulted in most of the original settlers leaving. However, the White City Improvement Club was established to restore the town's reputation and attract new settlers to the area. And it seems to have worked. In in addition to the small, original cottages located just down the street from White City Mercantile, across Midway Road (named for the Midway at the 1893 World's Fair), there are many 1900s era homes still in the area, such as the one in the photograph on the left.

Many of the streets in the area are really quite beautiful, populated with what looks like live oaks, with Spanish moss hanging from them, as seen in the photograph on the right. And in addition to those older homes, there is a lot of new housing in the community, just to the south, many of them pretty upscale. What is surprising is that the article I read on the internet is titled "Discover the Haunting History of White City," and states that "White City is a ghost town in Saint Lucie County, Florida, founded around 1893." If it is indeed a ghost town, who the hell is living in all those McMansions there? It almost makes you wonder if everything you read on the internet is indeed true.

Kim Kardashian, Taylor Swift, And the Migration Patterns Of The Pelican

And what do these two superstars have to do with the migration patterns of pelicans, you might ask. Nothing, actually. But years ago, Peter, my officemate at the Tattered Cover Bookstore, where I was working as the bookkeeper, critiqued my blog and said that I needed to fill it with the names and activities of famous people in order to get more followers. I ignored this advice and kept on with my usual unsensational style. But today's topic is about pelicans, and I was afraid that if the title of the blog post was "The Migration Patterns of the Pelican," nobody would have looked at it. And my point about pelicans is that last summer when I was here in Stuart, Florida, I saw very few pelicans around the area and therefore assumed that they all migrated north to escape the heat. However, this summer I have been seeing pelicans all over the place. I checked on the internet, and it said that pelicans have no set migration patterns. Sometimes they migrate north in the summer, and sometimes they might even migrate north in the winter. Sometimes they stay right where they are and just say the hell with it. Which actually sounds a lot like me. But most of all I just wanted to feature the photograph on the left that I took the other day of a pelican sitting on a post along the Indian River. I believe it is something both Kim Kardashian and Taylor Swift would appreciate.

A Return Visit To The Palm Beaches

I drove to the Palm Beaches from Stuart, Florida yesterday afternoon to see what was happening down there during the summer, and I was happy to find that there were lots of people out and about both in Palm Beach and West Palm Beach. In Palm Beach, most of the action was at the beach itself, which is no surprise, considering the heat and humidity, although there were a number of people walking down Worth Avenue, too, doing a bit of window shopping. Meanwhile, it looked like a typical weekday afternoon on West Palm Beach's Clematis Street, which seems much more vibrant than Worth Avenue, not to mention much more down-to-earth. I drove through CityPlace, too, located just to the south of Clematis, which is one of my favorite neighborhoods, the main square of which can be seen in the photograph above. When this mixed-use development first opened, there was a Macy's, a Barnes & Noble Bookstore, and an AMC theater, which are now long gone. However, with all the apartments, restaurants, office buildings, and upscale shops, not to mention a Publix Grocery Store, it is still a fun place to hang out. And I am still amazed that Port St. Lucie, located just to the north of Stuart and which has no downtown, endless suburbs stretching into scrub and swampland, and nobody out on the streets, is the 6th largest city in Florida, while West Palm Beach, which has so many high-rise condominiums, apartments, offices, hotels, colleges, you name it, is number 18. How can that possibly be? It boggles the mind.

Turtle Nesting Season Is Here!

It is turtle nesting season on the East Coast of Florida, and here in Stuart and the rest of the Treasure Coast, there are signs of those loggerhead turtles everywhere. The areas where those turtles have laid their eggs on the beach are roped off in a triangular shape, as seen at the bottom of the steps in the photograph on the left, to protect them and make sure as many hatch as possible. I just assumed volunteers did this work, but it turns out that it is done by a company called Ecological Associates, run by Carly Batts and Joe Scarola. They are responsible for monitoring beaches in Volusia, Indian River, St. Lucie, Martin (where Stuart is located), and Palm Beach Counties, with offices in Jensen Beach, Florida. Very impressive indeed.

