Shuffling Off to Buffalo for a Fun "Wraparound" Excursion -- A Travelogue

Trip Recap / Travel Guide

Buffalo, New York
Niagara Falls, Ontario
Visited May 8-11, 2019

Although nearby Niagara Falls still seems to successfully attract travelers from near and far--and I did visit for a day and overnight--visual evidence did not suggest Buffalo to be much of a tourist mecca.

During the days and into the evenings, the city's downtown streets were eerily quiet--nearly desolate--and with apologies to many restaurants I didn't visit and some that I did, Tim Hortons was demonstrably the food emporium that most beguiled me. (We do not have any Tim Hortons "bake shop" locations near Chicago; I should also note that a lifelong allergy to poultry meant that I didn't seek out Buffalo Wings.)

Although I enjoyed my trip to Buffalo and Niagara Falls--and have long enjoyed exploring gritty, not-overtly-touristy American cities such as Pittsburgh, Cleveland, Columbus, Dayton, Detroit, Kansas City, St. Louis, Grand Rapids, Milwaukee, Louisville, etc.--I'd hard-pressed to tell you Buffalo makes for a beautiful visit.

But in the right context, turning oneself onto "The City of Light" can be quite satisfying.

Being there without a car--I flew in on a Wednesday and home on a Saturday--meant I didn't much explore places that public transportation (NFTA, which worked well) or an economical Uber could easily get me to and from.

Hence, I saw just the edges of the Frederick Law Olmsted-designed Delaware Park, and not the
adjoining and said-to-be-beautiful Forest Lawn Cemetery or Buffalo Zoo, only briefly and externally the Richardson Olmsted Campus--featuring a rather striking former sanitarium--and never Canalside and its old Navy battleships along the Buffalo River near Lake Erie.

I also noted some glorious architecture downtown and around Buffalo, and Niagara Falls is one of the most majestic sights on Earth, so I don't mean to imply that there isn't any striking scenery, more that you need to look for it.

And while there aren't a ton of "A+" travel guide attractions, I found that Buffalo worked quite well as a "wraparound destination."

As is the case for most of my domestic travel, my impetus for going to Buffalo at the time I did was a spectator event.

One of my favorite rock bands of all-time--The Who--played the city's KeyBank Arena early on their current Moving On Tour (accompanied by an orchestra) and though I would also wind up seeing them closer to home, I thought this would make a good jumping off point for visiting Buffalo.

I'd been to--or more accurately, through--the northern New York city twice before, in 1993 and 1999, having visited Niagara Falls both times, but had never before spent any significant time exploring Buffalo.

This time, I would also wind up seeing a musician I never had--Bruce Cockburn--and the city seems to regularly draw great concert acts at venues large and small. Cockburn played Asbury Hall at Babeville, which is in a converted church whose rebirth was overseen by Buffalo native, singer Ani DiFranco.

If you're a rock music lover like me, search the Pollstar.com website to see who's playing where and when--not just in Buffalo--while the city also appears to have a rather vibrant theater scene of local & touring shows. (See BuffaloTheatreGuide.com as well as the Buffalo News' guide to what's playing.)

Sports fans should already know that Buffalo is home to the NFL's Bills--who play at New Era Field in the suburb of Orchard Park--and the NHL's Sabres, primary tenant of the KeyBank Center.

Neither of those teams will be suiting up again for a few months, but minor league baseball's Buffalo Bisons are the AAA-affiliate of the Toronto Blue Jays and play in Sahlen Field downtown, which looked pretty cool from the outside. (The team's origins date back to 1877.)

Throw in the venerable Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra, which plays at historic Kleinhans Music Hall, and you should readily be able to find some kind of live event to stimulate you to shuffle off to Buffalo.

Many will imaginably wish to seek out Buffalo Wings--said to be invented at the still-existing Anchor Bar in 1964--while those with a sweet tooth (and a car, as I didn't get there) may want to check out Parkside Candy, which has stood since 1927.

But beyond the impetus of The Who, my reasons for wanting to visit Buffalo were essentially three-fold.

I primarily wanted to see the Albright-Knox Art Gallery, the Darwin D. Martin House by Frank Lloyd Wright--and also, if time allowed, which it did, Graycliff, another FLW house--and Niagara Falls.

