Mia Nomore′

The title could be the name of a tragic Italian opera, where the deep love of the young lead character’s life is lost, or his soul becomes consumed by a series of complex events in his life. I will explain what it means though, at a later point in this installment of our adventure.

After leaving the Everglades National Park at the end of February, we moved northeast to the Miami area, the polar opposite of the tranquility and beauty of the Everglades. Miami proper is a vast sea of hi-rise hotels and office buildings, but the up-and-coming Haitian district, rugged Little Havana (the Cuban enclave) and ultra-glam South Beach showcase the Miami of another era, along with nearby Coral Gables (featuring the Biltmore Hotel and the Venetian Pool). We connected with family members who were also visiting in the area and walked through some of the architecturally rich neighborhoods just south of the downtown area and spent a morning at Key Biscayne National Park. While Miami is not high on our list of recommended stops, there are treasures lurking beneath the surface and we were glad to have included it on our itinerary.

Our next stop was at a campground at the south end of Lake Okeechobee, the largest lake in Florida and largest lake wholly contained in the United States (the Great Lakes are shared with Canada). We were fascinated to learn how much sugar cane is grown in this area, and also that the huge fires we saw almost daily were in preparation for harvesting the sugar (with little regard for air quality). We used this stop as a base to travel to the Palm Beach area (Mar a Lago, the Breakers, Worth Avenue, the Flagler Museum) and the Ft. Lauderdale area, both very glamorous, but extremely crowded and built up. While visiting friends in Pompano Beach, we played our first-ever game of shuffleboard, a further qualification for our becoming senior citizens, along with our previous Bingo foray. We really are honing our skills to become Florida residents!

With St. Augustine firmly in our sights, we made a brief stopover in Melbourne and re-visited more friends there, then drove through Cape Canaveral, remembering previous shuttle launches we’d seen. The mid-coast is not quite as built up as the south coast, and it’s possible that lessons learned from the hi-rises of Miami Beach will keep that from happening. We appreciate that St. Augustine has restrictions on building that will prevent our beach from one day having tall buildings as far as the eye can see.

 

Back at our new home in St. Augustine, we had to make some decisions regarding our condo. Initial thoughts of removing wallpaper, painting and “freshening” kitchen cabinet doors turned into a full-blown renovation, with new kitchen cabinets and appliances ordered, some structural modifications and a longer stay than anticipated. As the spring wore on, it became clear to us that our energy was focused on our new home in St. Augustine and the last leg of our Mia adventure would have to be pushed back and compressed, or eliminated altogether.

After considering the rising price of gasoline and the increased demand for RVs in the Spring, we put Mia up for sale on eBay, and within a couple of days had several interested parties. A few phone calls later, we had a deal with a couple from Montreal, who immediately drove down to St. Augustine to make the purchase, and before we knew it, Mia was ready to head north to her new home. We’re sad to see her go, but happy to be free to concentrate on the condo, and happy that she will have a new family who we think will enjoy her every bit as much as we did (and even want to take her to some of the familiar and beautiful places she's been before!). We even have visitation rights in Montreal and St. Augustine (next winter) as the new owners plan on being here during the colder months, just as we will be. 

So Mia is no more (thus, the title of this blog), only a memory and a wonderful adventure from our recent past. Our current plan is to make our way north in early May (post-kitchen installation) and be back to Islesboro by the middle of that month. We’ll make a few stops along the way, but will save some of the sightseeing for future trips north/south in subsequent years. We will cherish the wonders that Mia and the past 18 months have provided us with. We’ll miss Mia but we won’t forget her and we appreciate your sharing in our adventure vicariously from afar.

Happy Trails,     Love, Bob and Patty