Florida

I completely reworked this day. We're done with the beach. We're done with the hotel. Nice people, but we feel we've exhausted the possibilities. After breakfast, we're going adventuring!

In 1903, President Theodore Roosevelt, by Executive order, designated Pelican Island (just to the north of us, over in Sebastian) as the nation's first Wildlife Refuge. For the protection of nesting birds. Congress sealed its fate in 1970 by establishing the whole island as a Wilderness Area. 100 years ago, it was the last nesting place for the Brown Pelican. These days, over 130 species of birds feed and nest here.

Wouldn't you want to visit? To walk its Floridian trails? To listen to birdsong?

It's cloudy here this morning, which is a good thing. A less intense sun will keep us cooler.

Breakfast -- outside, because again, the weather is lovely for it. She gets the pancake (please, only one), I get the granola and yogurt.

(with a view onto the ocean...)

Our server is known to us from the other day. She engages. They all do. Super friendly bunch. She asks where we're heading, I mention Pelican Island. Ever been there?

No, I just moved here two years ago. Came down, liked it, stayed.

From where? 

Massachussetts. Too cold there. And the people here? So happy.

Are they? She should know. Lives here now. Or is it that she is "so happy" and thus assumes the best about everyone?

And then we are off.

The drive up the barrier islands is a little, well, I guess strange to a northerner. We very quickly leave an older Florida neighborhood...

... and hit endless gated communities. One after the next, and then thirty more. I try to explain to Snowdrop why they're so common here, but to tell you the truth -- I don't fully understand it myself. Is it because people often leave these units for the summer? Do they feel more threatened? Endless enclaves. 

And then -- we get to the Wilderness area.

There isn't anyone around. There are no visitors and there's not a soul working here to tell you about the place and though I read a little on the Internet, still, I wasn't sure which trail to take and for what reason. And so when a pickup truck rambled over to the small parking lot -- I ask. The couple seemed to visit this place every now and then. You're here for the birds? Go on the Birds Impoundment Trail. Once you get to the water, you'll see plenty of birds -- they tell me.

Okay, we find the trail. Jungle like! With swampy waters on both sides. She asks if there are snakes or alligators. Honestly, I dont know. They wont eat you, that I promise -- I say this with light confidence. Emphasis "light."

Predictably it's a little buggy. A few mosquitoes. Other less familiar insects that if amplified, would make great Halloween costumes. Creepy. Snowdrop goes along, but it's just not a pretty walk. We do get to more open waters. With what looks to me to be red mangroves...

And my bird detector tells me we're hearing an osprey somewhere out there. Looking up, we see one bird swooping past. Possibly a brown pelican, but I can't be sure.

She says -- you've seen a bird... maybe we should turn back?

She is correct. We can't get lost, but nor do we really believe that there is that much more to observe. We have bird nesting areas in Horicon Wisconsin. There is a ton of information on what to do, where to go, what to see. I'm missing that here, on Pelican Island, Florida.

 

 

We turn back.

And now it's an easy (if boring) 1.75 hour drive back to Orlando.

For reasons completely unknown to me, we get a room upgrade. Possibly because we're returning guests? Who knows.  Totally unnecessary and just a little too exquisite. We don't need so much space. And, too, I'd like to believe that we are happy as clams in modest places. Big American hotels with big rooms are great for large families, but for the two of us -- it makes me feel like I do not belong here. Amplified by my ride down in the elevator where a very friendly guest explains to me how his daughter is getting married here today, and how they've been coming for thirty years (thirty years! all we could think of thirty years ago was how to pay for the kids' college, which, in itself, is a very privileged worry), and how they avoid Disney World because of, you know, the politics. All in the space of a seven floor elevator ride.

That is not why I avoid Disney World.

Still, it's lovely to be back in the land of the exquisite swimming pools.

Down we go. Right away.

We eat lunch once again by the water. Grilled cheese for her. Happy little girl.

And of course, she goes back to the slides which have been on her mind all the while. Without raft, with raft.

(Ha! We spot a lovely bird. By the "fake" lagoon.)