A bit curiously, in 2015, I had learned about the existence and fine collection of the Albright-Knox Gallery--Buffalo's major art museum--during a visit to the Milwaukee Art Museum.

Though the MAM has a fine permanent collection in its own right, it was hosting an exhibition titled Van Gogh to Pollock: Modern Rebels Masterworks from the Albright-Knox Art Gallery, which you can read about here.

Impressed by the strength of the traveling highlights, I was assured at the time that the Albright-Knox wasn't temporarily shuttered and maintained a strong collection beyond what it had let go for the show.

I've been to over 150 art museums worldwide and always like to take note of others I should visit, and the Albright-Knox instantly put itself on such a list.

After flying into Buffalo Wednesday morning and catching the NFTA #24 bus from Buffalo Niagara International Airport to my Hotel @ the Lafayette by Wyndham downtown--the ride along Genessee Street exposed me to some hardscrabble sections of the city, but I appreciated that--the first place I went after check-in and a brief stop at Tim Hortons was Albright-Knox (via bus #20).

Any chance to see great art is a life-enhancing joy, and I would unequivocally recommend that anyone visiting Buffalo stop by the Albright-Knox, but I can't say I was substantially more wowed by their collection than from the introduction in Milwaukee.

There were certainly some fine pieces I hadn't seen in that exhibition, but again a bit oddly, the best were paintings borrowed from the stellar Detroit Institute of the Arts, which I've visited multiple times. In Buffalo, these were part of an exhibition called Humble and Human: An Exhibition in Honor of Ralph C. Wilson, Jr.

Wilson, who passed in 2014 at age 95, was the longtime owner of the Buffalo Bills, and a native of Detroit who maintained his primary residence in that area. So the exhibit, which closed on May 26, honored him with paintings from both the Albright-Knox and DIA, including a great Van Gogh portrait.

Supposedly, Wilson had a rather valuable art collection and it would make sense for him to have been a benefactor of Albright-Knox, but I didn't note any of the paintings in the exhibit having been donated by him.

Still there was some great stuff, within the exhibition and beyond, though primarily in a modern art realm. And that which I had seen before.

Nevertheless, I'm glad I got to the Albright-Knox Art Gallery, enjoyed my visit and am happy to note the museum will soon undergo a major expansion.

After visiting the museum, I strolled just a short ways into Delaware Park, but noted its beauty and took some photos of a replica of Michelangelo's David, albeit from afar.

I did not have time, on Wednesday or otherwise, to visit the nearby Burchfield Penney Art Center--which features the works of Buffalo's Charles E. Burchfield, known for his watercolors.

Also in the area but beyond my purview is the Buffalo History Museum, and while my Uber driver kindly took me past the Richardson Olmsted Campus to take a few quick pix, I'm sorry I didn't have time for a stroll nor tour.

Connected to the Hotel @ the Lafayette--said to be one of the country's grandest once upon a time, but now more solid than spectacular--was the Lafayette Brewing Company.

I didn't try their beer, nor as explained above, any Buffalo wings, but enjoyed their Beef on Weck sliders.

This sandwich is also something of a Buffalo tradition, featuring roast beef on a kummelweck roll, which is topped with kosher salt and caraway seed and accompanied by horseradish and au jus.

Right up my alley, and I enjoyed it enough to eat at Lafayette Brewing again the next night, when I had a Strawberry Salad.

Although I really only knew his name, and vague plaudits, I went to see Bruce Cockburn on Wednesday evening and very much enjoyed him and the Babeville venue. (See my review of the show here.)

Besides the Albright-Knox, the main thing I wanted to see in Buffalo itself was the Darwin D. Martin House, designed by Frank Lloyd Wright and completed in 1905. (website)
 

I'm a huge admirer of Wright's work, and have seen dozens of his homes from the outside, and taken tours of at least 30 houses and buildings that are (or were) open to the public.

The Martin House--created for an executive of Buffalo's Larkin Company--is said to be one of FLW's greatest creations, and my 2-hour tour included the Barton House on the same lot, a conservatory connected by a long pergola and a gardener's cottage.

Photos were not allowed within the houses, but the main home in particular is spectacular, and I very much valued my visit.

There was landscaping work going on, but I learned this was the last part of a years-long renovation project.

Fairly close to the Martin House Complex are two privately-owned Wright-designed houses, not open to the public. I saw the exterior of the Walter Davidson House but not the William R. Heath House.

