South Florida, inside and outside the gates

by philg

One full day in South Florida so far:



  • under blue skies and 75-degree temps, walked through extensive Japanese garden and bonsai exhibit, set amidst vast gated communities in Delray Beach
  • toured the visitor center and botanical gardens of the American Orchid Society
  • had a snack at sunset looking out over the Atlantic at the Breakers hotel in Palm Beach, whose bar is a wrap-around saltwater aquarium (mostly clown fish); you actually set your drink down on top of the acrylic
  • went to Muvico to see the movie Monster, a brilliant portrayal of an average lesbian prostitute murderer, a glimpse of the Florida lifestyle outside of those iron gates and away from the private armed guards

Plan for today (Monday):  Vizcaya, lunch with a physical oceanographer, afternoon at friend’s mom’s parrot rescue operation, evening with some oft-removed cousins


Tuesday:  fly to Panama on American Airlines, get into Robinson R22 helicopter with instructor at http://www.helipan.com


Note to gourmets:  One great thing about South Florida is that you don’t have to watch the signs on I-95 carefully to figure out which exits have McDonald’s.  Every exit has a McDonald’s!  And a gas station.  And a couple more gas station/convenience stores.  And a couple more fast food places.  And a strip mall.

11 thoughts on “South Florida, inside and outside the gates”

  2. Welcome to our world. A friend of mine who’d moved to South Florida from Boston asked me ‘Do people drive differently here?’ Dave Barry says that Miami is a place where everyone drives according to the rules of their country of origin. Enjoy Viscaya.

  3. Helicopters are even expensive in Panama. At least it will be a beautiful environment to learn in.

  4. Phillip are you takin the semeter off from your teaching at mit? doesn’t mit care that one of their faculty just takes off or is this some type of a sabbatical?

  5. Random: I taught 6.171 last semester and tutored 6.002 (intro to electrical engineering) the semester before. Don’t you think that’s enough pain to inflict on MIT undergrads? Anyway I’m basically retired so I teach when I want to teach and take helicopter lessons in Panama when the weather is cold in Boston… (flew along the Pacific coast this morning; going to a resort on the Caribbean for lunch later).

  6. Vizcaya, good choice. There’s a gazebo there right against the ocean. There are steps carved out of coral that lead down into the water and it’s been there so long the steps have started to erode. When you sit in the gazebo you can feel the wind from the ocean running over you as you look out at the waves and feel the cold stone below you. It’s the best place in the world.

  7. hey phil, sounds good to me man. your gonna miss some nice weather coming up soon. have a good time in el caribe. buen viaje.

  8. Hi Philip,
    if you’re going to be staying near Miami on your way back from Panama, I highly recommend a side-trip to the Dry Tortugas NP. You can take a seaplane to the island (departing from the Key West airport), and then spend the morning browsing the fort and snorkeling along the fort walls (btw, if you take the seaplane, you basically have the place to yourself, as the crowds only arrive much later, when the ferry comes in). The coral isn’t that good, but it’s fun to be surrounded by (tiny) barracuda. I was there over the holidays and the place is really different from everything else. The only problem is enduring the slow, busy drive to Key West, but in the end, it’s worth it.

Comments are closed.