Going (further) south for warmth… to Palm Beach

Vintage postcard of Palm Beach, Florida

My husband’s birthday was in early February so about three weeks ago I asked him if there was anything special he would like to do. He replied that he would like to go somewhere where the climate was warmer than in Georgia. That day it just happened that AirTran airline had a two-day special fare for flights from Atlanta to Florida - $46 each way (33 Euros or 29 British Pounds.) The choices were: Fort Lauderdale, Fort Myers, Jacksonville, Miami, Orlando, Pensacola, Sarasota, Tampa or West Palm Beach. Since we had already been to 5 of the choices I took a closer look at West Palm Beach. I found out that there is a great museum, a couple of places to see wildlife and it is not too large a town where we could easily spend four interesting days. I booked a room with a special 25% off the weekday rate and a rental car for $15 a day with my AAA club rate plus my corporate discount. So we went last week.

Map of Florida (West Palm Beach is on the bottom right, five towns up from Fort Lauderdale)



Seal of the city of Palm Beach

The temperature was 72 degrees F (22 C) when we arrived– quite pleasant. Our room was large and the little Ford Focus did not use much gas (only spent $18 on gas the whole time.) We drove around a bit and liked what we saw. Many palm trees, very tall.

Click on pictures to enlarge them

In 1878 a cargo ship named “Providencia” on a journey from Havana Cuba to Barcelona sank off the coast of Florida. It had a load of 20,000 coconuts. The shipwreck washed ashore and the settlers planted the coconuts, which were not native to Florida. They grew to tall palm trees (hence the name Palm Beach.) Actually Palm Beach is a barrier island about 13 miles long. Three bridges cross the Intracoastal Waterway for access to the city of West Palm Beach. Palm Beach has about 10,000 inhabitants, a small downtown, many beautiful houses and large condominium buildings.



In my collection of vintage postcards I have one which says “Jungle Road.” I did not know where this was until we walked on the avenue along the beach and saw a street called Jungle Road.

Picture Vintage postcard of Jungle Road (must be quite old)

After I had made reservations to go to West Palm Beach my eldest daughter told me that this was a city for the wealthiest Americans. I did not know this or I may not have considered going there, which would have been too bad as with my planning the trip was quite reasonable and within our budget. Of course we stayed in a West Palm Beach motel and not on the island at a hotel like the Breakers which was built in 1896 by Henry M. Flagler, the Standard Oil Company magnate. This hotel is luxurious and opulent (the rate is from $500 a night for a standard room to $1,280 a night and up for an ocean superior room – in February.) We just drove to the entrance gate so I could take a picture (I also found some interior pics on the Net.)




The Breakers Hotel was built on the beach side portion of an earlier hotel called the Royal Poinciana Hotel. This latter hotel had been built in 1894 as a winter retreat for the wealthy elite. The hotel claimed to be the largest wooden structure in the world at that time with 1700 employees and accommodations for 2000 guests. It closed during the Great Depression. Below is a postcard showing the Royal Poinciana Hotel.



We decided to walk on the beach. There was no one in sight - just a little seagull. This was curious since it was a sunny day but by then it was a bit cooler.

Click on pictures to enlarge them

While my husband talked to the lonely life guard I came closer to the rocks and waves.




Boats were passing by, jumping in the waves.



We drove through the little downtown and we passed a small independent bookstore. So we stopped to check it out. It was called The Classic Bookshop. We parked by an interesting fountain, almost longer than downtown.




I bought a couple of postcards and my husband purchased an early Valentine present for me – a beautifully illustrated book by Deborah Pollack entitled “Laura Woodward.” Laura was an American artist who started painting in the late 1800s. The book contains so many lovely illustrations and gives the history of early Palm Beach. I am reading it and in future posts I should be able to relate more about the history of Palm Beach and Florida.



I noticed that very often the front door of the houses in Palm Beach and West Palm Beach had a couple of columns on either side, like below.