Every year the Florida Oceanographic Society, located on Hutchinson Island, just across the street from Stuart Beach, holds nighttime sea turtle walks, which I am very tempted to sign up for. Those walks take place in June and July, and the event begins at 8:45 in the evening. While guests attend a mandatory educational program at the Coastal Center, "beach scouts" look for a nesting turtle. Depending on when a turtle is found and how long it nests, the sea turtle walk can last past midnight. The cost is $35, which seems reasonable enough for a night's adventure, but the search for a turtle ends at 11:30, and there are no refunds if a nesting turtle is not located. And no photographs allowed, which might be a deal breaker.

An alternative to the nighttime sea turtle walk is the Hatchling Release, sponsored by the Loggerhead Marinelife Center in Juno Beach. Back in the early 1980s, when I was still married to my then wife Lisa, we happened by chance on a similar event that took place on Stuart Beach. It was free to the public, and I took a number of photographs, including the one on the left. Back then, the organization dedicated to protecting and rehabbing loggerhead turtles was located in the basement of the House of Refuge Museum, located a mile or so away. I assume that was why the event occurred at Stuart Beach. Eventually, the Loggerhead Marinelife Center, a state-of-the-art facility, was built, and the turtles at the House of Refuge were moved to their new home.

In any case, the Hatching Release takes place in Juno Beach on various evenings during the months of July and August, beginning at 8:00 P.M. The cost is $40 for adults, $40 for children, and $40 for seniors. Very few discounts for seniors in this land of seniors, I'm afraid. On the bright side, it doesn't say no photographs on their website, which is good, but on the downside, Juno Beach is 30 miles away. And you are paying $40 to stand on a public beach and watch hatchlings run to the sea, which back in the good old days was free. And yes, that does indeed make me sound like an old curmudgeon. Which I am sometimes afraid I am turning into.

Meanwhile, Up In Vero Beach...

I drove up to Vero Beach, Florida this past Sunday afternoon and found the place pretty sleepy, even though it was the weekend. There were people on the beach, as seen in the photograph on the left, but not all that many, and there were quite a few open parking spaces, too, unlike back in March during "The Season." The previous Wednesday, as my sister Susan and I were waiting to board the plane to West Palm Beach at the Dallas Fort Worth Airport, I got to talking with someone who lives in Vero, and he told me that the town was actually quite deserted during the summer, unlike Stuart, which he thought seemed to be filled with traffic 24/7.

And I have to admit, these days Stuart does have a lot more traffic during the summer than it used to. I believe that is because over the years, Stuart has become a popular spot to move for families who have jobs further south, such as West Palm Beach. Also, just to the north of Stuart is Port St. Lucie, which due to endless subdivisions heading ever west into scrubland and swamp, has somehow become the 6th largest city in Florida. The traffic in that city definitely has spilled over to Stuart in recent years, not only for employment reasons, but also due to the fact that Port St. Lucie has no downtown and is ugly as hell. That makes Stuart the main entertainment destination for that city. Meanwhile, Vero Beach is far enough away from those urban hubs to remain basically a retirement and "snowbird" destination, letting the locals enjoy the place by themselves in the summer months. I took the photograph on the right, by the way, at Sexton Plaza Beach, next to Mulligan's Beach House, where the locals had the outdoor patio all to themselves. For now.

