When We Could Travel – A Look Back (I)

Those were the days… Road trips!  Covid-19 hadn’t reared its ugly head, hotels and restaurants were functioning, group activities weren’t banned, no masks needed, etc. 

We’ve cancelled 2 road trips already this year and even extended day trips are a bit futile or risky, depending on your viewpoint.  However, we do realize that our ‘frustrations’ are of very minor importance in the grand scheme of the evolving crisis that faces the entire world.  We are lucky to have been able to travel in the past, to be where we are and to have each other.  So…in lieu of current travel, I decided that we’d just glance back at some previous trips and/or activities and enjoy the memories. 

This particular trip was in late February of 2008, a year before we retired down here in East Tennessee…

To begin with, you may be happy that a few years ago my computer crashed and my huge file of photos were lost somewhere in the ether.  As a consequence, all I have to work with are those photos that I actually had printed.  This considerably shortened my ‘virtual trip’ into the past.

So we were off to Florida for a break from Chicago’s winter and a bit of sunshine and a couple of family visits.  In Fort Lauderdale, we were wandering around the waterfront when I saw this ticket booth and decided that we’d take a river and harbor cruise.

I’m not sure whether we went on our cruise using Carrie B. Cruises/Harbor Tours Inc., or if I took this photo of the Jungle Queen because that was the boat/cruise line we used… I’m guessing that our tour was on the River Queen, a smaller cousin to the Jungle Queen.  The Jungle Queen can carry up to 385 passengers while the River Queen only carries 110.  In any case, you can see that it was a beautiful day for a ride down the New River in Fort Lauderdale and then over to Port Everglades.

Near where the New River meets the Atlantic Ocean and Port Everglades, there is an area laced with canals and luxury homes.  Those along the main channel are the ones that get the attention.  The cruise captains provide a narration as they go letting passengers know who owned or still owns some of the more notable homes.  Owner's names included Ray Kroc (McDonald’s), Herb Kohl (Kohl’s Department Stores, Wayne Huizenga (Waste Management) and Oscar Mayer and they are mixed in with celebrities and famous folks such as Burt Reynolds, Nick Nolte, Gloria Vanderbilt, Lee Majors, Dan Quale, Connie Francis and Michael Bloomberg.  Some of the homes are spectacular and others can be spectacularly garish…

For some reason I don’t have many yacht photos but they were lined up all along our route.  Steven Spielberg’s “Seven Seas” docks here as does the one owned by Paul Allen (Microsoft).

The yacht shown in the photo is the Itasca.  This 176’ long ship was originally built as a seagoing tug boat (Thames III) in 1961, but in 1981 she was converted into a luxury yacht.  She has a range of 13,000 nautical miles and she’s circumnavigated the globe 3 times.  When she was owned by former US Treasury Secretary William E. Simon, she crossed through the Northwest Passage across the Canadian north coast.  The Itasca is currently up for sale and the price was reduced before the pandemic.  It’s listed at $9,950,000 but I’m sure that you could make an offer!  It offers 5 guest cabins and you’d be served by a crew of 12…

To see just how the super wealthy enjoy their largess, you can check out a video and photos of the Itasca on-line at https://www.boatinternational.com/yachts-for-sale/itasca--89831.  I’m guessing that the helicopter comes with the yacht!

As we neared Port Everglades, the cruise ships loomed over everything although not being a cruising type person, I was more impressed by that big drawbridge but I did enjoy looking at that busy harbor.  Port Everglades is a truly critical economic center for South Florida.  Until Covid-19 reared its ugly head, it was the third busiest cruise home port in the world, handling more than 3,800,000 passengers a year.  It was also the busiest container port in Florida.  As for Laurie and I, we’ll continue to avoid those huge 3,000 – 5,000 passenger petri dishes…but Carnival Lines has a fully booked cruise set to go this coming August.  

The Clay E. Shaw Memorial Drawbridge was completed in 2002.  It opens on schedule every half hour and hour if needed but with a 55 foot clearance, it doesn’t open that often as many boats can just pass underneath it. 