Also a great number of houses had very thick and high borders around their houses made of privet shrubs, some as tall as walls – up to 10 ft tall. These are pruned in a formal hedge for privacy and security I guess. All the shrub privets we saw were well manicured and resembled smooth walls so dense that it certainly was difficult to see the houses behind them. Many garden professionals are needed to keep these hedges trimmed closely for them to look so neat – providing some good jobs in the area for garden professionals.




As a coincidence about a week before we flew to Florida I had read a post on the blog “My Carolina Kitchen” which showed a nice market in Palm Beach Gardens. On my map I saw that it was not very far so we drove to this market called Carmine Gourmet Market. It is a market which started in 1972 and is now selling quite an array of produce, gourmet products and other delicacies. We walked around the market and wished we had a kitchen to cook the beautiful seafood they showed on their shelves. Or take home some of their appetizing salads or hot Italian dishes.

Do not forget to click on the pictures to enlarge them

All this delectable fancy food made us hungry and we decided to eat at their small La Trattoria restaurant. My husband had pasta with seafood and I had pasta with mushrooms, olives and goat cheese. Quite yummy – with a nice glass of red Chianti and then a small pastry to finish the meal.




By then it was getting dark so we decided to call it a day plus I wished to read more on Palm Beach to plan as much as possible for the next three days.

Painting by Alexei Horlamoff, Russian, 1842-1923

A promenade in Lullwater Park - Emory University, Atlanta

About two weeks ago we drove to the Emory University campus grounds in the Druid Hills area of Atlanta. Their brochure says: “The University is recognized internationally for its outstanding liberal arts college, superb professional schools and one of the Southeast's leading health care systems.” It also says: “Emory ranks among the top 20 national universities in the U.S.” Distinguished faculty members include former U.S. President Jimmy Carter, Booker Prize-winning novelist Sir Salman Rushdie, His Holiness the XIV Dalai Lama, symphony conductor Robert Spano and CNN chief medical correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta. Archbishop Desmond Tutu was a visiting professor there for two years. Emory alumni have included one U.S. vice president, seven U.S. senators, 13 U.S. representatives, three governors, three ambassadors, one Supreme Court justice, several university presidents, five Pulitzer Prize winners, an astronaut….and one of my daughters and my son-in-law both of whom received Masters Degrees there before going on to medical school.

Seal of Emory University


Map of Emory University Campus – Lullwater Park surrounds Candler Lake.



The main campus covers more than 600 acres. It includes Lullwater Park which is a 185 acre park owned by Emory and also home to its president's residence. The public is invited to enjoy the lawns and wooded paths surrounding the mansion, so a couple of weeks ago we went for a visit. The park is closed to all gas powered vehicular traffic making it entirely green – and especially quiet during week days as there are very few visitors.

Entrance to Lullwater Park and the president’s residence (Click on picture to enlarge it.)

The land originally belonged to the Creek and Cherokee Nations. The Native Americans who occupied and hunted in this area were forced away by the white settlers in the 1820s and the land divided into lots. Paths where the Cherokee Indians had walked with their moccasins were then used by settlers on horses. Log cabins were built on the lots; one had a church which was destroyed by General Sherman during the Civil War.

We walked through the stone gate posts - it was drizzling and gray. Going down the paved trail over Peavine Creek - which is a branch of the historic Peachtree Creek – our only fellow stroller was a lady walking her dogs.

Peavine Creek

Since we are in winter and most shrubs and trees have shed their leaves we could see farther into the park. We passed many old, gnarled trees – some of their branches had fallen to the ground and were covered with moss. There were maples, oaks, magnolias, pines, dogwoods and other trees.

The sun had appeared but the air was cool and crisp. Some of my pictures were taken in the mist, some under sunlight. Walking down a gently rolling hill we came upon a shimmering lake.

Canada geese were happily flying around and squawking.

Don't forget to click on pictures to enlarge them

Walking around the lake we could hear a roaring noise. We quickly found that this was coming from falls near a decaying mill – the dam on South Fork Peachtree Creek. In the early 1920s the dam and power house furnished electricity to the Lullwater house.

