Family in Miami

Nan, Scout and I are just coming off some family time here in Miami. My sisters Jane and Susan arrived last Sunday and split their time between here and Key West. We picked Jane up from her red-eye flight from Seattle early on Sunday morning and spent the day touring around town, driving all over Coconut Grove and Coral Gables to show her the Coconut Grove Sailing Club, Matheson Hammock Park, the Biltmore Hotel and golf course, the Miracle Mile, and Little Havana, where we ate a late Cuban lunch at the Versailles Restaurant. After regrouping at our apartment, we drove Jane downtown to the Aloft hotel in Brickell, where she and Susan would be staying. