CHRISTMAS 2006 IN MIAMI

We have spent our last two Christmas in Miami with brother Roland, sister in law Tinina, their two children, and my mother. We have enjoyed the times with them immensely. Tinina is a terrific Cuban cook and she is always ready with delicious traditional dishes that we do not get to taste any other time of the year. With Teri's gourmet cooking, and the terrific traditional Spanish sweets imported for Christmas by grocery stores in Miami, it is a moveable feast.


From left to right: Roland, Bernie, Teri, Tinina, and Anthony. Here we are sharing a meal at the campground; 25 minutes South of their house near the Metrozoo.

LP Thompson is a great public campground. Here we are walking by the large lake in the park grounds. It has a nice sandy beach in cystal-clear water.

OUR NEW RECUMBENT BIKES

While staying at Lazydays in the Tampa area for RV repairs we used our time (1.5 weeks - AARRGG) to shop for new recumbent bikes. We spent two days with Marc, the very patient and knowledgeable owner of Power-On-Cycling, trying several of the better recumbents. We finally settled on the new Burley Koozas as the most comfortable and stable overall for both of us.

These are FAST bikes. I have easily clocked 16 mph without any training whatsoever. We have riden 10 miles and had not a trace of pain or discomfort anywhere. The world land speed record for human-powered vehicles is held by a recumbent clocked at 62 mph. (well - a tandem recumbent twin engined with two professional cyclists and with the advantage of a fairing to reduce wind drag).

Besides comfort and efficiency of motion, there are other definite differences between recumbents and regular bikes. In this picture Teri is in starting stance on her recumbent. Since one rides in a reclining position with pedals far forward, there is no such thing as standing up on the pedal to start, or pushing off with the free foot. One must be a good manager of the available 24 speeds and use the gears. Typically to start one must use a mid-range or lower gear and use a large upper leg muscle to push on a cocked pedal like she is doing.

Wubie stalking his favorite play ball

Here is Wubie stalking his favorite play ball.
He races from one end of the RV to the other batting it around.

The other day Teri was walking with him in the campground and someone saw them saying to Teri: "What do you feed that cat?"

With all his hair he looks like a small lion when he walks on the leash.

OLD SAVANNAH, SKIDAWAY, AND TYBEE ISLANDS

English General James Oglethorpe named Georgia after King George II, and founded its first city: Savannah in 1733. He developed 23 squares where colonists gathered for social outings.
Rum, lawyers and slavery were forbidden - for a time.

Tomo-chi-chi, the Yamacraw chief granted the new arrivals permission to settle Savannah on the river bluff. Clearly the either naive, greedy or stupid chief did not know he was dealing with the death of his people.

The first two pictures are fuzzy because I was taking them with the cell phone camera - had dead batteries in the camera.

This is one of the many squares in the compact old city. Near this monument there is a small plaque indicating that at one time this spot was the tomb of Tomo-chi-chi, but at some point it was razed to put this monument to a Revolutionary war veteran.

This is one of the many city streets. Live oaks form a tunnel over most of the streets. Spanish moss drapes the branches of live oak and crape myrtle everywhere.

Teri at another of the squares. The old city is compact and we walked by a good number of the squares.

Some of the houses have ornate ironwork which in some cases was imported from England.

The old Savannah riverfront used to be full of cotton warehouses and services for seamen. Nowadays it is a turist place full of restaurants, t-shirt and souvenir shops, and tour guides. There is a great deal of industry but it is out of sight further up the river.


We took the Paddlewheeler Riverboat tour and were fortunate enough to sit in the shaded outdoor upper deck in a nice dining table. A couple of part-time visitors from Pennsylvania asked to join us at the table.

The tour took us upriver in front of large ocean going tanker ships and other cargo ships.
The one below was of Greek registry.



We also passed a luxury yatch production center. These beauties are sleek and luxurious transoceanic cruisers with all the modern communications and navigation electronics.