Vizcaya

While in Florida last month we visited the Vizcaya Museum and Gardens formerly known as James Deering's winter home. He was the Vice President of International Harvester Company known for its reapers. (Agricultural equipment.) This guy had oodles of money and also maintained homes in Chicago, Paris and New York. This is where he spent his winter months from 1916 to 1925. It wasn't just a mansion but a great experiment in self-sufficiency. Materials and supplies were hard to come by a century ago in remote Miami, so Deering hoped that the workers on his estate could grow, manufacture and build everything they needed to survive. Sixteen to eighteen servants worked inside the mansion while During was away and twenty-six (!!) gardeners keep the gardens manicured. It seemed to work for awhile, until a catastrophic hurricane ruined everything in 1925.

The mansion was rebuilt by Deering's descendants after another earthquake in 1936, but some changes were made in order to preserve the interior. The open courtyard was enclosed by windowed walls in the front and back, and a glass roof covered the enormous courtyard. Prior to this, if you stepped out of your guestroom, you'd be standing on the wide tiled gallery in open air looking over the courtyard. (Hmm, kind of like a classy version of a Motel 6.) The house has a total of thirty-six rooms including a music room, a library and a state-of-the-art kitchen for then. The wealthy of that time saw themselves as successors to the Great European Families, and in order to make this clear to visitors, they collected Great European Art. Vizcaya retains most of its original antique furniture and art from the fifteenth to nineteenth centuries.

Off the East Loggia is the Biscayne Bay. Visitors arriving by boat were greeted by a huge limestone barge which acted as a breakwater. On one side of the barge is a special dock and walkway,

and on the opposite side is a tea house. These elements extend the architecture of the house into the Biscayne Bay which, by the way, was especially choppy the day I visited.

The formal gardens are off the South Terrace. The gardens are full of sculptures and structures made of concrete and coral. Almost everyday there are fifteen-year-old girls getting their portraits taken for their Quinceanera (that 'n' has a wiggly line over it) celebrations. We counted five lavishly gowned young ladies the day we were there. The ten-acre garden includes a maze garden, a hardwood forest or "hammock," the David A. Klein Orchidarium and many varieties of palm trees.

Photography is not allowed inside the mansion, so if you would like to take a tour, please visit Vizcaya's website: http://www.vizcayamuseum.org. The estate has been owned and maintained by Miami-Dade County since 1952 and has been declared a National Historic Landmark.

At Long Last, Florida!

I was lucky enough to be invited to Florida this year for Christmas. I stayed with my sister and brother-in-law in Port St. Lucie, and it was evident that they put a lot of thought into entertaining me while I was there. We dined well, on waffles and Pineapple Chicken from my mom's recipes, and packed a lot of sightseeing into the few days before Christmas Day.

Day One, Miami: We drove the hundred or so miles to Miami where we toured James Deering's 1916 mansion called Vizcaya. This is a big enough deal (and I have enough photos) to make it a separate blogpost. Stay tuned for that. For something completely different, we boarded a tour boat that took us around Biscayne Bay to visit movie and music stars' homes. We agreed that the cheeky bilingual guide could have been telling us anything about these gorgeous mansions, but chose to believe him when he told us these properties were owned by Gloria Estefan, Sylvester Stallone,
Frank Sinatra, Antonio Banderas and others. (Note these are all celebrities whose first names are superfluous!) Shaq sold his place to A-Rod, and JLo lives across the pond.


Anyway, after the posh star homes, the boat took us through the Port of Miami. There was one large cruise ship docked there and many cargo ships. We got to see a giant gantry crane unloading one of these monster ships.

We saw some Brown Pelicans hanging out,


and this guy who I'm pretty sure is a Great Egret.

After the cruise, we drove through South Beach. It was dark enough to see the holiday lights decorating the buildings, but light enough to get an idea of the swanky South Beach scene. I didn't spot any movie stars.

Day Two, Jensen Beach: Didja know that Jensen Beach in Martin County, FL, used to be The Pineapple Capital of the World? The weather was nice enough this day to walk in the shallow surf. To the Floridians it was chilly, but this Jersey Girl probably could have jumped in. There were flocks of brown pelicans flying overhead and sandpipers or plovers scurrying about at the water's edge. Two of my favorite shots are this lone palm and the kid wearing a Santa hat while boogie boarding. I picked up a few shells that are different from New Jersey's--the colors are more vibrant and the shells are thicker. The flat one will go in my scrapbook.

Back at homebase, I took some shots of the orchid and pineapple plants by the pool, and a tiny gecko hiding in another plant.

Day Three, Lake Worth: We spent Christmas Day here with my niece and her family. Many neighborhoods have these small lakes in their center, or canals, but if you're smart, you won't stick your feet in them (use your imagination). Ducks come right up to the shrubs around the house to lay their eggs.

And then there is Fraidy, snoozing in his favorite spot.