Brickell From The Bay

Here is a look back at the Brickell skyline from the open water of Biscayne Bay, just off Dinner Key.

Tree Gone

The death of a tree is always a sad event for me. In March 05, 2007, yes more than a year ago, I blogged a royal poinciana tree , speculating that it would bloom spectacularly in June. That did not happen! Today, passing by that site, I am sorry to see that it has been taken away as evidenced by the brown circular spot in the foreground of this photo. This magnificent tree did not survive the hurricanes of 2005 and 2006! I hope they will plant another royal poinciana at this exact spot. A yellow one would be very nice!

The Samurai

No, not the Japanese warrior, but this restaurant opposite Miami's The Falls shopping center is built like one. It is impossible to avoid the traffic blocking the view from across the 136th street so this photo also shows you the Miami's traffic scene. I like the food here, cubed steak, shrimp and fried rice, yummy, but do not like being rushed through my meals, so I rarely eat at this restaurant. You know this type, they stack total strangers to form a table of 8 or so, expertly express cook for the mass and hurry, hurry get out, clean up so they can start over again... Next!

Classy Bird

I caught sight of this T-Bird on US1. The proud owner was wearing a large headset, possibly listening to his "Route 66" songs of the 50s. This Bird is not as shiny as my friend's but it is a classic nonetheless. This Bird fits Miami to a "T!"

B-I-N-G-O

About once a month, the Rotary Club of Coral Gables comes to the VA hospital at the Jackson Memorial hospital complex to entertain the veterans with bingo games, snack and refreshment to let them know that their service to the country is well appreciated. Here is how the games were played today. It is forbidden to show photos of the veterans, but permission from some family members were granted. V-E-T-E-R-A-N-S of all wars, we love you.

King Size Delivery

This is delivery day for Burger King. I wonder how often this is done. Their newest burger is not so good, but I like their "pomme frites."

Fuzzy Corner

Miami-Dade County's 22-mile, elevated rapid transit system runs from Kendall through South Miami, Coral Gables, and downtown Miami; to the Civic Center/Jackson Memorial Hospital area; and to Brownsville, Liberty City, Hialeah, and Medley in northwest Miami-Dade, with connections to Broward and Palm Beach counties at the Tri-Rail/Metrorail transfer station. This is the next to last Dadeland North station at the extreme South end of the metrorail. I just realized that my photos from this camera have a fuzzy area in the lower right corner! I thought that was due to my eyes failing me. Do you see that too?

Grove Traffic

Traffic through Coconut Grove's heart usually looks like this: Always busy. Too many people and cars but the crowd is very "hip" and "sympa."

Miami Pharmacy

Here is a fish eye look at a Miami pharmacy in the Target store on US1. The medicine are on the shelves and prescriptions are promptly, efficiently dispatched and ready to be picked up by customers. Many of the payments are very hefty, indeed!

Shake-A-Leg

Shake-A-Leg is a charitable organization founded in 1982. It offers programs to promote body awareness and sailing programs for people having experienced spinal cord trauma or other related neurological disorders. The Shake-A-Leg Miami has its home on a prime location at the edge of Biscayne Bay. It helps children and adults with physical, developmental and economic challenges. This sign is one of many that gives visitors a brief discussion of this great service to the community.

Self Portrait

If you look very closely, you may be able to see a self portrait of this blogger. Admittedly, it is not easy, but life is a challenge.

Saturday Hallway

This is a hallway inside Baptist hospital Cardiac and Vascular Institute on a Saturday afternoon. It is deserted because elective surgical procedures for outpatients are not scheduled on weekends. There are dome shaped mirrors everywhere to help people navigating with large objects such as hospital beds or bulky equipment. They really work.

BCVI

This is the Baptist Cardiac & Vascular Institute in Miami, which is a part of the ever expanding Baptist Health empire. Outpatients come here for tests and procedures for all sort of ailments. This is a very nice and modern building but it is difficult to have a nice shot of it.

Python Vs Gator

The new Parrot Jungle personnel proudly display their "pets" during a fund raising event for Special Olympics athletes in the Treetop Ballroom at the Jungle Island, the new home of the Miami Parrot Jungle.

Home of the Miami Heat

This is the American Airline Arena, home of the Miami Heat professional basketball team. The court inside is beautiful, and hopefully next time I go to a game here, I'll be able to take a few shots to blog.

Mini Rail

Here is a shot of the Miami downtown's Metro Mover. These little trams move on aerial rails serving local spots of downtown in supplementing the service of Metro Rail, which is its big brother. This location is the I95 exit toward Biscayne boulevard.