A little further we saw the 210 foot long suspension bridge which was completed in 2008 by the company Sahale – if you wish more information on the bridge click here. We walked across the bridge which was swaying a bit under us as in an Indiana-Jones movie. (It was built to connect the Veteran’s Medical Center to the Emory Campus.) This is a low-environmental impact bridge which fits well between the trees.



We walked back to the mill so I could take closer pictures. I entered the roofless tower. Here we were close to the center of vibrant Atlanta but so far away from its hectic pace. My husband snapped me while I was photographing the creek.



This is what I was seeing




As we were returning to the paved trail Lullwater House came into view – and what an outstanding house in the middle of all this secluded scenery. It is built of stones and not at all in the Southern style with Doric columns but is a sprawling English Tudor mansion. Here is its history: Asa Candler (1851-1929) was a Georgia man who owned a drugstore in Atlanta and manufactured medicines. He bought the Coca-Cola formula from its inventor in 1887 and marketed it successfully into the Coca-Cola Company. This made him a millionaire. In 1907 he established the Lullwater estate where his fourth child, Walter, built the Lullwater House in 1925. Walter Candler sold the estate (including the house, the landscaped grounds and the artificial lake) to Emory University in 1958 and it has been home to Emory’s presidents since 1963.

Click to enlarge pictures

The house was built from stone quarried on the site then the hole was filled to make a swimming pool. The house is 11,425 square-feet and is imposing. Walter Candler raised racing horses and had a race track on the grounds. He also owned Hereford cattle, hogs and chickens. There was a pasture round the lake and even boat races on the lake. Here is a postcard that shows part of its interior.



It is hard to believe that we are less than ½ hour from downtown Atlanta with all its activity and noise. This is a refuge for the few students who jog or hike the grounds and the rare strollers like us. In 1963 26 acres were sold to the U.S. government for the Veterans Administration Hospital – the site where Walter Candler used to have a lake clubhouse and serve barbecue. More construction was planned in Lullwater park but students and residents in the area petitioned to conserve the park . A task force was organized with a comprehensive management plan. The university president vowed that he would protect the land from further land development.

The late British broadcaster Alistair Cooke said in one of his “Letters from America” that Emory was the "most beautiful campus in America" with "plunging hills and gardens and little lakes, all set off with towering trees"… "Visiting Emory was like walking into the Garden of Eden.” In 2009 Emory was named one of the nation's top ten greenest colleges. Let’s hope it will stay this way. We all need to stay vigilant and keep beautiful natural habitat intact for future generations.

I think the environment should be put in the category of our national security. Defense of our resources is just as important as defense abroad. Otherwise what is there to defend? – Robert Redford, American actor, director, environmentalist born in 1936.

January… time to plan travels (Part II)

Map courtesy of Worldmapper (Creative Commons Licence)

This is the continuation of my post of January 27th. All the comments from my blogging friends are very much appreciated. Comments feed my blog and give me more ideas for future posts. One of the comments, a question really, was from “loveable_homebody” who asked: “Why do you think you have always had wanderlust?” I thought about this for a while and believe it is a combination of several things. When I was a child staying at my grand-parents' house there were few toys so my grandpa would bring me a small suitcase full of postcards, old and new, from many regions of France, Europe and the world. I would spend hours looking at them and ask questions about all these far-away places and dream about them. Click on the following pictures to enlarge them.

Vintage Postcards – from top left : Chateau de Ramezay, Montreal, Canada – The Old Arsenal and the Arno River, Pisa, Italy – West Block House. Tartar Wall, Beijing, China – The New Medersa, Algiers, Algeria – Dal Lake, Kashmir, India – Driveway in Lafayette, Louisiana, USA

When I went to Turkey at 5 years of age I was allowed to roam free on the ship as my mother was mostly below deck - sea sick. I loved the freedom and independence. When I came back to our apartment in Paris I looked at all the postcards, my stamp collection, maps and dreamed again of many travels to come. I was bitten by the travel bug.

He who returns from a journey is not the same as he who left. -Chinese proverb


Flight Toward the Sea, 1968, Painting by Giorgio de Chirico, Italian, 1888-1978

From childhood some persons know that they want to be a doctor, an actor or a football player – I always wanted to travel. Some people stay close to home – going to other places do not tempt them and they are content to stay at home. That is fine. We are all unique with different interests. Mine is to move and see new towns, new countries and have new experiences. I always come back with something I did not know before, with a new appreciation of our world and some images that will stay in my mind. For example, how could you explain what a cup of coffee tastes like if you never had one? Would you know what it tastes like by watching a National Geographic show on TV about a Kenya coffee plantation? Would you know what it tastes like by looking at the picture of a coffee bean? No – you would have to taste it yourself – try it black or with milk, with sugar or not, strong or weak, as is or as flavored coffee or even iced, then you would know.



Among other things, I wanted to see how it felt to ride a camel in Africa, go on a slow boat on the Mekong River in Southeast Asia, ride an elephant, visit Mykonos Island in Greece out of season, take part in the Louisiana Purchase Bicentennial celebration in New Orleans and visit the French islands of St Pierre and Miquelon off the coast of Newfoundland, Canada. These I did. These experiences will reverberate throughout my life. It takes time and tenacity to travel frugally. It helps to have flexible travel plans and be open to various way of travel – and watch for sales.

from top left: Elephant riding in Chaing-Mai, Thailand - Slow boats on the Mekong River, Laos – Empty street in Mykonos Island in November , Greece – Street musicians in New Orleans, Louisiana – St Pierre panorama, St Pierre et Miquelon islands.

Since my parents were in France I would go and visit them, off season. One year I was invited to an event in Pisa, Italy. Instead of flying directly to Paris I found a flight, costing the same, on British Airways going from Atlanta to Paris but with a free stop in London. From London I booked a flight on a low cost airline, Ryan Air, to Pisa which at the time costs about 30 British Pounds one way. While in Pisa I stayed in a small hotel and took trains to visit Florence and Lucca in Tuscany, and then I flew back to London and thence to Paris. It cost a fraction of what I would have had to pay if I had planned an Atlanta Paris Pisa trip, but it took planning to coordinate it all. Do not disdain train travel. The rail system in Europe and many other countries is very efficient and inexpensive – it provides safe and economical ways to visit expensive cities. For example there is a quick train trip between Nice in France and Monte Carlo in Monaco – or a 1 hour 20 minutes train between Paris and Brussels, Belgium ($48) or a 2 hour 10 minutes train between Paris and London (with many special sales and passes.) There are even some fares which include a car rental for a couple of days at the destination city.

All my methods are hard to describe in a post like this – it would be too long and boring to read. I check many travel sites and budget airlines. I’ll fly to another country and from there get a local budget flight, or take a train or a bus. I also check to see if there are any “secret flights” available. Secret flights are unusual routes flown by international airlines. For example to travel from New York to Frankfurt, Germany, you could take a regular US airline or you could take Singapore Airlines stopping in Newark on their way to Frankfurt – this might be much less expensive. Going to Dubai I flew with a foreign airline going from Chicago to Australia, but stopping in Dubai. Then after a week in Dubai I took a round trip on a local airline to go back to Addis Ababa in Ethiopia. The trip was about half or less than I would have paid using conventional methods. I also used an airline “consolidator” who is a wholesaler to the public.

Photo of camel watching me taking its picture in Dubai (you can see my shadow.) Click to enlarge.

