Saturday, September 5, 2009

Project 365 - August 16, 2009

The Very Last Day


















The last day at home came. It was a quiet Sunday. We cleaned the house. We packed our bags and I had promised to take Adina to Tate's Comic store because they were doing a Japanese snack food tasting festival. We had to wait about an hour and a half, but it was fun. We toured the store and when we were tired, we sat on the floor and talked and read comic books. I snapped photos of these dolls, they are called "Ugly Doll" and for a good reason!














This was the plate of snack food that they gave us. It certainly tasted interesting. You didnt quite know what you were tasting but when you were done you had to answer a short survey on how well you liked each item (if you could remember what the heck you just ate!!).




















That night my dad wanted to take us all out for dinner and Rachel picked the Rustic Inn. They are right near the airport and are famous for their crabs. I loved this photo of Joel and Rachel with their arms around each other.














Rachel and Poppa Lester are all ready to dig into their crab dinners!!



And of course we had to take the "family" photo in front of the restaurant!

Project 365 - August 15, 2009

40th Anniversary of Woodstock













Cinema Paradiso, our art film house in Fort Lauderdale, threw a street festival, jam fest and showed many documentaries about Woodstock, including the film Woodstock. I took Rachel and Adina and Adina's friend, Greg.














Everyone dressed in their best hippie outfit!














Rachel and Marc jammed under the tent with about ten other "hippies" which was a lot of fun to listen to and take photos of. This photo was also taken by a New Times reporter who was standing next to me and their photo ended up in the newspaper the following week!



















We made ourselves at home on the floor of the theater and my friend, who is the manager of the theater, brought us pillows and blankets (it was pouring outside and it was freezing in the air conditioning!).














This is Rachel's friend, Andrew. They have known each other since fourth grade and he came over to hang with us until we had to leave at about midnight.

Project 365 - August 13, 2009

Goodbye Again



















So many people wanted to say a proper goodbye to Rachel before she left for school so we had a series of dinners. This was one of them. Rachel is helping Joel in the kitchen to prepare the food. She is so used to me sticking the camera in her face, she just ignores me now.














This was an Italian meal. I think Joel was having fun cooking this meal!














In a quiet moment before the company arrived, Rachel pulled out the guitar and instead of sheet music these days it is websites with sheet music and tabulature! This used to be my guitar in college. This is the guitar that she will take with her.














This is our friend, Marc Solomon. Remember that name because someday he will be famous! He is one of the hardest working young artists that I know. He is very talented. He sings, writes and plays guitar and piano. He also teaches (that is his day job so that he can pursue his artistic endeavors). He calls me at least two or three times a week to ask me questions and the people in my office tease me and tell me that my son is on the phone!!

Project 365 - August 11, 2009

All Things Have a Beginning and an End



















The last day of our Key West adventures began with a slow breakfast in the kitchen. Every morning there was a beautiful array of fresh fruits and fresh baked goods on the counters. There were baskets of oranges for freshly squeezed juice and other assortments of cereals, breads, jams and coffee. This morning I had orange juice, papaya, kiwi, cantaloupe and a slice of key lime pie! Yeah, so what? I was on vacation, who cared about eating dessert for breakfast??














This photo was taken in the living room. There is Dade County Pine on the floor and walls which is fire resistant but also extinct! In the corner of the room is a loom which the owner of the B&B works on and in the other corner is a guitar which Rachel played one evening. Along the walls are many books about artists and about the history of the Keys. The only rooms that have air conditioning are the bedrooms, but at night it isn't too bad inside the house and the kitchen also feels fairly cool in the morning.













On the way home we stopped off at our friend's house in Islamorada. We haven't seen them in about 15 years! They used to live in the same complex as we do now and Rachel and their oldest daughter, Alison, were best friends at two years old! They got along immediately and Lesley and I chatted for FOUR hours to catch up after not seeing each other for so long. They had moved away to England for about seven years so that is why we fell out of touch. But the internet brought us back together!



















Instead of taking the US 1 route home, we took Card Sound Road. It is a beautiful, winding road that is surrounded on either side by Sea Grape vegetation. Every once in a while there is a gap in the bushes and you see the Everglades peeking through. It is quite scenic. At the end of this stretch is a restaurant/bar called Alabama Jack's. Rachel had been there before with her friend and wanted to stop there. So we did. We got some smoked fish dip and crackers and I got a beer and we just chilled for about an hour. I also didn't tell her that I was purposely killing time!!













And when we got home Rachel's friends were hiding in her closet to surprise her with a goodbye party at our house! Rachel really was surprised!

Project 365 - August 10, 2009

Margaritaville




















Just like the song . . . we were wasting away in Margariaville! We took our rented bikes and rode all the around the island, over and over!!!













We took a tour of the lighthouse and found out that Rachel was afraid of heights! this was the look on her face as we got to the top. Her poor legs were like jelly and she had to sit right in this spot for a very long time until she was ready to climb down! I did, in fact, coax her to the catwalk and look out at the view. She was nervous but did it.













After our island adventures (in 95 degree heat and still sunburned from yesterday)we took showers and sat out on the porch outside our bedroom. Rachel took the hammock while I took the red swing.
































At sunset we finally decided to go down to Mallory Square and see what all the fuss is about. Well there are tons of people, actors, singers, jugglers and acrobats. We saw them all, oh yeah and artists. This photo is of the locals making fun of the tourists!!

Project 365 - August 9, 2009

The Last Hurrah!

The summer went by quickly and before Rachel left for college I wanted to take her to Key West. She had never been there and I haven't been there since 1990 when I met my friend, Cheryl, there and we rode scooters around and had dinner with Wayne Newton at the wrap party for the film, "License to Kill."

So off we went on a Sunday morning. Rachel insisted on driving the entire way and I entertained her, talked her ear off, sang songs from the Sirius radio and snapped photos along the way (not my best).

We ended up staying in a beautiful bed and breakfast (which I highly recommend -- The Popular House), rented bicycles to cruise around the island and did all the touristy stuff (in one day may I add!!!).

These were some of my favorite shots from the first day.














The beaches in Lauderdale are far better, but nonetheless, we went to the beach (forgot our sunscreen and got very sunburned). Rachel was so angry with me because she wanted to snorkel and I was a chicken. She wouldn't go without me and I couldn't bring myself to do it. I am very afraid of the ocean. My feet HAVE to touch the ground. These two chairs just said laid back island style to me!














Okay, doing the silly tourist stuff here!!! Posing with the sculptures near Mallory Square! I had to convince Rachel to do this, but then she laughed when she saw this.














Just a nice peaceful moment. We decided to skip the tourist sunset at Mallory Square the first night. Way too many tourists.

Wednesday, August 5, 2009

Project 365 - August 4, 2009

Look Ma, No More Braces

So yesterday was the big day. After two and a half years, Adina had her braces removed. These photos were taken by Joel at the Orthodontist. I love them because I couldn't be there but these photos made me feel like I was there!

Afterwards we went out to dinner and then to a Green Day concert and I kept making Adina smile at me!! Such a pretty smile!