We're upstairs, the sun is setting over the Disney World park grounds (to the right), over Florida's singular landscape. Funny to have seen the sunrise out the window back in Vero Beach, and now to witness the last colors of a setting sun in Orlando.

And when it is already dark, we go back to the same informal eatery and she has the same kids' salmon and fries, and I have the same shrimp and grits...

And we think this to be such a fine ending to our Florida adventure! Tomorrow, a morning of play, an afternoon of flights.

with so much love...

Florida

The Atlantic Ocean beach grows shady and gloomy here in the afternoon. (We're at the Vero Beach hotel, right at the water's edge.) The buildings are so close to the water that they shade the setting sun to the west. I suppose on a hot day you could grow to like the completely sunless beach. And here's who does like it: turtles. The stretch of coastline in this county, I'm told, is the largest turtle nesting place in the world. Loggerhead, Green, Leatherback. Thousands of nests exactly in these months. (They do not like light. They come out toward dusk or in the dark.) To me, it seems a little unreal. So much shade, on a beach! But this morning! Ah, this morning... Sunrise is right there before us.

Looking out from our balcony, it is just stunning.

(and now that the sun is out... time to get going!)

Breakfast. Not a buffet style. Snowdrop orders pancakes and is very happy. I look at the stack and wonder why on earth they serve portions that no one (let alone a child) can ever finish.

Then we do some last minute switching around. My plan to eat meals at the hotel got foiled by the hotel's sudden closure of their restaurant due to some Halloween private event. This turns out to be a blessing for us, as the food was unexceptional and terribly expensive (by my budget). Turns out there are eateries within walking distance. This is just splendid! I book a dinner on the island at an Italian place -- something I know will make the girl happy.

I'd already decided that our stay here will be all beach. For the pool -- we'll return to Orlando tomorrow. We pick up a stray bucket, for Snowdrop to use, at the hotel counter, but, too, we walk over to the Vero Beach junk store (it's not called a junk store but honestly, that's what you find in local souvenir places) to check out what's there. For the beach and to take home for the brothers. For us? T-shirts with turtles of course.

(going shopping in a swim suit...)

Though what the girl really wants is the stuffed mama turtles with their babes, right there in the hotel gift shop. To commemorate this turtle paradise.

(you can read about it here)

Now for some serious beach activity!

 

She works with the one bucket and with collected shells.

(looking inland toward our small but large for the area four-story hotel)

And here's the rub -- the ocean isn't really for kid swimming. There are rip current warnings everywhere, and even without those, you can tell that the waters are not friendly to anyone except the strongest swimmer. I see no one in the water. So it's splash and play for us.

(funny! she just wrote a short graphic story about a crab...)

And that's just fine. We wanted beach. We got beach. And warm sunshine. What more could you possibly ask for!

(a passerby asked if we wanted a windy picture...)

Lunch? We eat outside, at tables to the side of the pool, because the girl spotted grilled octopus on the menu and this child, true pescatarian that she is, really loves grilled octopus.

(during our travel meals, Snowdrop often fills little booklets with graphic stories... she now has quite the collection)

We take a Vero Beach (the island) walk afterwards. (Mostly because she heard there is a Kilwins ice cream place in town and me -- I want a cup of good coffee.) 

Walking along "Ocean Drive" (which, rather obviously hugs the ocean) reminds me so much of my Florida trips way back. On the side of the beaches, you see one and two story motels. On the other side -- shops that cater to visitors in those motels. Insofar as I see people -- they are middle aged or seniors, but of course this is because schools are keeping kids away right now. (Only Snowdrop's has this oddly placed late October break.)

It is incredibly hot. I mean, the thermometer will tell you it's 83f/28c, but on the street, where no breezes come in from the ocean, the unshaded walkway is toasty warm. Snowdrop wonders how people manage in the even hotter summers. Indeed, when people ask us where we're from and we tell them it's Wisconsin, we get the sympathetic response that it must be "so cold" there now. She always protests that first of all, no, it's not "so cold," and secondly, snow is beautiful!

She gets her Kilwin's favorite -- a chocolate caramel apple.

I get a coffee. Which unfortunately is made with sour milk. There's hot weather for you! Grocery deliveries are in danger of giving you sour milk! We walk back to the store. I get a fresh cup. I relent and let her have an ice cream. Vacations are not times to limit stuff like that. Besides, the girl was active on the beach!

