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.

Autumn in Cape May

Autumn seems tranquil and untroubled in any beach town, but in Cape May there is also an element of merrymaking. Cape May, with all its history, has extended the summer "season" into the spring and fall and offers numerous events to entertain oneself with. Normally, I participate in Sherlock Holmes Weekend in November (it is also offered in March), walking around in Victorian costumes trying to solve a convoluted mystery I know I'll never solve. This year I opted to skip the Sherlock Weekend and observe the town in order to fill out my work-in-progress article about Sherlock Holmes Weekend. For one thing, Sherlock's weekend in November usually coincides with the Jazz Festival, and jazz draws many more visitors than Sherlock. Birders are in town to check out the migrating birds, some of which stop off off at few sites besides Cape May on their way south. All visitors and locals alike enjoy ignoring the pesky parking meters and parking close to their venue, and walking into the restaurants so popular in summer without reservations. (We couldn't wait to pop into George's Place for some really good Greek food--in summer we steered clear and let the tourists enjoy it.) And then there's the shopping: really cool stuff from the previous season marked down 50% or more to make room for next year's stuff. Even on my spending diet I scored quite a haul.

I like photographing doorways, and Cape May's inns always have some clever ones to welcome their guests.

The beach is popular almost all year long except for the really icy-cold days when the moist wind shears right through a person. Late fall is especially pleasing to me because all of those mosquitoes and tiny black flies are gone. And, we November beachgoers can enjoy the sunset before dinner:
Victorian Christmas is a big deal in Cape May with house and inn tours, special meals, plays, and other events special to the season. Some of the inns involved already had their festive decorations up by late November, and some were still festooning the wrought-iron fences with fresh pine garlands and decorating elaborate doorways.

iPhone Photography

Twice this week, I've come across references to photos taken with iPhones. First, check out the Nov/Dec issue of American Photo. "Instant Gratification," an article on camera phone photography begins on page 56. We're not talking about little snapshots like the one I took of Fred last night after he ate the enormous cheeseburger

and got his picture on the wall of the restaurant, or the one of the Gladys after she covered herself in Post-it tabs.

The iPhone came in handy on this day to capture pictures of my poor dismantled car which was promised to me the day before. That's Oscar working on it trying to make me think he'd been working on it all along. I think he was surprised by the impromptu photo shoot, and I had my MINI back in a few days. (I'm still waiting for him to call about reapplying the stripes to the hood.)

Mentioned in the media lately, though, are iPhone photos taken by professional photographers who now consider their iPhones part of their standard gear. Think about it: you have your cellphone with you more than your big digital camera, so already it's more convenient. I just transferred my iPhone shots to my 17" laptop, and I'm amazed by their quality. The iPhone is not as klunky (that word always reminds me of Ernie on "My Three Sons") as a big digital camera, so it is easier to use in certain situations and easier to hold in creative ways. Since there aren't buttons and dials to experiment with, the emphasis is on the content of the photo rather than exposure, aperture, and the rest of those mysterious settings.

The articles I read this week about iPhone inspired me to look back at the photos I have taken since I acquired it in June. And that's the other thing: my old phone held about nine photos, but the iPhone can store many, many more.

I hadn't brought my DSLR to the Delaware Bay beach for this evening's sunset, but I did have my iPhone! What a great shot, huh?

If you've ever tried to get good portraits of pets, you know how they instinctively refuse to be cute while the camera's in your hand. I happened to have the iPhone handy to get these great shots of my girls.

Imagine how difficult it would be to capture this belly-rub face with a DSLR!

Then there was this amazing expert award-winning quilt at a recent quilt expo

And a more humble work of my own.

For more ideas and some tips on iPhone photography, check out this other article: "Photo Lessons from an iPhone" by Shelly Perry: http://tinyurl.com/yj4jr2w.

My Philadelphia 80s Memory Tour

It all started with a crazy plan to visit the Diana: A Celebration exhibit at the National Constitution Center. This was crazy because most other people in the Delaware Valley had the same idea. After waiting in two long lines (and I suspect that those of us who bought our tickets online waited longer than those who bought on the spot), we were finally let in to see the Diana artifacts. I was (am) a big fan of The Princess, so I was captivated by the childhood memorabilia, diaries and photos. Then there was The Wedding Dress in a giant glass case. The ivory silk is sumptuous, made from England's only silkworm farm. It was displayed with her shoes, a matching umbrella (just-in-case), a clutch, and a bridesmaid dress. Wowee. Then another room with about twenty-five dresses including ballgowns, cocktail dresses and day dresses. I took the time to admire each one and note the designer and fabric. The exhibit wrapped up with two rooms devoted to the end of Diana, including a display of the memorial books people signed, Elton John's hand-written lyrics for "A Candle in the Wind" and a video of the funeral.