Frank Lloyd Wright's first architectural employer, Louis Sullivan, is also represented in Buffalo with the striking red Guaranty Building downtown.

I'll include a photo at the bottom of this post, as well as one of the interior of Buffalo City Hall--seen at the very top of this article--which is one of most beautiful examples of Art Deco I've ever seen.

It was designed by John Wade and George Dietel and completed in 1931.

Other grand buildings in downtown Buffalo include the Erie County Clerk, St. Joseph Cathedral & Rectory, Buffalo Savings Bank (now a branch of M&T Bank) and The Electric Tower.

Thanks to the NFTA's #40 bus, running out of Buffalo's Metropolitan Transportation Center just around the corner from my hotel, getting to Niagara Falls took only $2.00 and about an hour.

The bus dropped me off at a Welcome Center on the USA side--I had booked a Howard Johnson's on the Canadian side--but though the weather was a bit cool and my backpack a tad heavier than idyllic, I valued my walk though the Niagara Falls State Park to and across the Rainbow International Bridge.

When I was there, on May 10-11, the iconic Maid of the Mist boat ride through the Falls from the U.S. side wasn't yet open for the season, but is now until early November (I've been on it previously).

But the state park offers a nice vista to see the American Falls close up, while once you cross the bridge to Canada, the view of both the American Falls and the Horseshoe Falls is majestic. (It is possible to stroll further on the U.S. side than I did.)

On the Ontario side, I did go into the Hard Rock Cafe, noted the Casino Niagara and eventually walked through the gauntlet of kitschy attractions on Clifton Hills (such as Ripley's Believe It or Not and a few wax museums).

But particularly with limited time, the best thing to do in Niagara Falls is to see--and appreciate--the waterfalls, and I took a long walk alongside the closest guardrail (from Rainbow Bridge to Table Rock Welcome Center), taking thousands of photos along the way.

For those far more intrepid than me, a Zipline seemed like it could be rather fun, and--particularly with no boats running--at Table Rock I did pay to visit the Journey Under the Falls, which provides an up-close glimpse of the Falls to really fathom their power (literally and figurative, in terms of the hydro-electricity).

After eventually making my way to my hotel, I ate at AG, one of just three restaurants in Niagara Falls that AAA rates 4-diamonds (there are no 5-diamond places).

I had an excellent 3-course meal including Charred Octopus Salad, Beef Tenderloin and a Sea Salt Toffee Crème Brûlée.

It was terrific and satisfying, if not quite as exquisite (or expensive) as past gourmet splurges.

Though I was sleepy, leg weary and somehow developed substantial pain in my right heel, I was convinced by the Howard Johnson's desk clerks that seeing the Falls lit up at night was worth the effort.

Heading down Clifton Hill, I decided to ride the SkyWheel, a giant Ferris Wheel with enclosed cars allowing for good views of the falls.

Unfortunately, once aboard, I had a scare with my digital SLR having a memory card error, but I made do with my iPhone.

The set-up wasn't that good for photography anyway, but it was still a nice ride. And the camera issue seemed to resolve itself post-trip, without losing any files.

I also walked to the edge of the falls at night, and again the next morning, which was much sunnier than the day before.

The #40 bus got me back to downtown Buffalo before Noon, with several hours before my evening flight home.

So although it wasn't cheap, I decided to take an Uber to the Graycliffe Estate, another Frank Lloyd Wright designed house about 25 minutes down the Lake Erie coast. (Buffalo doesn't have an Uber Pool option, though if it weren't the weekend, a NFTA bus could've gotten me close to Graycliff.)

Also designed for Darwin D. Martin about 25 years later, at a point when FLW was down on his luck and even wanted by the law, the 1928 house provided an intriguing contrast.

Wright trademarks like vast, sunlit interior spaces, earth-tone coloration and cantilevered overhangs were present, but there were no art glass windows and the front door was neither hidden nor ornate.

There are actually three separate structures on the property, but the main house was designed so that one could see through to the lake.

The house required a massive--and per some observers, impossible--restoration project in recent years.

So it was particularly cool that my tour happened to be led by architect Pat Mahoney, who was a principal member of the restoration team. I really enjoyed the insights he provided.

Sadly, one of Frank Lloyd Wright's most notable non-residential works, the Larkin Administration Building--of the company that employed Darwin D. Martin--only survived in Buffalo from 1906 to 1950. (A couple minor wall remnants still stand, but I didn't see them.)