Traffic in Southeastern Florida was and is a disaster…especially if you want to stay off the growing number of toll roads.  We just don’t like the traffic hassle and that’s why we rarely venture into the traffic overburdened big cities. I can handle it easy enough but it’s just too much of a hassle that we don’t need…especially when there are so many back roads across America for us to explore.  This bumper to bumper photo from 2008 was bad enough but our more recent ventures into the area, (visiting Key West for example), proved that traffic is even crazier now.

We drove on down US Hwy A1A for much of the way passing past a big boat show and all of the cool architecture in Miami Beach.  We didn’t stop though and taking photos from a moving car, albeit slowly moving, is rarely satisfactory.  Laurie did grab a photo of this famous (notorious) home along our route.  This was the home of famed fashion designer Gianni Versace.  Fifty year old Versace was shot execution-style on the steps of this mansion as he returned from a morning walk.  Andrew Cunanan was a ‘spree killer’ who had murdered 4 other men.  He then killed himself.

Because of Versace’s fame and the notoriety resulting from his murder, his home is now the third most photographed home in America…after the White House and Elvis’s Graceland.  Today, the property has been converted into a luxury hotel and restaurant, known as “The Villa, Casa Casuarina”.  It’s priced ‘a little’ above my pay grade.  If you’d like to dine here or stay in this famous former home, go to http://vmmiamibeach.com/,    

We were glad to get beyond the crazed but interesting Miami area.  Our next stop was in Everglades National Park.  This 1,508,976 acre National Park was created in 1934.  Unlike most other US National Parks that preserve unusual geographic features, the Everglades National Park was created to protect a fragile ecosystem.  It is the largest tropical wilderness in the USA and it’s the largest wilderness of any kind east of the Mississippi River.

The park is a ‘river of grass’ punctuated by sloughs, marl prairies, hardwood hammocks, pineland, cypress and mangroves.  It has a stark wild beauty to it… We spent the better part of the day exploring and taking photos.  Sadly, man-made structures meant to serve visitors to the park did not seem to be well maintained.  Underfunding of our National Parks is a huge problem that never seems to be addressed.  I’m sure the financial issues caused by Covid-19 will make this problem much worse… A hurricane that hit the park in 2009 damaged many structures to the degree that they were beyond repair…

We did see lots and lots of birds…but our best photos were of the alligators that seemed to be just about everywhere.  Some of them were huge!  I wonder who placed that warning cone next to the big gator on the trail… That big critter could really put a big crimp in a nice hike!

The park is the most important breeding ground for tropical wading birds in North America.  There are 36 threatened or protected species in the park including the Florida panther, American crocodile and the West Indian manatee.  It is also the home to 350 species of birds, 300 species of fish, 40 different mammals and 50 species of reptiles.

 

Note: In the last few years, a specific ecological disaster in particular has decimated both the reptile and mammalian population in the park.  Pet pythons have been turned loose is South Florida and they will attack and eat just about anything that they come across.  They can grow up to 20 feet long plus...and they have wiped out the small mammals in the area. To see a photo of an alligator and a python in a life and death struggle, check out this photo: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Everglades_National_Park#/media/File:Gator_and_Python.jpg.

For information about the Everglades National Park, just go to the website at: https://www.nps.gov/ever/index.htm.

Our next stop on this road trip was in Bonita Springs Florida where we met up with Laurie’s oldest sister Glenda and her husband Ken.  At that time they were regular winter weather visitors, escaping to Florida to ‘miss’ the worst part of winter in St. Louis Missouri.

Yes…this was us just 12 years ago.  We still called Mt. Prospect Illinois (the Chicago area) our home.  I was wearing long pants, something I almost never do anymore if the temperature is 55 F or higher.  No beard either!

One day when we were visiting Ken and Glenda, we decided to visit the Naples Zoo at Caribbean Gardens in Naples Florida.  This 43 acre zoo houses about 70 species and the main path through it is about a mile long. 

Tiger Forest provides a bamboo forest, the natural habitat for the zoo’s Malayan or Southern Indo-Chinese tigers.  The zoo is a participating member of the AZA’s Species Survival Plan for these tigers.  In the wild, there are probably no more than 200 mature breeding individuals remaining.  Other big cats at the Naples zoo include cheetah, lions, clouded leopards and Florida Panthers.  