At the hotel, we rest, we read. She does not want the pool and I dont blame her. It's a draw for mostly older people cooling off in what looks like a bathtub. We're happy to put off swimming until tomorrow.

But I do think we should explore some more. 

("waiting for elevator" photo) 

We had walked south along Ocean Drive. Why not walk north?

And if you ever doubted that Vero Beach has great wealth (the condo complex next to us looks rather ordinary, for example), you need only look into the private mansions that line the coast to the north here. They are... extravagant. And way too close to the ocean in my opinion.

 

 

 

Eventually the sidewalk turns into a narrow boardwalk.

It's a great place to walk and there are any number of seniors here now, in the cooler hours of late afternoon, doing just that. Again Snowdrop reminds me that she does not want to live in a warm place year round. Again I smile at how firmly we stick with our convictions... until at some point we don't. (Though of course, I agree with her -- I can't ever get unused to the changing seasons. Even as the year-round flowers here are very pretty. But who wants to garden year-round?!)

 

Dinner, at the Pomodoro. Walking distance.

We eat outside. And it is truly lovely. And delicious! She orders calamari, of the unfried kind -- loves it! -- followed by her beloved spaghetti. I have seafood pasta. I have had many, many seafood pastas in my days and so I can be fussy. This one was absolutely delicious. 

(Pause for an update from Ed who appears to have lined up a sailing gig for himself. Coming up soon!)

We end with ice cream. We're close to Kilwin's, what can I say...

 

On our walk back I ask her -- which place is really different from home -- southern California or Florida. She doesn't hesitate: Florida. And I agree with her. Florida has a vibe. I wont try to find words for it here. You've probably visited the state. You likely would agree.

Back at the hotel we hit the midpoint of the private Halloween party that preempted our eating dinner there tonight. It. Is. Loud.

I tell Snowdrop -- I'm going down to the lobby to complain. Be right back. 

I want to go with you. 

No, just wait. 

Please!  

She comes down with me.

I've known this to happen sometimes -- a hotel will host a private event and it will be loud. It drives me nuts. That they do it -- well, I can't be surprised. Such money! But I think they owe it to the guests to fess up in advance so that choices can be made. Kimpton Vero Beach didn't fess up. 

Snowdrop was impressed by my calm but firm manner. And by the fact that in response, they discounted the room by 50%. One has to give them points for that, but not enough points. I hate loud noise, especially in a hotel that is not cheap. Ah well, there's always a TripAdvisor review to really rub it in.

Eventually the party does end and we can crack the door and spend one more night listening to the sound of the crashing waves. It really is beautiful, even if my little companion does call it simply "white noise."

with love...

Florida

We cross the state today: from its belly to its shores. A real sacrifice for me, since I truly prefer getaways that have zero driving involved, but if you want to show a child even a fragment of Florida, you have to drive.

Our wake up is beautiful. Bright blue skies outside. True, the view is sort of resort-y. This is a state with a flat landscape and in places like Orlando, there are many areas of green that seem humanly created rather than initiated by nature. Nonetheless, it can be very pretty for what it is. We eat breakfast downstairs, outside, looking out on the lagoon. Is it a real lagoon? I mean, it has water. It has green plants growing to the side. The girl says it's lovely. She sits next to me just to have that view. Me, I like the birds that seem to appreciate all the cool bathing opportunities.

And now it's time to make use of the fabulous pools at the hotel. Don't think theme parks! Think warm weather (high of 84F/29C) and meandering pool waters with waterfalls, slides and all those things kids like Snowdrop just love to pieces. (Our hotel's pool is good, but it's the sister hotel's pool that's the draw. We're allowed to use it, which is a total joy for the girl. It has a crazy big set of slides.)

(going down in a tube)

(or without)

(trying out their pool)

(then returning to our own)

Lunch, by the pool.

Then, we pack up and return to the airport to pick up a rental car and from there, it's... road trip!!!

