Beer and Art…….

Mosaic on the Wall Made from Bottle Caps

Mosaic on the Wall Made from Bottle Caps

The other Saturday when we went to the grand opening of the Florida Keys Brewing Company (http://www. floridakeysbrewingco.com) in Islamorada, I got so carried away with the muralist that I posted about that I forgot to do the post about the beer and the event itself. Let’s start with the beer. It’s excellent, there’s a nice selection, and best of all, it’s brewed by folks who truly seem to love beer. As often happens around here, the only downside is not a lot of parking so going at peak times might be tricky. They don’t have a bottling capability at this stage, but they do have growlers and will be able to do local distribution to some of the restaurants. In a word, if you like beer – go see them. They don’t have food, although there was a special set-up for the grand opening and I’m not sure if they plan to have something like that periodically. I was told that there are a couple of restaurants in the area that will deliver there and that would seem to be a good arrangement.

As for art other than the murals, when we walked in to join the very happy crowd, we noticed a mosaic on the far wall and I assumed it was a standard mosaic. We walked closer and realized that whoever had created it (didn’t find out who that was), had used beer bottle caps. There was another one on the opposite wall that I could get to for a better photo and I always take delight when I see these kinds of things. I hope to pop back down and have a longer chat with the founders of the company after things settle a bit. I’m intrigued by how they brought it all together and how many different people played a part.

Close-up Of A Section Of The Bottle Cap Mosaic

Close-up Of A Section Of The Bottle Cap Mosaic

 

You Just Never Know Who You’ll Meet…..

Artist Monique Richter Working on a Mural

Artist Monique Richter Working on a Mural

Goodness, the past few days got away from me. Saturday was spent doing a couple of different things, one of which was attending the grand opening of the Islamorada Brewing Company that I’ll post about later. In the process of this, there was a muralist working on the back wall in what will be the main brewing area. We happened to catch her when she came off the ladder and what a fascinating discussion it turned out to be. Monique Richter of Facebook https://www.facebook.com/richter.art.7, has been a water lover all her life. She currently captains for a private yacht and specializes in murals. In taking a peek at her Facebook page, the “About” section provides more detail and I’ll give you a peek if you want to check it out.

“Many local artists look to the water for inspiration, but few have gone to the lengths — or indeed, depths — Monique Richter has in search of creative guidance.

Armed with an innate love of art and an enviable skill with a wide range of watersports — surfing, wakeboarding, wakeskating, freediving, and spearfishing — Monique has traveled extensively to feed an insatiable passion for her chosen muse. She’s traveled as a professional wakeboarder for competitions all over the world, to places like Australia, New Zealand, Japan, the Philippines, Europe, the Caribbean, and South and Central America, and recently worked as a first mate aboard a sport fishing boat that through the British Virgin Islands, the Dominican Republic, the Bahamas, and Cuba”

It was a delight talking with her and I’ll post later this week about the actual Brewing Company and how much fun that was.

Not Exactly Being A Proud Mama……

Victory Road Piece

Victory Road Piece

For those that have seen this clip of a peek at the rehearsal for the upcoming Bowen McCauley Victory Road performance 10 & 11 April at the Kennedy Center, I apologize for being redundant. I say this isn’t exactly a “proud mama” post because it isn’t about our son dancing in the show as much as it is about Lucy Bowen-McCauley, the founder of the dance company and how this show came about.

If you happen to be new to the blog (and welcome if so), our son entering the world of professional dance came as a very big surprise and not without a number of concerns. He is both a member of the dance company and also Ballet Master for the Fairfax Center for Ballet Arts where he teaches.

Lucy is quite possibly the most astute individual that I personally know when it comes to how to keep a small dance company going strong for almost twenty years now and win continuing accolades within the region. Aside from her sheer talent and a driving passion, one of the things that she does is incorporate live music into her performances, even if it’s a single instrument such as a cello. She has also forged relationships with local symphonies and the dance company will sometimes be a part of a symphony’s program. Victory Road is the other side of that coin where she collaborates with a band that has a following. She choreographs pieces to their music and thus fans of the dance company and of the band attend the performance. Jason and the Sorchers have a wide appeal (apparently) and they were excited enough to want a longer show than she usually does. It has been over a year in the making and we are really looking forward to it. Here’s the link to the preview: https://vimeo.com/121897980

Yes, An Outhouse Race……..

A team in a previous Chamber of Commerce Chili Cook-off and Outhouse Race.

A team in a previous Chamber of Commerce Chili Cook-off and Outhouse Race.

I don’t actually know how it was that the Chamber of Commerce came up with the idea of combining an outhouse race with a chili cook-off more than twenty years ago. As best I understand it, lots of people have chili cook-offs and they are popular fundraising events and apparently way back when, someone thought it would be good to have something unique added in. I will admit that we were puzzled about it during our first involvement and yet, sure as the world, it does work. I don’t know all the rules, but the racing teams build their outhouses and there is someone inside who steers and the rest of the team pushes through a course that is laid out. It is like the “bed races” except there are outhouses. It is fun to watch and there are bragging rights to be had..