The exhibit got me thinking of the eighties and nineties and what I was doing then. (The eighties are hot right now.) Since I lived in Philadelphia for most of the eighties while I attended Temple University, I took off on a walking tour of my old haunts east of Broad Street. I walked from the National Constitution Center to Penn's Landing, then down South Street, north to Locust, west through Outfest 2009, up Broad Street to Market and back to the car. I wish I had remembered to activate my iPhone pedometer!

These stones look really cool, but hurt my feet. Luckily they were in the beginning of my tour before my feet started to hurt a lot. While touring my old haunts, I remembered my college and graduate school days and how I knew I'd miss living in Center City when I inevitably moved away. I had hopes and dreams then and few have been realized. I can't say I have regrets, though: life had many surprises for me along with challenges. I often think that when I'm an old woman I'll not only wear purple, but I'll move back to the city and drive my purple Vespa all over.

This is the Ritz Theater, a place where I spent a lot of time in the eighties. I saw many movies here with my friends Vince and Carol even when the price went up to five dollars a ticket: "Out of Africa," "A Room With a View," and "My Beautiful Launderette" in addition to many, many French films.

A long time ago, I toured the Olympia (the ship) and the Becuna (the submarine) with my friend Vince. I remember I didn't feel very well that day and it was stifling hot, but I didn't regret the walk down the Penn's Landing because these ships were fascinating. They are still there:

After a brief tour of Penn's Landing, I headed to South Street, still a hip, bustling place, but much different than I remember from those college days. I have one fond memory of ditching the French Film Marathon at the TLA in favor of shopping the punk rock stores with a fellow dorm-inhabiting music-major friend. At breakfast one Saturday he explained he wanted to stock up on animal print T-shirts before he went home to Erie, PA, where they were in short supply. I had hoped to stop for lunch at Jim's Steaks, but the line was around the corner (see picture). Instead, I ducked into South Street Souvlaki, a favorite of my later Philadelphia years when I had a vegetarian friend. I ate some hummus and moved on.

This is Washington Square, a quiet park on Locust Street from Sixth to Eighth. Unlike the more popular Rittenhouse Square on the other side of Broad Street, Washington Square is a quiet secret, the place you would go with your book or your dog if you're not particularly interested in hunting for a place to sit or peoplewatching.

Ahhh, one of my favorite places on earth is the Academy of Music! I spent hours and hours in line here waiting for two-dollar orchestra tickets on Friday or Saturday nights. Back then, the Philadelphia Orchestra shared this performance space with the Opera Company of Philadelphia and the Pennsylvania Ballet. I had subscriptions to all one year or another, always the cheap seats way up in the top of the room (the dreaded Amphitheater). It's no exaggeration to say that I saw hundreds of performances amidst the red velvet upholstery of this hall. When it appeared in the movie, "The Age of Innocence," based on the Edith Wharton novel (a favorite), I recognized it immediately.

This is where I lived for five years while pursuing my Master of Music degree in Music Theory and a few years after. It's at 1324 Locust Street, was called the Sylvania House then, and now it's the Arts Condo. My apartment consisted of one room with a high ceiling, a small bathroom with a nice-sized tub, a teeny-weeny olive green kitchen unit in the main room, and a rusty-orange carpet. I had many spider plants on the sunny southern exposure windowsills along with houseplants I bought each year at the Philadelphia Flower Show back when it was held in University City. The apartment was nothing to brag about, but the location was perfect for a music major: across the street from the Academy of Music and the Merriam Theater, a few blocks from a large-for-then Barnes & Noble with a loft full of compact discs where I was in line behind Riccardo Muti once, and a few feet from the Broad Street Subway I used to go to school. This is the place where I hooked up my first CD player and my first VCR, and had my sewing machine set up to make most of my own work clothes inspired by the ladies of Dynasty and Princess Di herself.

I knew that many of my favorite haunts had changed over the years because I still visit Philadelphia frequently. There were few surprises other than Outfest 2009 blocking Locust Street and the conspicuous absence of The Book Trader on South Street. These big black boxes are new, and they were all over the city. I'm intrigued--can anyone explain how they work? Maybe I'll be a good librarian and Google 'BigBelly Solar Compactor'.