The zoo features a lake called Lake Victoria which contains several islands that are home for the zoo’s primates.  Visitors can take a cruise around the islands or just view the animals from the ‘mainland’.  Most of the species featured are endangered in the wild.  Primates on exhibit include black spider monkeys, black and white colobus monkeys, brown lemur, buff cheeked gibbon, red ruffed lemur, ring tail lemur and Siamang.

We all had a nice time wandering through the zoo and I’m sure that you would too.  They are in the process of reopening as I publish this post.  To learn more about the Naples Zoo at Caribbean Gardens, you can just go to https://www.napleszoo.org/.

Our last stop before we dashed back to the airport for the flight home was in Englewood Florida.  That was the winter refuge for my son David II’s godmother Mary and her husband Henry.  Way back when, Mary was married to my stepfather’s second oldest son, Smith Thomson…but that’s a long and twisting story.  Mary has since passed on…

When we arrived back in Mount Prospect (just northwest of Chicago and north of O’Hare Airport), you can see what was waiting for us.  It was a pretty sight but it was like our punishment for leaving town!  While we do miss the restaurants and butcher shops along with the variety of dining options Chicagoland has to offer…we much prefer the mild winters, beauty and relaxing atmosphere that we now enjoy in East Tennessee…

Just click on any of the photos to enlarge them…

Thanks for stopping by for a brief and sketchy virtual road trip!

Stay Safe and Take Care, Big Daddy Dave

Revisiting a Favorite – The Lucky Dill Deli

Time for another Tampa/Clearwater dining favorite… I don’t think that we’d ever visit the area without a stop here for deli delights!  Our good friends Bob and Nona from Clearwater were with us for this dining treat.

This is the Lucky Dill Deli and Brooklyn Bakery in Palm Harbor Florida.  A ‘real’ quality deli is impossible to find where we live in East Tennessee.  The tendency here is that any place that makes a sandwich calls itself a ‘deli’.  There are a couple of restaurants where the menu resembles a true deli but they fall short from a quality standpoint… (We keep looking around the area though!) 

The Lucky Dill Deli is a big restaurant.  That’s a good thing because you can still end up waiting for a table during peak meal times.  We were a bit ‘off peak’ when we visited this time so we didn’t have a problem getting a table.

The waiter or waitress starts the table out with a basket of fresh baked rolls. Given the amount of food one receives here, it's really overkill but its a nice touch in any case.

About a year and a half ago, we stopped here for breakfast.  While it was good, let’s face it, a good deli is all about sandwiches and other deli type specialties.  It had been about 3 years since we’d been here for lunch…

How about a nice little Hot Corned Beef Sandwich!?  ($12.99) This was Nona’s luncheon choice.  She loves corned beef and she loves the Lucky Dill Deli!  Please note that all sandwiches also come with a choice of Coleslaw, Potato Salad, Pasta Salad or Chips and Pickle. 

This grouping of beautiful ‘sliders’ is Bob’s favorite at Lucky Dill Deli.  The Lucky Deal ($14.99) includes 3 freshly baked rolls with a choice of deli meats.  I personally would have a hard time deciding which meats I would select if I was to order this platter of goodness.  

Meat choices include hot corned beef, hot pastrami, hot beef brisket, oven roasted turkey breast, roast beef, honey baked ham, salami, liverwurst and chopped liver.  You could also choose beef tongue for one of them for an additional $2.00.

When dining at a quality deli and given the fact that it's a rare experience for Laurie and me, our ‘go to’ choice is always a Hot Pastrami Sandwich!  We both ordered the same thing. ($12.99) We were very, very happy!

Note that all sandwiches are served on your choice of bread.  Choices include: New York Rye, Pumpernickel, White, Wheat, Kaiser Roll, Sesame Roll, Onion Roll, Marble Rye and a Bagel.  

  

Then there is the Brooklyn Bakery side of Lucky Dill Deli!  WOW!  What a selection.  It’s too bad that we were already stuffed after finishing our huge and delicious sandwiches…

Any normal (or intelligent) human would have just bypassed these bakery cases, but then again, I’m not normal.  We picked up a large black and white cookie, some Tiramisu, a muffin, and 2 small éclairs. ($17.42 with tax) What the heck, we wanted a treat for later that evening…

Note to Lucky Dill Deli… You would rule the market and we would dine at your establishment at least once a week if you located a restaurant here in the Knoxville area!  Palm Harbor Florida’s Lucky Dill Deli/Brooklyn Bakery is located at 33180 US Hwy. 19 North.  Phone: 727-789-5574.  Their website can be found at: http://luckydilldeli.com/.

