Everglades & Coral Castle

March 30, 2007



Coral Castle

Everglades & Coral Castle




In addition to attending the Indy Car race, Jim & I took advantage of our time in the Homestead/ Florida City area to tour some the attractions in the area that is known as the Redland Tropical Trail. This historic area is home to some of the most productive agricultural land in the state as well as two National Parks and a variety of other diversions that are sadly being encroached upon as the sprawl from Miami moves south.

Anhinga

Our first stop was the visitor center at the Eastern entrance to the Everglades National Park. After picking up a map, we headed into the park to the nearby and extremely popular Anhinga Trail. The trail is not long, and much of it is merely a wooden walkway that is raised above the swamp, but it is home to an amazing assortment of animals and birds that call the Everglades home. Best of all, they seem mostly immune to the close proximity that people are given which makes for excellent photo opportunities.



There are tons of alligators, turtles, snakes, and a huge variety of birds and it gives a simple opportunity to get an introduction into the everglades eco-system. We also hiked the short Gumbo Limbo trail which traverses a woody section of the park and gives you a look at the flora of the place as well. Next we headed back towards Homestead; stopping at the famous Robert is Here fruit stand. Located on an isolated stretch of road near Florida City, the huge tropical fruit stand has served the area for over 60 years. Serving a wide range of the finest fresh topical fruit, the stand also features live music and a yummy Key Lime smoothie.

Robert is Here



The final, but perhaps most interesting stop on our trip was at the Coral Castle. Created as a labor of love by the eccentric Latvian-American sculptor Edward Leedskalin who spent 28 years creating the castle in a bizarre attempt to impress a lover who had jilted him, the castle is made of huge pieces of coral rock, some weighing many tons and positioned to create an actual castle. Long a source of mystery and speculation, the coral castle is an amazing place to visit, if for no other reason than to marvel at how a single man could have moved and stacked the massive coral slabs. Check out the links below to learn more about this interesting place.





http://www.coralcastle.com/

http://www.redlandtrail.com/member_teva.cfm

http://www.robertishere.com/

Homestead Indy Racing

March 30, 2007

Wheldon leads from the start.

Jim with Grand AM car

Inside the Andretti Green garages

Homestead Indy Racing

Last weekend, Kathy’s father, Jim Kilroy & I ventured up to Homestead for the weekend to attend the opening race of the 2007 Indy Racing League season. The stars and cars that will be racing in the Indy 500 in May began their season on the 1.5mile high banked track with a Saturday night race. Jim & I went up on Friday and spent the afternoon and evening at the track watching practice and qualifying as well as the Grand AM and Indy Pro support series practice and qualifying.

Jason

We were fortunate as my good friend Jason, who works for the Andretti Green racing team of Marco Andretti, came through once again with personalized tours of the Andretti Green transport, garages and VIP passes to the team chalet. It adds such an in depth, behind the scenes aspect to attending a race and is much appreciated. Unfortunately, Marco Andretti had a horrid race, after qualifying 5th, he battled an ill-handling car and finished in 20th place. The race was delayed slightly by a light rain and turned out to be pretty much a runaway as Target Chip Ganassi driver Dan Wheldon dominated most of the night. It marked his third consecutive win at Homestead. Teammate Scott Dixon finished second with Sam Hornish Jr. third and Vitor Meira fourth. It wasn’t a great day for either of the IRL women drivers, Sarah Fisher finished eleventh, five laps off the pace and Danica Patrick came home in fourteenth after crashing into the pit wall. Future IRL Driver, Venezuelan Milka Duno was on hand, but drove only a limited amount in the Grand AM support race and did not start the IRL race.

Milka Duno

Scott Sharp

Race Winner Dan Wheldon


The night racing was certainly more comfortable for the fans than the previously held and often blazingly hot day races. In fact it was almost cool. While in Homestead and not eating the delicious food at the Andretti chalet, we had a great Italian meal at the legendary Capri restaurant in Florida City. Just off Highway 1, the place is worth seeking out if traveling through Florida City on your way to the Keys.

Danica Patrick's Car
Jim