Living in Coconut Grove.

We arrived at Dinner Key in Coconut Grove (the southernmost part of Miami) on Friday.  We took a mooring in the City’s mooring field among some 200 plus other boats.  Pretty well fully booked with so many boats here for the entire season and others either waiting to cross to the Bahamas or waiting for the Miami Boat Show next weekend. 

We hoped to be gone by Sunday morning, but as Tess says: We had planned on going to Boca Chita tomorrow, but had so much fun today we decided to leave the bikes ashore and spend another night. Can't say I like the roll here, but the bike tour this morning gave such a nice sense of place.

Saturday’s bike tour sponsored by the Chamber of Commerce was great.  Around 30 riders from as far away as Boca Raton.  We had the “north” Coconut Grove tour by Frank Schena, owner of Royal Palm Tours of Miami (www.royalpalmtoursofmiami.com).   It was great.  First, to ride around town without having to worry about where we were, where we were going and how we would get back (it would be nice if we could do that while sailing).  Secondly, Frank (who is originally from Haverhill, Massachusetts) is in love with this place and enthusiastic about everything he knows and can share.  From the City’s history, to its geography, flora and fauna.   The US has something like 694 species of trees – Miami and tropical Florida is home to over a third of these.  Seattle has a mere 47 or so!  Peacocks roam wild in some neighborhoods (and can really startle bikers!); the Post Office is the reason this area is named Coconut Grove; the highest elevation is 21 feet and hence is considered the high land!  The guy never paused to breathe for 3 hours careening from the history of the native population to the colors of the limestone!

Included in his overview was William Jennings Bryant home on Bricknell Ave.  A beautiful estate on the National Register, nestled among Millionaire’s Row, Frank added an abbreviated history of the Scopes Monkey Trial, reminding us that Bryant actually won the case to prohibit the teaching of evolution…and that decision was subsequently overturned.  Bryant did not live to see the appeal, he died while in transit home to Coconut Grove at the close of the trial.  MORE interesting though, William Jennings Bryant is reputed to have been the inspiration for Bert Lahr’s portrayal of the Cowardly Lion in the Wizard of Oz as the most famous bag of wind of his time!

We met Sonia Quintero from Colombia on a self-made bamboo bike.  Sorry, no picture. (she was beautiful in personality and appearance!) She rode a prototype bike for a youth industry project in Colombia.  Check it out at http://www.indiegogo.com/projects/bambooco-bikes-by-colombian-youth .  Neat stuff.

After such a pleasant “day off”, we expected to devote 2 hours to boat chores and try to do South Coconut Grove on our own.  The road to exhaustion is paved with 2 hour expectations.  Finding a leaking water hose clamp turned “bleaching our lines” into bail, assess, dry, de-mildew, do lines (BLEACH them), check all other water connections, replace filters, jerry-jug more water (because we think it’s fun), get dinghy fuel, retrieve unused bikes from shore and gulp Advil.  All in a mooring field that’s a half mile from shore and rolls like a Salisbury Park amusement ride.

Thank goodness Monday was a work day!  Office time, laundry, groceries, all well delegated and completed, topped off with sundowners with new cruising friends Dean and Susan from Autumn Borne (aka “Buffalo”).

Tomorrow,…Boca Chita.  Perhaps.

[NOTE:  In Boca Chita with poor cell reception. can talk, but can't upload pictures.  We will be out of here on Friday after Thursday's cold front moves through.  lots of pictures then.  Stay tuned.]