Just click on any of the photos…especially that hot pastrami sandwich…to enlarge them for drooling purposes.

Thanks for stopping by for a ‘light’ lunch!

Take Care, Big Daddy Dave

La Trattoria Da Gaetano

We were down in the Tampa/Clearwater Florida area visiting our long-time friends Nona and Bob.  It had been about a year and a half since our last visit… While Lenny’s in Clearwater was a new dining experience for us, we also decided to reprise a couple of favorites as well…a popular deli and an unusual Italian restaurant.

We started with the Italian favorite, locally known as the “No Name Italian Restaurant”.  However, as you can see it does have a name.  La Trattoria da Gaetano is located in the corner of a strip shopping center in Dunedin Florida.  It would be easy to miss when driving by…

The interior of Gaetano’s is definitely ‘old school’ with wood paneling, checkered tablecloths, a mix of different chairs, a mirrored wall, etc.  As far as I could see, there weren’t any changes since we’d last dined here September of 2015.  

  

This table in one corner of the restaurant is crowded with wine as well as some ingredients for appetizers and entrees.

The fact is that La Trattoria da Gaetano doesn’t have a written/printed menu…or even a chalkboard with special listed.  Instead, Gaetano himself brings a cart around and he describes the appetizers and entrees that he can prepare.  The trick for old folks like me is trying to remember what the heck all the choices are!

You also have to be willing to gamble a little bit as you won’t discover what your meals will cost until you get the bill…and this restaurant is not inexpensive.

One big disappointment for us was that Gaetano himself was out of town on a trip.  He’s such a character that his presentation of the various food items is partly informative and part entertainment.  His son (in the back right) went over the items with us on this occasion.  The advantage was that son doesn’t have an accent so it’s easier to follow what he’s saying…even if I still can’t remember all of the options.

Our waiter took a photo of our little group… From the left, Laurie, me, Nona and Bob…  We did encounter one problem this evening that you might notice if you study the photo.   Three of us had our food but Laurie’s entrée arrived late.  The problem was that they brought her the wrong entrée in the first place.

Since I don’t have a written record of what we had to eat…just a receipt…it’s a challenge to recall which entrees were which.  I am sure that this veal dish was Nona’s entrée.  It’s a dish that Bob and Nona have had on several previous occasions and they really enjoy it. 

This was Bob’s entrée…Lobster ravioli with shrimp in a tomato vodka sauce.  Winner, winner!   Those shrimp look good to me!

This was the side of spaghetti and meat sauce that accompanied Nona and my entrees.  While I’m sure that it is very popular, it just had too many vegetables in it for my taste. 

My main dish was this stuffed pork chop!  It was very good…large too!  Laurie got a few mushrooms and a taste of the pork chop.  There was nothing left on my plate when I finished…

Laurie finally got her entrée.  She also ordered the lobster ravioli but in her case it was topped with artichokes and a few pieces of lobster.  This was not her favorite iteration of lobster ravioli… It was too sweet for her taste and this offering just didn’t ‘pop’ for her.

So on this occasion at La Trattoria Da Gaetano we had some hits and some misses.  Despite this experience and taking our first visit back in 2015 in account, this is a dining experience that is worth a try.  It’s definitely an old style Italian restaurant with a character of its own.   Note that this restaurant scores 4.5 stars out of 5 on both Yelp.com and TripAdvisor.com!

La Trattoria Da Gaetano is located at 2152 Main Street in Dunedin Florida.  Phone: 727-733-5664.  This restaurant doesn’t have a website but you can find them on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/pages/La-Trattoria-Restaurant-Da-Gaetano/115780801784827.

Just click on any of the photos to enlarge them…

Thanks for stopping by for a visit!

Take Care, Big Daddy Dave 

Lenny’s – Clearwater

Laurie and I were down in Clearwater Florida visiting our good friends Bob and Nona.  Laurie and I have been married/together for almost 39 years and we’ve been friends with Bob and Nona the entire time.  I worked with Bob many, many years ago at the Venture Stores division of May Department Stores in St. Louis Missouri.

