Add the explosion of the battleship Maine in Havana Harbor in 1898 to the list of historical events I don’t know enough about. I would “remember the Maine” if only I could. I know the incident triggered the Spanish-American War. I recall that the reason the boat exploded is perhaps a little murky. Conspiracy theories…
Category: Florida
Gertrude Three Ways
I first meet Gertrude Stein during my Pablo Picasso phase, and my Hemingway phase, and my F. Scott Fitzgerald phase and then I come across her in Bryant Park in New York and I see her resting at Père-Lachaise in Paris and I would swear I see her in a little park in Mallory Square…
Key West Reverie: What I Did after the Green Parrot
The Brawny Sherpa visits the Green Parrot in Key West, FL
A Mind-Altering Mansion Crawl
No matter how many houses of the rich and famous I visit (with the George Eastman house in Rochester, N.Y. probably being my favorite), I still feel a little strange traipsing through someone else’s home, no matter how long ago it was abandoned or ‘donated’ to a historical society. Do I really need to know…
Three Lines Worth Waiting On (and Two to Skip)
The frustration of any trip—especially one taken during peak tourism times—is waiting on line. If only all major world attractions had a FastPass, where I could return at a designated hour and cut right to the front of the line. Some attractions, though, are worth those minutes and hours and sweaty days of snaking forward…
R & R, Nature and Nurture, on Sanibel
Not every vacation can be a jungle adventure in the Amazon. Sometimes, a traveler just needs to get away and for the trip to be unthinkingly stress-free. For a quick escape, I tend to choose Florida. It’s all too easy to buy a plane ticket on a site like CheapOair and then head south at…
Sanity on Sanibel
Florida features so many destinations, and hotels are so numerous, that making a choice can be overwhelming. Even narrowing down a list of prospective hotels can be daunting. At the high end, chances are you won’t really go wrong no matter how you choose a place to stay. At more modest levels, though, success can…
Peacefulness by the Sea, Captiva
The Brawny Sherpa and I wander aimlessly through Captiva Island, Fla., having ditched our rental car somewhere with the optimistic hope that we’ll remember its color, make and license number when it’s time to retrieve it. This is a day trip for us as we wind down from a family get-together in not-so-far-away Naples. Nothing…
Gulf Getaway: Oasis in Condo-Land
Never super-keen on the Gulf coast of Florida for no particularly discernible reasons except Miami, Palm Beach, and Amelia Island, I headed there for a quick stay on Marco Island with the Brawny Sherpa before pointing north to a family get-together in nearby Naples. Someone recently asked me what city I’d live in if work…
Bubbling Good Times on Captiva Island
On a trip to the west coast of Florida, the Brawny Sherpa and I are staying on Sanibel Island when we decide to take a little road trip to nearby Captiva. This is the most basic of vacations featuring beaches, a few family visits, and occasional field trips to make us feel our daily margaritas…