Special Assessments - The Bane Of Florida Condo Owners

Special assessments are a big issue for Florida condo owners these days, even here around Stuart. After the collapse of a high-rise condo building in Surfside a few years ago, killing almost 100 people, a law was passed in Florida requiring all structures 3 stories or higher over 30 years old to be inspected, and reserves collected to fund the necessary repairs. This, combined with high property insurance costs, has led to a huge decline in condo sales in Florida. In nearby Jensen Beach, a condo complex on the ocean called Villa del Sol was inspected and 3 of their 6 buildings were found to be structurally deficient and uninhabitable. The special assessment to repair them will cost each owner $86,000, and much more if the three buildings need to be rebuilt. The only other option would be to sell the property to a developer, but all 72 owners would need to agree, which is unlikely. My sister Susan and I took back the Stuart, Florida condo we inherited from our mother Mary, located at the Monterey Yacht and Country Club and seen in the photograph above, from renters last year. The complex has a 9-hole golf course and a yacht club, although no yachts, since the developer was not allowed to dredge the St. Lucie River. Since the buildings are only two stories, I thought we were safe, but evidently there are structural issues here too, requiring special assessments over the next 5 years. Maintenance deferral was evidently the rule rather than the exception here in Florida until now. Our assessment is nothing like at Vista Del Sol, thank God, but still irritating. But evidently also necessary. Reality is a bummer, isn't it?

Happy Bastille Day!

Today is Bastille Day (aka La Fete National). It celebrates the storming of the Bastille prison on July 14th, 1789, one of the major events of the French Revolution. This is, of course, THE major holiday in France, and is celebrated all over the country, but especially in Paris, where fireworks are set off at the Eifel Tower and watched by thousands gathered on the Champ de Mars, among many other events throughout the city. Unfortunately, my sister Susan and I can't make it this year, but for those of you who can, be sure to bring a blanket and picnic basket and arrive at the Champ de Mars as early as you can. The fireworks begin at 11:00 P.M. I googled Bastille Day celebrations in Stuart, Florida, and found that there are indeed major Bastille Day events, but in Miami. They take place around the pool at the National Hotel in Miami Beach, in the evening at Bouchon de Grove, a Lyon-style bistro in Coconut Grove, and at the restaurant Pastis, in Miami's Wynwood district. But surprisingly, nothing here in Stuart. Miami is 1 1/2 hours away, and the events take place in the evening and sound expensive, so we will take a pass on those. However, in Boca Raton, restaurant Chez Marie French Bistro will be hosting a "guaranteed tricolor atmosphere" with fine French dining and Thierry Khalfa singing the great classics of French song. That sounds doable, but also quite expensive, and so it will have to be a celebration at home with a traditional French Publix roast chicken. Vive la France!

A Return To Stuart Beach

I visited Stuart Beach this past Thursday after returning to Florida from Denver. And I must say, it was far less crowded than the last time I was here back in April. Tourists tend to avoid Florida during the summer, even though there is less traffic, no reservations are required at restaurants, and thanks to longer days, dining along the water is much more enjoyable. And so, the locals at Stuart Beach get to enjoy the beach by themselves. Even in Florida, summer is the time for swimming in the ocean, not December or January or February, when the water, and often the air, is much too cold, unless you are a tourist and want to get put on your bikini or speedo no matter how miserable it will be. I remember coming down to Stuart in December one year to visit my mother Mary and take her back to Denver for the holidays. I flew into Fort Lauderdale and was going to take the train up to West Palm Beach, where I would take a shuttle to Stuart. Everyone on the platform was dressed in shorts and t-shirts, and it was cold as hell. Talk about miserable tourists. Happily, I myself was warm and toasty in my jacket. Live and learn, right?

The Marina Next Door

Actually, it is not really right next door to our condo. Next door is MarineMax, a boat dealership, and the marina itself is across the highway from it. MarineMax used to be a vacant, wooded area, until an upstairs neighbor complained about all the racoons living there getting into the garbage, and had those woods cut down, leaving a treeless vacant lot. When the boat dealership bought the property, it wined and dined all the condo residents next door and assured them they would landscape the place and make it attractive along the property line, which I must say, they actually did very well. As for the marina, there is a big no trespassing sign at the gate, which seems a bit unfriendly, but understandable, and so I took the photo above from a safe distance. Everybody here is armed, after all, so it's best to be safe rather than sorry.

