Beaches and Castles

Since last we met I've been enjoying my last few days of freedom. Trouble is, I can't really recall with clarity what it is I've been up to! I should have done this blog thing earlier, so I could actually remember what I've been up to. I can barely remember what I ate for breakfast this morning (nectarine and toast?), let alone what I've been doing for the past two weeks. Give or take.

I can say that I've been to South Beach more times this summer than I have probably in the whole of my time down here. I went with the Aussies and Liz (*sigh*) and then I went last Friday AND Saturday as well.

Friday night, Tiffany had a family reunion of sorts with a relative (distant, I believe) who just moved down here. She lives on South Beach for the time being, and I had nothing else to do, so I accompanied Tiffany down there to meet up with this cousin. We got dinner at Sushi Samba, where I'd been once before and had THE most amazing sea bass ON THE PLANET. Like, seriously? Just typing about it right now is making my mouth water. I was in the mood for sushi but once we got to the restaurant, I couldn't NOT have the sea bass entree. Which I did. And I thought I'd died and gone to heaven it was so perfect. That damn fish was expensive, but worth it. The only complaint I had was that it didn't come with, like, a roll or something. Homegirl needs some carbs to wash down that protein! It was so good, though, and it's only made my hankering for the sea bass worse, not better! Boo!

After we ate, we drove down Ocean just to, I dunno, people watch and stuff. You can see some crazy stuff driving down Ocean Boulevard on a Friday night! So we did our "loser lap" (what high school kids call driving down the strip because they can't, legally, go in anywhere) and headed home to hang out with the neighbors for a bit.

Saturday I headed back out to SoBe for lunch with my friend Drew and his brother, who was visiting him, and his brother's fratty friends. We ate at Mango's, this completely touristy restaurant where the waiters and waitresses (scantily clad ones, of course) dance salsa on the bar. It's such a weird caricature of Miami tourism... it was a trip. I had a Cuban sandwhich, which was basically what everyone else had, and it was delicious. After that, we went to the Weam, the World Erotic Art Museum, which was a trip and a half. It was full of this gaudy, hilarious stuff, some of it quite old, relatively speaking. It was hilarious to see, and the fratties seemed to have a good time.

When I got home, Tiffany and I had our "rib date" and she made the last rack of ribs we had in the freezer. They were a bit spicier than the last batch, but very good anyway.

On Monday, I went up to school for a seminar on Salesian education given by Sr. Mary Greenan, a.k.a Sister Mary Guinness, an Irish nun raised in England and living in California. The seminar was basically on what Salesian education is, means, and looks like. She was a great speaker, and the seminar was pretty helpful. Turns out, even though I'm not Catholic, I'm a Salesian teacher. :) And Sister Mary was super cool, a totally chill nun who didn't even wear a habit, and after the second session on Tuesday we went out John Martins, the Irish pub we went to on St. Patrick's Day, and Sr. Mary got a pint of the Guinness she likes so much. Yeah, I drank beer with a nun. Awesome.

Today I wanted to see something touristy, so I went to the Coral Castle down in the Redlands. It's this crazy mix of the Taj Mahal and, like, Stonehenge--a mysterious tribute to love. See, this guy Ed Leedskalnin from Latvia fell in love with this girl, Agnes, 10 years his junior, who called off the wedding the day before it was to take place. So Ed moved to the states, eventually settling in Florida due to TB, and built a castle made of coral for himself, Agnes, and the family he envisioned having with her. She never saw his tribute, which he built at night. The amazing thing about the castle is that Ed, who was only five feet tall and 100 pounds, moved the coral, which weights 125 pounds per square foot, all by himself, never revealing his methods.

The castle, which has been moved from its original site in Florida City, has other mysteries as well. For example, these numbers are found on both of the door frames of the little room where Ed lived as he was constructing the castle.

No one knows what they're for, or what they mean.

This is the view from Ed's lair, the whole castle grounds.

This is the throne room, complete with thrones for Ed, Agnes, and a child. There's also an uncomfortable throne, less well made, for the mother-in-law.

This is the obelisk. It is the tallest structure on the property standing at 28 feet. It also contains a carved stone in the middle that is completely hollow, carved with the made and moved dates of the castle, and Ed's birth year and city. No one knows what, if anything, is inside this hollow stone. It remains another mystery of the Coral Castle.

This is one of Ed's inventions--the first crock pot! It's two car parts fit together, and the food goes inside and cooks over the fire.

This is the Feast of Love table--presumably where Ed dreamed he and his Agnes would enjoy meals. It is in the Guinness Book of World Records as the World's Largest Valentine, weighing in at 2, 500 pounds.

The Coral Castle was cool to see, and I'm glad I went.

Finally, I have a new obsession. It's a singer named Diane Birch, who is like a Carly Simon cupcake with Carol King filling, Janis Joplin frosting, and Joni Mitchell sprinkles on top. Her album, Bible Belt, has been the soundtrack of my life for the past couple of weeks. You can watch her video for "Nothing But A Miracle" here. This song is SO AMAZING!

My last week of freedom... *sigh* Monday it's back to the grind. Kids' first day is Friday!

Much love.