Nonetheless, it was wonderful to be able to tour two related yet distinct homes designed by America's greatest architect.

All in all, it was a really enjoyable few days in Buffalo and Niagara Falls.

This probably isn't the best-written travelogue, as I flirted with writing it as a personal travel recap and also as a more universal travel guide, and thus the tone may be imprecise in both regards.

But other than perhaps seeing the old navy ships docked at Canalside, catching shows that weren't in town when I was or eating Buffalo Wings, I can't think of much to recommend that I didn't myself do.

Though I guess on another visit, I'd explore the local history a bit more. 

It may not be the greatest place on Earth, and certainly not the most glamorous, but I truly enjoyed my time in Buffalo--including a brief jaunt to Niagara Falls--and with a somewhat similar "wraparound" itinerary, so might you.

---

All photos by Seth Arkin, copyright 2019. Please do not repost without permission and attribution.

SoBe It: A Hot and Humid Midsummer Jaunt to Miami, including Miami Beach, West Palm Beach and Key West (over 4 days) -- Travel Recap

Why would I go to Miami in the middle of the summer?

It's a fair question.

And for those who have never known me to spend much time on a beach, by a pool or engaging in outdoor recreational activities, it may seem sensible to wonder why I would go to Florida at all.

Certainly, that I have lived nearly 47 years--and traveled fairly far and wide--without ever venturing to South Florida would appear to validate incredulity over my recent excursion, especially at a time when daytime temperatures hovered above 90 degrees with stifling humidity.

While I do seek uncharted places to explore and at some point estimated Miami to be the most prominent U.S. city I had never visited, that was only a relatively minor motivator.

And though Miami somewhat fits in with my southward, Latin-cultured expeditions of late--Rio de Janeiro, Buenos Aires, Mexico City--this was largely coincidental.

There was, however, a thematic impetus for this trip, one more overarching than imminently acute:

Baseball.

Or more specifically, baseball stadiums.

Throughout my life, though more voluminously over the past 15 years, I had attended games in 38 major league ballparks--before this trip--including 28 of the 30 in current use.

The only two I had not been to were Marlins Park in Miami and Tropicana Field in Tampa/St. Petersburg.

So I have long envisioned one day traveling to Florida long enough to allow me to see a Marlins game in Miami and--along with other sightseeing--then drive through the state to get to a Tampa Bay Rays game. (In 2003, I had taken a somewhat similar Texas trip, taking me to Astros and Rangers games, while visiting Houston, Dallas/Arlington/Ft. Worth, San Antonio and Austin.)

And I could have done so in a full week, but a variety of factors financial and otherwise prompted me to decide to do 4 days centered around Miami, while leaving Tampa, St. Petersburg, Sarasota and the Frank Lloyd Wright-designed Florida Southern College in Lakeland for a future trip.

Not only does this leave me something to aspire to, but I wouldn't even mind if the Rays move out of Tampa or get a new stadium before I get there, as the Tropicana Dome is supposed to be the worst stadium in baseball.

Anyway, not that the Marlins game was the only reason for going to Miami, nor wound up being the best thing I did--I didn't expect it to be especially as the Marlins are terrible and missing their best player--but that's why I had to go during the summer, not the winter as is much more the Midwesterner's norm.

And though I wouldn't cite Miami anywhere among my very favorite cities visited--I've added it to the lower regions of this list--I did enjoy my time there.

For while there are aspects of the environs I didn't relish or indulge much in--heat, beaches, nightclubs, etc.--by putting together four days that combined culture, palm trees, architecture, art, creativity, baseball, wildlife, dining, ocean scenery and plenty of photography, I sculpted a rather pleasurable trip.

Here's a recap.

Saturday, August 1, 2015

I arrived in the late morning with no problems, and after a rather exhaustive trek involving elevators, walkways, people movers, a lack of clear signage and more, I reached the Dollar counter to pick up a rental car I had paid for as part of my flight package.

I don't think I've rented a car since at least 2005, and was reminded that the transactional phase is rather emasculating and exasperating, given the attempts to convince you to accept add-ons of dubious--but presented as sage--necessity.

Though I declined any insurance coverage--and even there was confused by the agent--I was swayed to pay $50 for 4 days of electronic toll coverage, on the basis that some tollways don't accept cash and one can be charged up the wazoo for blowing off tolls in a rental car.