Well, almost road trip.  We inspect the car. Take photos of dinges. Load it up. I turn on the engine and get a pop up warning that the engine needs inspection. I go all the way back to the rental desk. "Oh, it's probably some routine mainetenance like an oil change." Thanks, Hertz. I don't accept "it's probably just..." They back pedal. "Would you like another car?" You bet your sweet booties I would like another car. And we do score well on the exchange -- we get one that has a mere 16 miles on the odometer.

Snowdrop is at her best at times like this. She's no wimp when we try to get help. She'll roll down the window and shout out to the attendant if we're being ignored. And when we finally do set out, she takes my phone and puts herself in charge of navigation. It is actually a very very lovely drive to Vero Beach. (One hour and 45 mins from Orlando.)

Florida, by car. Reel me back to my childhood, why don't you! My parents liked to use Christmas break for a road trip south -- from New York to Florida. How many times did we do this? Three maybe? Poles from the UN group favored Fort Lauderdale. It was cheap then and the owners of one small rental property seemed not to mind renting to people from the "Eastern Block." It would take us three days to get there. In a black Chevy with vinyl seats. How easy it is for Snowdrop now! No worries about being welcomed in hotels across the state,  no vinyl car seats, no three day drive. 

But also -- not many orange groves these days, at least not on the stretch we cover today. I know that citrus growing has gone way down over the years (disease, climate, natural disasters). Indeed, Florida's citrus crop in 2023-2024 is said to be the second lowest in 100 years. That's more than 90% down in the last two decades. (California grows now almost all orange trees in the U.S.) And yet, we can't shake that association: Florida and oranges. For my generation at least, this was the state that gave us the best of the best.

 

We cross over on the Merrill Barber bridge to get to the barrier islands, home to our hotel -- the Kimpton Vero Beach. (Kimpton hotels are part of an SF group, but they do a reliable presentation of lodgings in many, many parts of the world. They call themselves the bold and playful group and I suppose there is a recognizable attempt to go in that direction.)

About Vero Beach itself. Well, it has its virtues. It does seem more like a mix of old Florida and some resorty type stuff at the shore line. Not just highrise codos as far as the eye can see. There may be an interesting town. It remains to be seen. The hotel itself is... funky. It is so close to the water that I swear you could feel a splash of water up in your room if you lean out. (And we do get a very nice view room.)  The beach itself is a bit unkempt and at high tide, it leaves little space for play. You wonder if perhaps the hotel is just a little bit too close to the water's edge. The pool is remarkably small. True, the Orlando pools can spoil a person. My expectations weren't high, but this one is utterly tiny.

Still, we are here for the ocean and the ocean is awesome. We only spend a few minutes at the water's edge, but the girl cant resist picking up a stray bucket and digging away and, well, letting her feet soak in the moving water.

 

 

 Of course she gets wet. And it just doesn't matter.

 

 

 

We eat our evening meal at Cobalt, once more the "informal" hotel eatery. I suppose we could drive over to any number of places in Vero Beach (the town), but spending time on this is completely not worth it. She'll find something on the menu here and so will I.

(calamari!)

It's okay stuff. Friendly wait staff. Terribly expensive. I mean, twice as much as Orlando's dinner. Sure, we ordered more. That's because we were compensating for not ordering the dominant item on the menu -- beef. No matter. The calamari were fine. My bisque was good. Our four scallops were astronomically overpriced. 

Tomorrow, we fall into our beach vacation routine... Today? Sleep to the sound of crashing waves. They are indeed close!

roar... swish.... roar... good night!

to Florida

Let's pause for a sec on my thought process here: when and why did I decide to take my nine year old granddaughter to Florida?

The when part is easy: in the dead of winter. Maybe January or February, I thought about October. And why Florida -- specifically why Vero Beach Florida? Well, last year, on her Fall school break, I took the girl all the way to southern California. She loved it. She would have liked a rerun of that trip. But California is a long flight and in the end, we spent most of our time there either at the beach or by the pool. I did not want to do much more than that, given that I had just recovered from Covid and besides, I'm really not a fan of lots of driving. Just getting to the hotel was enough for me. 

Why not give her a taste of Florida instead?