The South Dade Chamber of Commerce Chili Cook-off and Outhouse Race will be this Saturday, Feb 28th from 11:00 a.m.- 5:00 p.m. at Harris Pavilion, Harris Field on Campbell Drive. There are supposed to be over a dozen chili entries this year and there is a professional and amateur category. There are further categories for Best Tasting, Most Unusual, Hottest and Wimpiest, and I don’t recall now if that’s all of them. There will be live music, a jalapeno eating contest as well as other vendors around and if the weather cooperates, everyone will have a good time. The entry price is typically $5 and even though the chili sample size is a small plastic cup, if you try all the entries that basically gives you a whole cup full.

Paris, The Smaller Museums……

Golden Items in Churches and Abbeys Are Why They Were Targets for Plunder

Golden Items in Churches and Abbeys Are Why They Were Targets for Plunder

Like many major cities, Paris has the well-known museums that attract hundreds of thousands if not millions of visitors each year. As much as we enjoy the Louvre and the Musee D’Orsay, our focus this year was more off-the-main-route museums. We already knew that the Museum of Middle Ages (the Cluny) was a short walk from the hotel, but there is a special exhibit that we hadn’t seen on our previous trip. The Lady and the Unicorn is a six-piece tapestry set that dates back about 1,000 years although no one actually knows the background of it. It was discovered in the 1800s, I believe, and thankfully preserved. The lighting in the room was quite dim and no flashes are allowed, so we’ll see how hubby’s photos turn out. It is an impressive body of work and the colors are remarkably clear considering their age.

As I posted, we did find the Picasso Museum and it is quite well-done. Many of his earlier works were pieces that I could appreciate and of course hubby liked the later themes that are most associated with the name of Picasso. It was a surprise to me to see all the sculptures and the incredible variety of mediums that he worked with. I am not certain of how old he was when he did his final piece, but we did see some from 1971 and he died in 1973 at the age of 91.

As it turned out, the De La Croix Museum was within walking distance of our hotel, but definitely not one that you would run across. It was an apartment on the Left Bank and became a museum only through the dedicated efforts of a number of people. Interestingly, even though he rented the four room apartment, he was able to convince his landlord to build a detached studio for him and there was a charming small garden that must have been a wonderful spot for him. There was one other small museum that we would have liked to have seen, but we opted to go to the Eiffel Tower instead. There is just an element of sentimentality of walking around the Tower that we don’t like to pass up. The line to go up was very long and we decided not to do that.

Exterior Wall of Studio of Eugene De La Croix and Partial View of Garden

Exterior Wall of Studio of Eugene De La Croix and Partial View of Garden

Paris, Day Three, Part II…..

Didn't Capture the Top of the Eiffel Tower

Didn’t Capture the Top of the Eiffel Tower

Sunday was a cold, overcast day, and no, this isn’t the best photo in the world of the Eiffel Tower. Hubby has done some great photos and he is posting them to Facebook and will do up a nice folder. Anyway, our final dinner was at the Botielle D’Or, (Golden Bottle) that is just past Notre Dame across from the Seine on the right hand side as you are facing the Cathedral. It was recommended by the lady at the hotel and in a moment of amusement, when we were discussing where to go, I had specifically mentioned that we wanted traditional French cuisine, in particular steak au poivre, roasted lamb, etc., They explained that because of Valentine’s Day the night before, they had no steak left, but no problem with everything else. Well, okay, I would have steak for lunch.

The ten-minute walk from the hotel was a nice stroll and as a larger restaurant, it gave us a different ambience than the cozy Chez Fernand from Saturday and definitely less “modern” than the restaurant on Friday. They had escargot for Hubby and he then ordered a wonderful pork dish with mushrooms. Under other circumstances I might not have tried the lentil cake with shrimp as an appetizer, but I was intrigued and it was quite good. My chicken stuffed with crawfish came with a lovely sauce and they did have apple tart with ice cream for dessert. Unlike the other two restaurants, they also had single malt scotch for Hubby to enjoy while I had my Calvados as after dinner drinks.

With a 5:00 a.m. wake-up, we didn’t linger later than ten o’clock and even though we had an earlier flight back than I would ordinarily have scheduled, it was a non-stop. We were on a newer model jet, but it was a ten-hour flight as opposed to the eight going over. Ah well, there were no delays or significant turbulence.

Paris, Day Three, Part I…..

This will be two posts because we depart very early in the morning and I won’t have time to post before we leave. Dinner last night was at a charming place called Chez Fernand with a limited, but classic French dishes. Hubby had truffle ravioli as a starter and wild boar and I had baked camembert with honey and then beef burgundy. They’d had a run on chocolate cake and the apple tart and since I don’t like crème brule, we did the lemon sorbet for a shared dessert. Coffee of course and Calvados for Hubby and Cointreau for me. We didn’t sleep as late this morning and had breakfast at a different café, then found the De Lacroix Museum. It is quite small, but very nice with a lovely little restored garden. It is all here in the Latin Quarter.