Although I was planning to take one drive up to West Palm Beach--and did--I really don't think I passed through any toll booths on my entire trip.

Out of the rental car center, I got caught in a vortex of service roads before pulling over at the first chance to figure out where I was, where I needed to go and how to connect my iPhone to play through the stereo (and enable the Google Maps GPS).

Although I had initially thought of making Opa-Locka my first stop--based on intriguing Moorish architecture I had seen in the 1969 Maysles Brothers' documentary, Salesman--research had suggested that it is now a rather dilapidated, high crime area perhaps not worth 30 minutes of driving each way for a few hasty snapshots.

Thus I first headed to Versailles, a famed Cuban restaurant on Calle Ocho (8th Street) near Little Havana.

The Cubano sandwich didn't entirely agree with me--I couldn't even finish half, and later wound up losing my lunch in a Marlins Park bathroom--but the sweet plantains were good. And I don't mean to imply that the sandwich was bad, just a bit boring and perhaps not ideally digestible.

I took a drive down Calle Ocho, stopping for an occasional photograph but likely not giving Little Havana the time it deserved, before heading--with much help from the GPS--to Vizcaya Museum and Gardens.

Vizcaya is a huge mansion built between 1914-1922 by Chicago businessman James Deering, an executive with International Harvester.

Though the estate's acreage is much less than it originally was, vast gardens still remain along with the house, which is a museum through which I took a guided tour. (No internal photography is allowed.)

Deering and his designers had collected artwork and furnishings throughout Europe and the home is certainly quite opulent, if not quite on par with actual palaces I've visited. But the gardens are also rather impressive and Vizcaya is an attraction I'd recommend to any Miami visitor.

The primary guidebook I relied on--Eyewitness Travel Top 10 Miami & the Keys--noted as highlights a couple of posh Miami neighborhoods, Coconut Grove and Coral Gables, but was a bit vague on what exactly a random tourist was supposed to do there.

...particularly in the case of Coconut Grove, which had me driving past an outdoor shopping mall--Coco Walk--unable to find parking and then driving through some nearby residential streets.

So I moved onto Coral Gables, beginning with the opulent Biltmore Hotel--I actually went inside--and nearby Congregational Church, both designed by Coral Gables' planner and architect, George Merrick.

I also saw the beautiful Venetian Pool, some amazing Banyan Tree-lined streets and an area of Chinese-styled homes that Merrick had created.

After this, I made my way to Marlins Park, parked in some guy's driveway for $15 and bought the cheapest ticket I could, which essentially let me sit wherever I wanted.

Even in sitting in a better section than my ticket, an usher came up to me and told me I was free to move up. Although attendance was cited as around 20,000, in trying to count approximate numbers of fans in each section, I only got around 5,000.

As noted above, the Marlins are bad, superstar Giancarlo Stanton was on the disabled list and their opponent, the San Diego Padres, are also rather desultory. So although I was glad to check the stadium off my list--and appreciated learning the weird centerfield sculpture is by Red Grooms, an artist I enjoyed learning of through an exhibit at Chicago's Cultural Center some years back--I didn't care all that much about the game.

This was exacerbated by twice finding myself having to vomit, which after a day in which I had awoken at 4:45am and flown to Miami, had me leaving the game in the 7th inning with the Padres ahead 5-2 (they won 5-3).

Thus I don't have too much more to report about the game, stadium or food at the park, but will note the glass display Bobblehead Museum on the concourse behind home plate as being rather unique.

With the help of the GPS, I queasily drove across the bridge to Miami Beach to reach my hotel, the Thompson Miami Beach at 41st and Collins.

I managed to check in and go to bed with just one more upset-stomach incident, fortunately the last of the trip.

Sunday, August 2

Although I had selected the Thompson because it had offered one of the best Booking.com deals of any beachfront hotel in Miami Beach, I think it may well have entailed--especially if you include the unavoidable $39 daily valet parking charge--the highest average nightly rate of any hotel in which I've stayed.

And though it could well be argued that what I did mostly may have been accomplished a good bit cheaper from a Motel 6 or other inexpensive lodgings I often find quite accommodating, I wanted to stay on Miami Beach--and am glad I did.