For all purchases, including food, medicine, gas and to pay my telephone and other bills I use a couple of credit cards which offer frequent flyer miles (on any airlines.) I pay the cards off each month but the miles accumulate quickly. We will redeem our frequent flyer miles for our next flight overseas, not use cash. For example in 2005 we had free flights (by redeeming our frequent flyer miles) to go to St Petersburg, Russia, and were allowed one stop. Since reading Out of Africa I wished to visit Karen Blixen’s (the author) home in Denmark so I wanted to stop in Copenhagen. There were no flights on that airline out of Copenhagen to St Petersburg. I searched and finally found a flight on Czech Airlines going to Prague and connecting with a flight to St Petersburg; Czech Airlines was a partner airline, so no added cost. Before going to Russia I had researched and found that renting an apartment would be much more advantageous than going to a hotel. We rented the apartment which was centrally located (costing about $50 a night) then took buses to get around. We looked so much like locals that Russians from out of town asked me directions for the bus to the Hermitage Museum – and I knew which one it was since we had already been there (I speak a little Russian – not much.)

Church of the Saviour of Spilled Blood, St Petersburg, Russia and Peterhof the Great Palace, The Blue Drawing Room

A point to make, when overseas, is to look like a local, not a tourist. I always buy something at a local grocery store to get their plastic bag and place my camera and maps in it. I carry a local newspaper; wear no blue jeans or tee-shirts with ads on them. I never have had a bad experience in all my years of traveling. I am always open to new trips. I subscribe to travel sites which send emails on travel deals – here are a few: SmarterTravel.com, http://www.travelzoo.com, http://www.farecompare.com/, http://www.hotwire.com/index.jsp, as well as various airlines. I also receive emails from cruise discounters such as http://www.vacationstogo.com/, and travel info and deals from http://www.budgettravel.com/?wpisrc=newsletter. When fares are high I use a travel consolidator like http://consolidatorwebfares.ezgds.com/. I also subscribe to motel and car rental emails advertising special offers. A couple of years ago my family wished to spend a week on a nice beach in Florida so we could all enjoy our first grand-child. Instead of lodging at a hotel or motel I used the Vacation Rental by Owners site http://www.vrbo.com/. We rented a beautiful condo, on the beach, and at an advantageous price.

Views from our condo in Indian Shores, Florida (near Tampa)

A voyage of discovery does not have to always be in another state or country. Now that I am retired I take great pleasure in discovering parks, historical sites or little towns close to my home. When we only had a couple weeks of vacation a year then we wanted to go as far away as we could, but when time is open, that is when we can discover the charms of our own area. If we place our town in a 100 mile circle on a map we’ll see that there are many places we do not know and maybe quite enchanting. And as Robert Louis Stevenson said “…For my part, I travel not to go anywhere, but to go. I travel for travel's sake. The great affair is to move …”

Wormsloe Plantation State Park, Savannah, Georgia (photo courtesy Savannah Visitors Center)

To be an independent shoestring traveler takes time and work but the rewards are great. We meet more locals by staying in small hotels and eating in local-style restaurants. We rarely shop but we look – I usually buy postcards, they are inexpensive, unbreakable and take little space. Sometimes it is logistically more feasible to take part in a tour, but we can still manage to have some independent time. When we were in Tunis last November it was faster and easier to take the bus tour as we did not have much time there. But while the guide was escorting the tour to a carpet shop in the Medina Bazaar in Tunis I asked if I could leave for ½ hour. Then I went further into the bazaar by myself and explored before returning to the tour.

Carpet shop in Medina bazaar,Tunis, Tunisia.

Some important points I follow are to treat people and places with respect, be friendly and courteous. Special treatment should not be expected because one is American or European. I stay aware of the culture, environment and local customs of the country visited and try to be patient and flexible. I don’t get suspicious or scared and don’t let fears make the decisions for me. Everything has always been and will be fine.

The Road goes ever on and on
Down from the door where it began.
Now far ahead the Road has gone,
And I must follow, if I can,
Pursuing it with eager feet,
Until it joins some larger way
Where many paths and errands meet.
And whither then? I cannot say.
-J. R. R. Tolkien, English 1892-1973


Wanderer above the Sea of Fog, painting by David Caspar Friedrich, German 1774-1880