From The Ashes

In mid February , I blogged the "death" of CompUSA. It was premature as this business was bought by some entity with money to spare that believes it can do better. The end result is that this store is rescued from closing and it is coming back. I even bought a storage device from here because their price all of a sudden became competitive. You never can tell in life! The bonus in this photo is that you see another angle of the brand new Town CenterOne complex being built.

Going... Going...

I was curious to see what state the historical Miami Orange Bowl is in these days so I swung by to snap a few shots today. Don't let the blue sky fools you. I was under an umbrella taking this photo because it was raining at my location. Poor Orange Bowl is partially demolished and it eventually will be flattened. This place will see a brand new baseball stadium raised from this dust... To be continued...

Unremarkable Fungi

Here is a close up of an indeterminate fungus thriving on a small tree trunk. The tube-like on the right is but a root of an orchid plant hugging the tree for vigorous growth. Everything grows in Miami.

Town CenterOne

Joining the many new constructions in Dadeland is this huge office complex named Town CenterOne. This is behind the Publix supermarket near the Datran center in South Miami.

Breast Milk

I bet many of you do not know this fruit. This is the star apples (aka Breast Milk fruits) or fruits from the golden leaf tree (Chrysophyllum Cainito,) which is one of the relatively minor fruits of the family Sapotaceae. The star apple tree is erect, 25 to 100 ft (8-30 m) tall, with a short trunk to 3 ft (1 m) thick, and a dense, broad crown, brown-hairy small branches, and white, gummy latex. The leaves of this tree are very distinctive: slightly leathery, rich green and glossy on the upper surface, coated with silky, golden-brown pubescence beneath when mature, though silvery when young. These two fruits are from Tog 's tree in Coral Gables. In Miami, these trees are planted at various locations for their ornamental value, but very few will fruit.

This is the first time I've eaten these fruits after about 40 years. I've lost the acquired taste of them and they tasted kind of yucky! After consuming these two fellows. I did some Googling and discovered after the fact that: Star apples must not be bitten into. The skin and rind (constituting approximately 33% of the total volume) are inedible. When opening a star apple, one should not allow any of the bitter latex of the skin to contact the edible flesh. I am not sure what I ate but I think I'm OK.

West Of Miami

The Everglades are being partitioned, landfilled by relentless urban scrawl. This is a view from a landing plane approaching Miami International Airport from the West, overflying the tremendous transformation of the Everglades which are partitioned into huge parcels of marsh land then land filled. The dark zone on the left is the saw grass, and the green patches to the right are landfilled. This is the North West 58th street landfill (GoogleEarth this location: 25 degrees 50 minute 25 second N, 80 degrees 21 minutes 15 seconds West.)

Miami, Not

Obviously, this does not grow in Miami. Let's call this Not Miami Blooms.

East Of Miami

Miami Beach from the air. The two small islands in the middle are Gorce and Allison islands (GoogleEarth this location: 25 degrees 50 minutes 45 seconds North, 80 degrees 07 minutes 25 seconds West,) at about 63rd street. Just off this photo to the left is Treasure Island, which unfortunately is not seen.

Brickell Skyline

High rent district Brickell Avenue as seen from the Rusty Pelican's parking in Virginia Key, looking Northwest. I will not be in Miami for a few days, but will catch up somehow. Don't be alarmed. I'LL BE BACK!

Lost Heydays

This water is the enclosed portion of Biscayne Bay, seen from the Rusty Pelican restaurant parking lot on Virginia Key. The white "beach" is the Northwest tip of land that encloses the U-shape water body where the power boats raced in their heydays. The buildings are on Dodge Island, due North.

Kiss Me Again!

I had a large Miami frog living in the small pond inside my patio. He was kind of a saint and very quiet. I said "had" because one morning not too long ago, I found him flattened in the drive way. I did not want to blog that horrible photo (yes, I do have it) out of respect for him. This is his stand in. This guy will live forever, I think, unless I drop him by accident when doing chores around this area. Where do frogs go when they die?

Banged Up

At a leisure noontime of a Thursday like today, one does not expect to run into a traffic jam on the way to Key Biscayne, except that when there is a fender bender as seen here. The traffic through the toll gates leading to the Rickenbacker Causeway was reduced to a trickle. I bet these drivers were on their cell phones. The toll now is US $1.50. I used to pay $.25 in the late '70s! I don't think regular salaries rise at the same rate.

RoboCop

It's Dade County Youth Fair's time of the year. Every year, I come to the fair and this year is no exception. This week is Spring Break for the kids. No school translates into huge crowds here. Lines to the rides are long and the fair stays open very late. There is a daily parade and this RoboCop look alike was a big hit.

H2O

Water... Too much chlorine to my taste...