So even if I couldn't tell you where the hotel spa was located, didn't patronize either of the the indoor & outdoor cocktail lounges, didn't get a massage, spent less than 45 total minutes in the pool area and on the hotel-designated beach area and didn't even turn on the TV in my room, I was generally happy with my choice of hotel, just for the location and quality of the room. (The bed was great, though I only accessed hot water in the shower seemingly by accident as the controls confused me.)

My hotel was at 41st St., so a good hike from the more famed South Beach area around 5th-20th. But it provided access to the Miami Beach Boardwalk, so not feeling too badly Sunday morning, I intended to take a long walk south along the Boardwalk.

But I unwittingly began my hike by going north, which I really only discerned by recognizing the Fountainebleau Hotel (at about 45th) from photographs.

After turning around, my board-walk was then curtailed by construction that cut off Boardwalk access somewhere in the 30s. 

So I took a cab down to the News Cafe, a famed 24-hour outdoor cafe at 800 Ocean Drive, and had a bagel and orange juice.

I then spent some time exploring and photographing several Art Deco hotels on Ocean Drive and Collins Avenue, as well as the former Miami Beach City Hall and the exterior of the Villa hotel in the former Versace Mansion.

On the way back to my hotel--eventually abetted by a cab that I had take me past the Holocaust Memorial--I stopped into the Delano hotel because the tour book noted it has original Dali and Gaudi furniture, but I forgot to look for it amidst the modern but nondescript lobby.

Back at the hotel, I put on my swim trunks and headed to the pool area. I had an attendant set up a lounge chair with a towel, took a quick dip and laid out for about 5 minutes before I was bored.

So I went to the beach, and briefly into the Atlantic Ocean, having last been in it off Copacabana Beach in Rio.

I then went to lie on a chair, but was soon interrupted by an attendant, who asked if I was a hotel guest.

I said I was--showing my room key card--and was told that as a guest I was entitled to two towels and two chairs (both on the beach and by the pool) but that an umbrella (as attached to my chair and dozens of other empty ones) was $19.

Dumbfounded, I quickly switched to a non-umbrella chair and soon departed the beach altogether. That a watered down cup of Diet Coke at the pool bar cost me nearly $7 including tax and included tip only furthered my annoyance at the hotel's ticky-tack add-on pricing, even if it is probably standard for the locale.

Sunday afternoon I drove up I-95 to West Palm Beach a little over an hour away.

I drove a bit through WPB and Palm Beach to the famed Breakers hotel, but couldn't see the inside since
the only non-guest parking option was $25 valet service.

But my real target in WPB was the Norton Museum of Art, which had an excellent collection that well-warranted the drive.

Arriving around 3:00, I found the museum cafe closed and a small refreshment stand featuring only rather nebulous options: some kind of vegetable chip mix, trail mix and a bag of small wrapped candies.

That was it. So despite starving, I abstained.

The artwork, however, sated my appetite. 

There were strong, previously unseen (even in books) examples by cherished artists--Hopper, de Chirico, Monet, Pissarro, Picasso, Stuart Davis and more--and some real nice paintings by names I didn't much know, including Gertrude Fiske and Walt Kuhn.

There is also an interesting sculpture by musician Nick Cave and, currently, a special exhibit on transportation imagery and an excellent photography exhibition, Summer of '68: Photographing the Black Panthers.

Featuring photos by husband & wife, Pirkle Jones and Ruth-Marion, the exhibition was illuminating for the way it--as opposed to mainstream media at the time--showed the tranquil, familial side of the Black Panthers, including leaders like Huey P. Newton.

I didn't get to the Boca Raton Museum of Art, nor any museums in Miami--despite both the Bass Museum of Art and the WolfsonianFIU being nearby in Miami Beach--so I have nothing to compare the Norton to, but an art museum would have to be really for it not to be the best art museum in Miami outstanding (though I have read great things about the Ringling Museum of Art in Sarasota).

I really enjoyed my visit, and liked the reiteration of how great art renders time & place rather meaningless while serving as a unifying thread throughout travels to disparate locales.

With an 8:30pm dinner reservation back at my hotel, I took a leisurely drive back from West Palm Beach along A1A, which allowed me to see the ocean and numerous shorefront mansions while going through such towns as Delray Beach, Pompano Beach, Hollywood, Ft. Lauderdale and Boca Raton.