We had discussed going to Montmarte and decided instead to wander around Ile St Louis and have a leisurely lunch of steak au poivre for me and mussels and frites for Hubby as well as shared a warm goat cheese on toast with salad. We returned to the room for a short bit and will head out in a few minutes to go to the Eiffel Tower to let Hubby get some photos and to go up to the second level and get some shots of the lights coming on. Okay, I will finish the trip and post some nice photos as soon as we get home.

Trip and Day One….

View of Notre Dame in Paris From the Back

View of Notre Dame in Paris From the Back

I had mentioned that this might be our last time to do Valentine’s Day in Paris. The truth is that unless we win a big lottery (no, wasn’t in on that mega win on Wednesday) and can fly first class, these long trips become more tiring as you get older. There are other places that we still want to go to, so our number of overseas trips will need to be allocated to taking care of different priorities. Anyway, the flight had no delays and there wasn’t much turbulence. There also weren’t some of the amenities on-board because it was an older plane, and traffic getting into the Left Bank of Paris was really snarled. With that said, it wasn’t raining either and we were grateful for that. As it turns out, the hotel is very close to the one we stayed in previously and thus is a great location for what we want to do.

The stroll around the first couple of streets helped orient us and since we didn’t want to do too much today, a nice lunch at a brassiere was in order. They had the croque monsieur that we had so much trouble finding last time, so that, frites, a green salad and wine was perfect. The sandwich is grilled ham and cheese except that the cheese is outside on top that gives it a golden brown melting quality and requires being eaten with a knife and fork. I had completely forgotten that hubby had never really been inside of Notre Dame and while we didn’t want to wait the hour to go to the second floor or do one of the tours, you can get the sense of this beautiful, iconic cathedral with the amazing architecture and incredible amount of stained glass by just walking around inside. Hubby had whatever lens is suitable for inside without needing to use a flash that is prohibited. I let him set the pace and after we did that, we naturally had to go to the back for shots of the famous gargoyles and “Flying Buttresses” that are in all the shots of posters, etc.

It is cold here though with a pretty stiff wind and we came back to let me post and to take a nap. In general, you should try to stay up, but this is another rule that doesn’t apply as much as you age because you often take a nap even if jet lag isn’t an issue. So, we’ll see what happens with dinner out and I admit that this photo of the cathedral doesn’t do it justice. It is, however, the kind that I take.

Dining in Paris…..

No, we don’t book into the famous restaurants in Paris. Not that those aren’t superb. One of the great things about Paris is of course the food and during a short trip such as this, we won’t be able to try all the places that we will find attractive. I also didn’t have a blog the last time we went to Paris and since we are supposed to have internet at the hotel I will be able to do a daily post. Of course the time difference will cause tomorrow to be slightly off. The dish I cannot leave Paris without is steak au poivre, but I usually wait and have that for my last meal. That doesn’t mean I won’t have it twice depending on where we are dining. I will expect to do seafood as well and yes, lunch will be leisurely with 2-3 courses and wine, then dinner with 3-4 courses. The whole point of these trips is to relax and enjoy and a prolonged meal is part of that enjoyment. There are two restaurants in particular in the area that we are staying that we like although since we are in a slightly different part of the area, I’m not sure how close we will be to either one. We walk to dinner and for lunch we stop in at whatever is at hand as we are also walking around.

Breakfast is the traditional croissants (or for me it might be fresh bread) and coffee, although occasionally instead of sitting down, we’ll grab a “chocolate bread” (pain du chocolat) and coffee from a street vendor. Anyway, I’m going to sign off now and the next post will be from Paris. The house sitter is set and the newspaper is stopped and I only have two meetings to attend this morning.

New Farmer’s Market On The Way……..

The Verde Community Farm & Market will open March 2015 near HARB.

The Verde Community Farm & Market will open March 2015 near HARB.

 I had the pleasure of being placed next to a delightful gentleman at Homestead’s first Eco Fair that was held Saturday in Losner Park downtown. I need to digress for just a moment because of the connectivity of Verde Community Farm Market and the Chapman Partnership. Chapman is an organization that I have great admiration for. They are a private organization that does remarkable work with the homeless through partnership with a number of different municipal, county, state, and federal programs. They have established a model that many like minded organizations have come to see, but that is a separate post.

Among their other efforts, there has been a plan to expand a farmer’s market in conjunction with a CSA and a farm-to-table café. Mr. Bill Squire was the gentleman set up in the tent next to me and he had some of their beautiful produce as well as the promotion for what they will be doing. It not only has all of the things that people who enjoy Farmer’s Markets are looking for – Certified Organic items, CSA option, commercial kitchen and special event venue – it is in an old emergency services station close to the Homestead Air Reserve Base with plenty of parking. Best of all, it is staffed predominantly with individuals from the homeless shelter as they learn skills they can build from. The entire operation will be open next month and I’ll do a follow-up post once they are in full swing. In the meantime, you can check them out at: http://www.verdefarmandmarket.com