Back To Florida To Escape The Heat

My sister Susan and I flew back to Florida this past Wednesday to escape the record heat that Denver has been experiencing lately. I am sure those ocean breezes will cool us off just fine down here. There are actually a lot of positives to Florida in the summertime. For one thing, since the days are longer, you can dine along the water while it is still light out, and there are actually parking spaces available at both Stuart Beach and the Sailor's Return Restaurant. Plus, there is never a soul on the 9-hole golf course at our condo complex, which is important, since I have only played golf twice in the past 10 years and need to work on my game before playing with other golfers, as you usually have to do during "the season." Also, it amuses people when we are sitting at the outdoor patio in mid-August at Sailor's Return and we tell them that we are just "snowbirds." In other words, just crazy.

The July Mutts Of The Month

I took the photograph above of the July Mutts of the Month at the New Terrain Brewery up in Golden, Colorado. This place is extremely popular, especially during the weekend, when it is filled with families, college students, retirees, you name it. It seems like virtually everyone here has a dog, all sitting next to their owners and lapping up bowls of beer. The outdoor patio looks out at Golden's Table Mesa, and a trail leading up North Table Mountain starts off right from that patio. You often see bikers and hikers walking past the tables on their way to the trailhead, no doubt with the intention of stopping off for a beer when they return. Talk about a perfect location.

Summer At The Zoo Part II

As I mentioned in yesterday's blog post, I went to the Denver Zoo this past Thursday to take a few photographs, but since it was so hot and sunny, a great many of the animals were sleeping in the shade or inside their shelters to escape the heat. An exception were the orangutans, who were outside wandering around their compound, including the orangutan in the photograph on the left. There was a new orangutan baby born back in February, but I think this one might be a few years old, no doubt the orangutan version of a teenager. As you can tell from the photograph, it does seem to be a bit dazed- looking. Perhaps too much time in the sun?

The monkey in the photograph on the right looks kind of depressed to me. I am hoping the Denver Zoo is progressive enough to have a zoo psychologist on staff to get inside the compound and help these animals with their issues. After all, it cannot be easy being locked up for life like that, not knowing why. Perhaps zoo employees could take the animals with issues to their homes for the weekend once in a while, giving them a change of scene. I will e-mail Denver Zoo officials and suggest this. I am sure they will be very receptive to the idea.

The photograph on the left is of Thorn, a 4-month-old baby giraffe, resting on the floor of the Giraffe House, next to its mother. If you ask me, it looks pretty damn tall for a 4-year-old, but what do I know? I grew up in the South Side Brainerd neighborhood of Chicago, where giraffe sightings were very rare. I think giraffes were more of a North Side thing. Those North Shore millionaires love their exotic pets, after all. In any case, the doors of the Giraffe House were open, but all the giraffes evidently preferred to be inside, away from the sun and the 90-degree temperatures. However, I definitely think Thorn's mother should make him go out and play once in a while, or the next thing you know, it will be staying inside all-day-long playing video games.

Summer At The Zoo

I went to the Denver Zoo this past Thursday afternoon to take some photographs. Unfortunately, summer in Denver is usually not the best time to do that. Temperatures are usually in the 90s and the sky cloudless, and so many of the animals hide in the shade and spend their time sleeping. However, the elephants were an exception this Thursday. A short time before, the elephant in the photo on the left was scooping up dirt through its trunk and throwing it on its back to stay cool. Then, it decided to head to the pond, where it started taking water through its trunk instead, drinking a bit of it, and then blowing the rest of it on its back. A much better idea, if I say so myself.

The zebras, however, were not venturing any further than the doorway of the Zebra House, as seen in the photograph on the right. The Zebra House is, of course, air conditioned, which helps explain their behavior. That and Animal Planet on the cable TV. Do you think some of these zoo animals might be a bit spoiled these days? After all, zebras and many other of these animals are native to countries in Africa located along the equator, and so shouldn't they be able to adapt to Denver's hot weather? I think the Denver Zoo needs to have their volunteers go into that compounds and push those zebras out the door and keep them outside whenever the zoo is open. It's only fair to zoo visitors, right?

Both the lions and tigers were asleep in the shade the entire time I was at the zoo. The lions all had their backsides to me, which does not make for good photography. The tiger in the photograph on the left was zoned out on the catwalk that connects the two compounds. I think that every day, after those zoo volunteers push those zebras out the door, they should head into both the lion and tiger compounds and lightly prod them with a pole to get them moving around a bit. It would certainly make for good action photos. What could go wrong?

Watching The Chicago White Sox Battle The Colorado Rockies At Coors Field

My sister Susan and I, seen in the photograph on the left, went to Coors Field here in Denver yesterday afternoon to watch our South Side heroes, the Chicago White Sox, play the Colorado Rockies. The White Sox won the first two games of the series, and for a while it looked like they might get the sweep, but the Rockies came from behind to win the game 6-4. Still, winning two out of three games is pretty damn good. If the White Sox can do that the rest of the season, they would finish the season with a decent record. Of course, they were playing the Colorado Rockies, who have the worst record in baseball this year, and so I suspect this will not happen. However, the White Sox are 5-5 over their last 10 games, and so they are definitely better than last year, when they finished with the worst record in the history of Major League Baseball.

It was Military Appreciation Day at Coors Field, which started with a parade around the field by hundreds of military veterans, active-duty military, and their families, along with an extra special pre-game ceremony, as seen in the photograph on the right. And I was happy to see quite a few White Sox fans at the game. A lot of people from the Chicago area have moved here over the years, and they always come out to support their team, although I have to admit the majority of them seem to be Cubs fans. The Cubs, who are currently in first place in the National League Central, will be at Coors Field the last weekend in August. And no doubt, the ballpark will be filled with all those damn former Northsiders. I don't care. I'll wear my White Sox cap anyway.

Garden Of The Gods And Manitou Springs - Tourist Destinations Since The 1870s

My sister Susan and I headed down to Colorado Springs from Denver this past Wednesday to revisit both the Garden of the Gods and Manitou Springs.  Unlike most of the other frontier towns in Colorado, both Colorado Springs and Manitou Springs were established to be vacation destinations. William Jackson Palmer and his business partner, William Abraham Bell, founded Colorado Springs in 1871 and Manitou Springs in 1872. Later on, Palmer and his friend Charles Elliot Perkins left their ranches, which became the Garden of the Gods, to the City of Colorado Springs, on the condition they became a free park, which it still is. The entrance to the park can be seen in the photograph on the left.

When you drive through the Garden of the Gods, you can either stop at various parking lots along the way and hike along the trails or simply keep driving until you exit the park, which soon leads to Manitou Springs. At first, the big draw was the "healing waters" from the mineral springs that the Ute Indians had been drinking from for years. The big attraction these days are all the 19th Century commercial and residential buildings sitting right at the foot of Pike's Peak. Also, if you drive out of the downtown area and head up the road seen in the photograph on the right, you will reach the depot for the Manitou and Pike's Peak Cog Railroad, which takes visitors to the top of Pike's Peak, at an altitude of 14,115 feet.

Another big attraction in Manitou Springs is Miramont Castle, which was built in 1895 as a private home for John Baptist Francolon, a French born Catholic priest. It is now a museum and can be seen in the background of the photograph on the left. He immigrated to the United States in 1878 after being recruited by Bishop Lamy of Santa Fe to serve as an assistant priest. He returned to France for health reasons but came back to the US and settled in Manitou Springs to restore his failing health. That is the official story, anyway. The unofficial story was featured in the Denver Gazette, which said that Francolon was actually poisoned as he sipped from a chalice during Mass by Spanish priests he was feuding with, and left New Mexico for Manitou Springs in hopes of restoring his health. Evidently, he was not liked very well in Manitou, either, and escaped from there to avoid a lynch mob, never to return again. Sounds like a lot of drama for such a small town. It seems much quieter now. Probably for the best.