The latter was the only town I briefly deviated from A1A to drive through a bit. I mainly saw a central square area surrounding Mizner Park, which interested me because Addison Mizner's development of Boca Raton was chronicled in Stephen Sondheim's Bounce musical (later renamed Road Show).

Having not been able to secure a reservation at a restaurant that interested me at Fountainebleau, I had made one at Seagrape within the Thompson.

This worked out well, as the restaurant run by a Miami celebrity chef named Michelle Bernstein proved comfortable comfortably within the lobby of my own hotel.

Though I was prepared to enjoy something of a vacation dinner splurge, the thought of paying $5 for another Diet Coke annoyed me to the point of asking the waitress how much one would cost.

She initially imagined $3 but in checking confirmed the $5 price with incredulity.

As with many other Miami restaurants, Seagrape was participating in a promotion called Miami Spice, akin to Restaurant Week in Chicago or New York. For $39 I got a 3-course meal beginning with Pork Rillet--essentially ground pork that could be spread on bread, accompanied by mustard--then a Pan Seared Snapper Filet which was rather delicious.

So too was the dessert of Lemon Pudding Cake with berries and sorbet.

And fortunately I had no further stomach issues, as I had to awake at 5:45 the next morning to catch a 6:30am tour bus to Key West.

Monday, August 3


Through an online tour broker called Viator, which I had successfully used to book a tour to Teotihuacan while in Mexico City, I had booked a Key West Day Trip, also pre-paying for a Hop On/Off Trolley Tour.

The tour was operated by Grayline, and though I didn't think to check before booking, pricing is the same through Viator or Grayline.

Although I was happy to have someone else do the driving to & from Key West--Highway 1 is a single lane in each direction most of the way--what I got from Grayline/Viator could really be described more as a bus ride than a tour, as nothing guided was provided in Key West.

There was a woman at the front of bus providing some information as we rode through the Keys. Nothing was deficient about what she was doing, but she was more the trip facilitator--checking travelers onto the bus from various hotel stops--than a provider of great insights.

And I thought it was kind of lame that though Viator had charged me $31 for the Trolley Tour, the guide didn't have such a ticket for me ahead of time, but made me wait 10 minutes as she went to purchase the same pass I could have bought on my own for $10 less.

As it was, I wound up barely using the Trolley, adding to the rental car toll option, hotel parking and beach/pool access (factored into my room rate) as money spent without nearly equal value coming back.

But oh well, that's vacation life for you. And just as I was happy with my hotel choice, so too was I glad to visit Key West without having to do my own driving.

The bus dropped us off near Mallory Square--kind of tourist central on Key West--around Noon and would pick the group up in the same spot at 5:30pm.

Some of the group opted to pursue parasailing and/or snorkeling options, but my primary focus was the Hemingway House, where Ernest lived from 1931-1939.

Before getting there, I almost by accident came across the Little White House that President Harry S Truman used as a vacation home and functioning White House from 1946-52. Several other Presidents have also utilized the house.

I didn't take a tour but enjoyed freely seeing a small room of Truman memorabilia.

After seeing a rooster wandering down the sidewalk and then crossing the road, I then walked down the main tourist drag of Duval Street, stopping into the Hard Rock Cafe for a look around and a Diet Coke--only $3 including tip and a refill!

Among other sights, I enjoyed seeing a local movie theater with a Marilyn Monroe statue out front, a cool rock 'n roll photo gallery called the Pop Culture Vault, a Walgreens housed in an old movie theater, the oldest house in Key West and a striking old church.

I eventually crossed over to Whitehead Street and came upon the Hemingway House, which I was told was the largest in Key West (and standing on the most acreage).

The home had been built in 1851 by a guy named Asa Tift. Hemingway and his second wife, Pauline, had been renting living space in Key West since 1928 when she came upon it in 1931 and purchased it for $8,000 with family funds.

A tour guide from Boston gave a pretty good tour, although focusing less on particulars of the home than on Hemingway's four marriages, general biography and the myriad cats on the property, most 6-toed descendents of Hem's beloved Snowball.

I made a note of this comment from the guide, regarding not only the cats but the author's love of hunting:

"Hemingway had a lifelong affair with animals; he either sheltered 'em or shot 'em."

Along with the main house, I enjoyed seeing Hem's writing studio--he wrote some of his best works there--along with a swimming pool and a urinal from Sloppy Joe's bar that Ernie converted into a yard feature providing water for the cats.