In any case, they have a favorite local restaurant that they love to visit when they want to go out for breakfast…and since that’s our favorite meal out we were happy to give it a try!

This is Lenny’s in Clearwater Florida…or as their menu states…”Lenny’s – The Legend Lives On!”  Lenny’s has been serving breakfast here since about 1980.  This restaurant is right up our alley as they serve breakfast any time during open hours and they’re open 7 days a week from 6 AM to 3 PM.  

  

Lenny’s has that northeastern USA ‘diner’ look even though it is large as compared to the usual diner.  It could be a retro looking New York Jewish diner for that matter.  That’s appropriate since the menu features bagels with nova and cream cheese, knishes, blintzes, Matzo and potato pancakes as well as chopped liver and a hot ‘Roumanian’ pastrami sandwich.

We’d already attacked this complimentary basket of Danish goodies before we remembered to take a photo.  This basket of sweet treats comes with almost all the breakfast items!  Before the meal was over, the basket was empty…

Nona went for the bacon and egg breakfast. ($8.99) Her 2 over-easy eggs and 4 slices of bacon were accompanied by home fries without onions. 

For their sides, diners can choose between 4 silver dollar pancakes or 2 of the following: home fries, grits, toast, hot fresh baked biscuit, slices of tomatoes or fresh fruit garnish.

Laurie went for the same breakfast as Nona did only she added onions to her home fries!  She loved the fact that this standard breakfast comes with 4 slices of bacon… They also cooked the bacon crispy, the way she likes it.

What can I say…Traditional meat and egg breakfasts were ‘in’ for most of our group!  Bob’s breakfast was a bit different in that he got bacon, a sausage link and a sausage patty.

FYI... The deli side of the menu appealed to me almost as much as the breakfast portion did.  Hot corned beef, a corned beef or pastrami or turkey ‘Knish-Wich’, tongue, roast beef, salami, burgers, wraps, chicken noodle soup, sweet and sour cabbage soup, etc., round out the luncheon menu.

Well what the heck… Someone had to break the mold and order something other than a standard breakfast!  I went for something with a ‘southern touch’, the Redneck Benedict. ($9.99) Yes, there are 2 sausage patties and 2 poached eggs on 2 biscuit halves buried in that load of sausage gravy… I added Tabasco of course.  That sausage gravy mixed in very nicely with the meat, eggs and a nice biscuit. 

Lenny’s offers 8 different benedicts, including a chicken waffle version.  The menu also includes no less than 20 different omelettes!  Yes, French toast, pancakes and waffles are also available. 

These are our friends Nona and Bob… Good food and good friends make everyone happy!  It’s a great combination.  We ate very well at their home as well.  Bob is a good prep assistant and Nona can really deliver on the Italian dishes!

Lenny’s was definitely a winner!  The food is top notch and the pricing is hard to beat in a metro area.  We wish that we had a place like this anywhere within driving range from our home in East Tennessee!  Lenny’s is located at 21220 US Hwy. 19 North in Clearwater Florida.  Phone: 727-799-0402.  Website:  http://www.lennysfood.com/.

Just click on any of the photos to enlarge them…

Thanks for stopping by for breakfast!

Take Care, Big Daddy Dave

Last Stops Before Clearwater

We were headed south to Tampa/Clearwater on the last day of our drive before we arrived at our friends Bob and Nona’s house.  We took in a couple more historic places along the way. 

The first spot we stopped to photograph was in Cross City Florida.  This is the old Atlantic Coast Line Depot.  It was built ca. 1910.  At one point in more recent days it apparently was occupied by a local business.  These days it’s not in use…but I noted that they’d boarded in the old freight dock for this combination passenger and freight depot.

The asphalt path in the foreground is part of the 32 mile long Nature Coast State Trail… The former rail right of way has been converted to what is popularly called a “rail trail”.  At one point, this paved trail crosses over the Suwannee River.

Historical Note:

·       During the Second Seminole War (1835-1842) Federal forces engaged the Seminoles in this area near the Suwannee River, across from Ft. Fanning.  The engagement is known as the "Battle of Old Town."