I searched for many days for a place in that southern state that wasn't just a string of high-rise condos or hotels. A place that wouldn't ask of me to drive too much. A place with access to the water. Of course, all that searching happened before the hurricanes came ashore this Fall.

Vero Beach was the rare bird that seemed to have it all: a low key feel to it. A beach town, right by the ocean. In fact, the place I chose -- Kimpton Vero Beach Hotel-- is on one of the barrier islands. Yes, we know how that's faring these days, but from the point of view of the visitor, especially one from the cold Midwest, that seems like a pretty wonderful thing. (Then of course the tornadoes roared through.We'll see how things look there these days...)

We're not going straight to Vero Beach the first day. Our flights (you have to take two from Madison) have us land in Orlando, which is the closest I can get to without spending a fortune. I dont really want to drive 100 miles toward evening, so we'll overnight in Orlando and much to the girl's frustration, we will not go to Disneyworld or any of the other theme parks. Many reasons for that, perhaps the most important being that her brothers cannot be left behind on such an adventure. And, too, I am not a good companion for any amusement park since I do not like rides at all. (I finally went along with a Disney trip for my two daughters when they were younger. I wasn't a total party pooper, but nor was I as thrilled with being there as they deserved me to be. And with age, my attitude toward these places has only grown worse. So no theme parks.)

Okay, a night in Orlando, where she can wistfully wish she had a more amusement park loving gaga, then three nights by the ocean.

But first, we have to get there.

I'm up early. Too early to feed the chickens. A quick breakfast with my best breakfast companion...

 

 

 

... and I'm off to the airport, where the parents drop off the girl.

We pass security. We have about an hour. We come to the gate. "I'm hungry! It smells of bacon here..." Growing child... But she has a point: it does smell of bacon. She loves it, but has sworn off all meat. She settles for a muffin and fruit I brought from the farmhouse.

 

 

 

We catch the 9:25 to Detroit, grab a very unhealthy lunch for her there (fries and frozen yogurt -- it's hard to be a pescatarian at the airport!),  and an only slightly better one for me (a Kind salted caramel almond bar and a latte at Starbucks -- she tells me: that's what my other grandparents like too! It's old people food!), then take the somewhat longer flight to Orlando. (I do stuff her with inflight pistachios. Delta is big on packets of pistachios.)

Traveling with a kid. In their younger years, it's such a mental and physical challenge! And then they hit about 9, 10 -- all the way until they're teens, and if they have travel in their blood and an adventurous spirit -- they are fabulous on the road. They're excited by fountains, by lights, by moving walkways -- and that's just the travel part. They lap up information as if it were candy. They challenge you, they assert very tiny preferences, but they haven't yet realized how much power lies in their little hands and so they go along. 

It is true that as I get older, I worry about how many more years of travel I have in me. I have plenty of energy, but I don't like the fact that I seem more prone to catching stuff when I'm away from home. I'm not quite an Ed ("it's too much trouble to get there" -- he tells me, as he passes on another sailing crew opportunity in the Caribbean). Me, I'll go to the trouble. And yet... I'm sure you've been picking up these small threads of worry here, on Ocean: how long will I keep on "going to the trouble?"

We land in Orlando, we cab over to our hotel (the R-C Grande Lakes, chosen almost entirely for its cool pool)...

My idea is that we simply check out what's here. For tomorrow's splash and play. Her idea is that we should use the few minutes before dinner for a quick swim. Let's see who got to decide on that one...

 (elevator frolic)

 

 

Okay. She's in.

We eat dinner at the Highball and Harvest, which is supposed to be the informal  "fresh farm produce" eatery at the hotel. And it is. Informal. I do not check the farm credentials. She chooses the kid salmon, I take the southern dish I grew to love back in the days when I visited my grown daughters in D.C.: shrimp and grits. Absolutely delicious.

Dessert? They've left us plenty of sweet treats in the hotel room. We'll stick with that.

 

In so many ways, we are lucky. Florida can get the rains in the fall, but as far as I can tell, we'll have plenty of sunshine and warm weather.  It's not a place where I'd like to be with her in bad weather. The success of a Florida escape, fortunately or unfortunately depends on warm and dry days. I am so grateful for what we have now.

Tomorrow we head east!

with love...