After the tour, I walked past the Key West Lighthouse on my way to the Southernmost Point in the United States, and also saw the southernmost house before finding the Hop On/Off Trolley that I had paid for.

Time didn't allow me to take the trolley around the entire island, but I valued the narrated trip through the historic district. The driver pointed out the Mile 0 sign that she said was the most photographed sight on Key West.

Back toward Mallory Square, I stopped into Cap'n Tony's, one of two bars that claim to have been frequented by Hemingway, with Sloppy Joe's being the other.

The latter offered food, and getting a Sloppy Joe seemed apropos. The latter bar also had a larger collection of Hemingway photos and artifacts, and a nice waitress provided some good information, including about a trove of Hem's photos found on the premises long after he had lived in Key West.

Given the connection to the Keys, whose limes are its key ingredient, getting a slice of Key Lime Pie at a nearby shop seemed mandatory.

I could sense that it might have been nice to spend a bit more time in Key West, perhaps staying overnight, as the vibe was definitely more mellow than in Miami Beach.

On another visit, perhaps as a cruise ship excursion, I would probably check out the Mel Fisher Maritime Museum and/or the Key West Butterfly & Nature Conservancy.

Though I would stop by Hem's again, too.

As it was, I think I got a decent feel for Key West and believe it nicely enhanced my Miami vacation.

The bus didn't get back for me to do much but go to sleep, which leaves just a few hours on Tuesday to recap.

Tuesday, August 4

Content to sleep as late as I could, in the morning I strolled up Collins Ave. to the Fountainebleau, not only because it is the largest resort hotel on Miami Beach, but because my mom and her family had stayed there--in an earlier incarnation--in her youth.

I liked walking through the property and stopped at a fine bakery called Chez Bon Bon to get a delicious Cherry Almond Financier (a type of pastry).

Having not indulged in the famed club scene of South Beach, I wanted to take a gander at LIV, the club within Fontainebleau that I had noted online as being one of Miami Beach's hottest (albeit in a 2013 article).

With its entryway serving as a luggage storage room in the daytime, I was allowed to take a look at the large, multi-level club but forbidden from snapping photos.

Curious, I asked how much it would cost for a jamoke like me to patronize the club had I opted to do so on a Wed.-Sun. evening. I was told that it depends on what DJ is playing, but the cover is $40-$80 and four guys together often get a booth with bottle service for $1,500.

To each their own, but I felt good about not having gone "clubbing, " especially as it would have consisted of me sucking on a Diet Coke--$10(???)--and watching people dance.

I was also told--by a cool employee who led me back to the Boardwalk even though I didn't have pool access as a non-guest--that LIV is about to undergo a $2 million renovation because it's not hip and new enough anymore.

I couldn't help think how much money might be spent on more important things, but SoBe it (although technically the Fountainebleau and Thompson are Mid-Beach).

After checking out of my hotel and retrieving my red Chevy Cruze, my final tourist destination was a zoo-type attraction called Jungle Island. Although in a different location, it dates back to 1936 when it was called Parrot Jungle and per Wikipedia was one of the first tourist attractions in the Miami area.

As you can see, I submitted to having my picture taken with a trio of parrots as part of a staged souvenir photo that cost me $30.

Several more beautiful parrots were perched throughout the park, but not in cages as were most of the more wild animals.

I attended one show that featured three tigers, including a cub and a white one, and though the attraction was certainly touristy, my love of animals--and photographing them aplenty--surpassed my general disdain for the concept of zoos.

All told, I sufficiently enjoyed my trip to Miami, which included Miami Beach, West Palm Beach, Key West, a nice drive and a good ride.

Even though I didn't relish the oppressive heat & humidity, it didn't really put a damper on things, and despite largely abstaining from beaches, pools and nightclubs, I found enough of what I enjoy--baseball, art, architecture, history, Hemingway, etc.--to make it well worth my time.

At least once.

Though by 3:00pm Tuesday, with my flight not until 8:00pm, I essentially ran out of things to do in Miami.

So I headed to the airport in hopes of catching an earlier flight home, but couldn't as I opted not to spend $75 to catch a slightly earlier departure.

But I've been home for nearly a week now, and didn't necessarily mean to write up everything I did in Miami, but guess I have.

Hope you enjoyed my trip, too.

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Here are a bunch more photos: