Flamingo Gardens

 The folks have talked about going to Flaming Gardens, but Mama didn't know if it would be worth the $18 per person admission price.  Mama was very excited when she found a site (www.sunny.org) with buy one admission get one free.  They decided to go on Saturday since the tropical wave didn't hit us.

  The property was owned by the Wray's before it was donated.  Their house, which was built in 1930's, is still on the property and it can be toured.

This is a 60 acre, not for profit, facility which has alligators, otters, flamingos, bobcats and also birds that inhabit the aviary and bird center.  The birds in the aviary are all birds that have been injured and cannot survive in the wild.

Are you ready for some pictures?

They were building a nest.

Another Saturday at the park for these two.

Notice how he relaxes.

Scout would have loved this guy.

Working on his nest.

Bald eagle - he was way in the back and it was hard to get a good photo.

Squirrel on top of sign - sorry about the flash in your eye Mr. Squirrel.

He was proud of his looks.

Mama and baby.

See the baby by the tree.  She had three babies.

Awww!!!

Busts of Mr. & Mrs. Wray.

The folks did tour the house, but Mama didn't take photos.  The Wrays' were very big into citrus growing and did quite well with it.

Mama visited the gift shop and bought a suncatcher.  It was only $6 on sale.  Mama told the gift shop employee that she loves hummingbirds.  The employee told Mama that she needs to go to Butterfly World because they have a lot there and they are not all the same species.  Mama was so excited that they went on Sunday.  We will talk about that tomorrow.

The suncatcher.

The tent campers are still here.  It only rained for a short time yesterday, so they didn't get too wet.

We had excitement here last night.  We had police cars outside our campground for about two hours.  A helicopter kept circling our campground.  Mama was concerned that whoever they were looking for was in our campground.  There are like 300 trailers that are here, but vacant for the summer so it would be easy for someone to hide in here.  The police never came inside the park. We don't know what happened, but it ended around 9 p.m.  We were on full alert when we took our last walk of the night.

 The biggest excitement for me was a cat.  He was right outside my window yesterday.  Notice my dripping nose.  It was quite exciting for me.  I whined a lot!

Joey,
The Greyhound Who Thinks Cats Are Fascinating

Tropical Wave

We were not planning on blogging today because we didn't have much to say.  Oh, sure, the Heat won the basketball game last night and are now the champs. That is HUGE here, but not something we would normally blog about.  Mama is happy they won because they were playing the Spurs who are from Texas. It's not like we don't like the Spurs, but we are here in Florida and our Texas license plates stand out.  BOL!  Mama didn't want anyone to take a loss out on our Jeep.  The folks are actually not basketball fans at all and didn't even watch the series. 

There is also other news here.  A tropical wave may be coming tonight or tomorrow.  That sounds scary doesn't it?  Apparently, a tropical wave will bring us a lot of rain.

So, what caused us to blog?  Well, we just looked out the window and there is a family putting tents up.  We didn't even know tent camping was allowed here.  We just wonder how they are going to tent camp in this heat and then they will have to face the tropical wave. Yikes!   Mama said it will give us something to watch this weekend.  It is pretty entertaining just watching them put their tents up.  Yep, this place is really boring if watching people put their tents up is entertaining to us.  BOL!  Oh, it looks like the tents are up and they are sitting in chairs, sweating. 

What is the weather like here?  Well, the mornings are the worst.  When we take our 5:30 a.m. walk, it is so muggy.  Mama normally comes back sweaty.  It actually gets better as the day goes on.  Our evenings are actually pretty nice.  We normally take our longest walk at night.  We actually like it when it it cloudy and we don't mind a shower or two.  We may not be happy when the tropical wave hits though.  That may be more rain than we want.  If we are unhappy, can you imagine how the tent campers will feel?

Mama said a funny the other day.  She picked up some bananas the other day at Walmart.  She swears they were green when she got in line.  They were yellow when she got home.  BOL!

Joey,
The Greyhound Who Is Glad He Is Not In A Tent This Weekend

Cats And Storms

We are the only people here in our section of the park now.  The neighbor behind us left on Tuesday.  Actually, we had not seen the man since Friday night.  On Tuesday morning, we saw a fifth wheel go by and it was the lady driving the truck. We are assuming she hooked it all up herself and left.  She had a lot of stuff to pack up, so we were quite surprised.  Wouldn't it be funny if the guy didn't know she had left and he comes home to an empty site?  BOL!  They had the dog that didn't like us, so we are not too sad to see them go.

The cats are driving me crazy!  I remember every place that I have seen one, so I insist we check out each place to see if there is one there.  The first thing I do is check under our motor home.  Dad says that is a smart thing to do.  The kittens are getting active now and they want to check us out, but Mama says we need to stay away from them because they probably have fleas.  The adult cats all give us nasty looks.  If they hiss at me, then I look away and keep walking.  There was one last night that was laying in a driveway.  He had his ears drawn back.  I thought he wanted to play because greyhounds keep their ears back a lot, but Dad said he didn't want to play.  We think there are about twenty cats that live here.

Storms woke us up at 2 a.m. this morning.  They were not predicted, so we were very surprised. Scout was scared.  Mama got up and turned on the TV to see if they were severe.  There was nothing about them.  She checked the Weather Channel on the computer and the radar showed nothing.  It was strange.  We know it all happened and we didn't dream it because there are water puddles all over the place.  Scout and I love to walk in the water puddles.  Mama took a photo of Scout in the water, but it was not flattering and Scout rejected it.  Scout asked for this photo to be used instead.

Mama remembered something about the Bonnet House that she wanted to tell you.  There is a bust there by an Italian artist by the name of G.B. Lombardi.  The bust has a sculpted veil over it.  The odd thing is that if you put a flash light up to it, you see that the eyes and lips and facial features are just shadows from the veil and disappear with the light close to them.  It is really fascinating.  Photos were not allowed but there is a photo from the Bonnet House website. Scroll down to the photos and it is the second to the last photo.  It doesn't give a close up view, but you can see it on the mantel.  This is also the floor that Frederic painted before he had his stroke.

Bonnet House has monkeys that live in the woods, but the folks never saw them.  They used to live in a bar, but there was a fire and the owner set them free and now they and their offspring live in the woods.

Joey,
The Greyhound Who Wonders If A Cat Can Really Scratch His Eyes Out

Wordless Wednesday - 6/19/13

Scout,
The Greyhound Who Wishes Outside Had Air Conditioning

Bonnet House

The folks have been debating going to the Bonnet House.  The Bonnet House is a house designed by Frederic Clay Bartlett, an American artist from Chicago.  It is ranked high on the list of things to do in Fort Lauderdale.  The folks did not know how interesting it really would be and the cost is $20 a person.  Everything seems to cost $20 or more a person here.   Mama noticed that on Father's Day that fathers get in free, so they decided to see if Dad would get in free.  Yep, they didn't even ask if Dad was a father.

Construction began on the house in 1920 and took nearly 20 years to complete. The land was given to Frederic by his father-in-law, but then his wife died in 1925.  In 1931, he married Evelyn Fortune Lilly.  She lived to be 109.  Her last visit to the house was in 1995 at the age of 107.

Bonnet House

The inside of the house is probably not what you would expect.  The house has a courtyard in the middle.  You must go outside to enter each room.  Unfortunately, indoor photography is not allowed.  Mama was able to take photos in the courtyard. Everything in the house and on the outside is how the couple left it.  However, the TV and microwave that Evelyn used were removed to take the house back to the 30's and 40's era.

Door to the house and the tour guide.

Entering the courtyard.

Fountain in the center of the courtyard.

Outside of house in the courtyard.

Evelyn collected wooden animals.

Painting by Frederic

Flowers

Shell work done by Frederic

Ceiling in part of the courtyard.  Painted by Frederic and Evelyn.

 The inside is not glamorous, but it is nice.  The couple liked to relax here and had other homes.  They only came here in the winter.

Frederic had a stroke after being on his knees for days painting a floor at the age of 77.  Mama said it was sad standing on his last piece of work and knowing that he was unable to speak or paint for the last three years of his life.

Desert plants

There were always two swans that lived here.

Lots of these guys running around.

Orchid House

Path to the beach.  When the house was built, there were no trees blocking the view of the beach.

Mama said that there is a video of Evelyn talking about the home and she is 100 at the time.  She looked like she was maybe 80.

Mama was surprised to learn that Ali Wentworth, wife of George Stephanopoulos, is the great, great grand-daughter of Frederic. That is what the tour guide said, but we couldn't find anything on the Internet to back that up.  Mama thinks Ali is a hoot.

The folks enjoyed the tour and were very happy that it was only $20 instead of the normal $40.  Mama says it was worth $20, but not so sure about the $40. 

Joey,
The Greyhound Who Thinks That $20 That Dad Saved Should Be Spent On Him And No Dad, The Food You Bought Me Yesterday Does Not Count