This Spanish Mission style building in Crystal River Florida was built with native limestone in 1939 under the auspices of the Work Project Administration…part of Roosevelt’s New Deal program.  It was originally designed to house the police and fire departments, (with a 3-cell jail) and it served as City Hall until 1972. 

The building now houses the Coastal Heritage Museum, which is operated by the Citrus County Historical Society.  Exhibits focus on the early history of the west side of Citrus County Florida and include a 1929 diorama of downtown Crystal Springs, a fish house facade, and one of the an original jail cells. Admission is free.  You can check it out at: http://www.coastalheritagemuseum.org/.

Notes:

·       Both Art Fleming, the original host of “Jeopardy!” and baseball hall of fame member Ted Williams, lived in Crystal River at the time of their deaths. 

·       Crystal River is situated around Kings Bay, which is spring-fed and so keeps a constant 72 °F temperature year around.  A cluster of 50 springs designated as a first-magnitude system feeds Kings Bay.  This discharge equals about 64 million gallons of water per day!   Kings Bay can be home to over 400 manatees during the winter when the water temperature in the Gulf of Mexico cools and this fact is a major draw for tourists in the area.

Yulee Sugar Mill Ruins Historic State Park is a Florida State Park located in Homosassa Florida, just a couple of miles west of US Hwy 19.  In addition to the historic ruins, the park has a picnic pavilion, restrooms, picnic tables and grills…as well as the ruins of the historic old sugar mill.

David Levy Yulee was a delegate in the Florida Territorial Legislative Council and when Florida became a state, he became the first US Senator from the state as well as the first American of Jewish heritage to serve in the Senate.  Yulee is also credited as being responsible for the development of a network of railroads that tremendously boosted the state's economy.

The large mill (which was steam-driven) operated from 1851 to 1864.  It produced sugar, syrup and molasses.  FYI, the molasses was used in making rum.  At the park, the stonework (foundation, well and 40-foot chimney) of the mill, iron gears, a cane press, and some of the other machinery remain.

The mill was just part of Yulee’s huge enterprise in the Homosassa area.  His plantation covered more than 5,100 acres and was worked by approximately 1,000 slaves.  They raised sugarcane, citrus, and cotton.  Yulee made the plantation the base for all of his businesses and land holdings, building his home on Tiger Tail Island in the Homosassa River just a few miles from the mill.

David Yulee had a much larger empire than just this 5,100 acre plantation and mill.  Yulee also owned vast lands across North Central Florida and maintained other homes in Fernandina and what is now the town of Yulee.  (When his father Moses, first emigrated to Florida from the island of St. Thomas in what is now the US Virgin Islands, he purchased 50,000 acres in that are now occupied by Jacksonville Florida)

Using the labors of 69 slaves, Yulee built the mill of hewn Florida limestone, brick and wood.  In addition to the steam-operated grinding or pressing rollers, the operation also included large kettles for cooking down the juice squeezed from the sugar cane.  By the time of the Civil War, when it was in full operation the Yulee Sugar Mill used more than 100 slaves to process the sugar cane.  Sugar was exported from the Homosassa River to ports all along the Gulf and Atlantic Coasts. 

  

Elected to the U.S. Senate again in 1855, Yulee was still serving in Washington when the obvious threat of Civil War loomed over the horizon.  Resigning his post in the U.S. Senate, Yulee went home to Florida.  Although he served for a time in the Confederate Congress, his primary role during the Civil War was as a businessman and industrialist.  His railroad was brought into operation in March of 1861 and the sugar mill on the Homosassa was devoted to the production of sugar for the Confederate armies.

In May of 1864, the Union navy made a raid up the Homosassa River to Tiger Tail Island.  A building containing Southern military supplies was set on fire and the flames spread to Yulee's home.  In their reports of the affair, U.S. Navy officers claimed that burning Yulee’s home was "accidental". 

To learn more about David Levy Yulee, go to https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Levy_Yulee.

FYI…Homosassa Florida is the home of the Homosassa Springs Wildlife State Park, where visitors can observe manatees close up and personal.  To learn about this park, go to https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Homosassa_Springs_Wildlife_State_Park.

Just click on any of the photos to enlarge them…

Thanks for stopping by for a visit!

Take Care, Big Daddy Dave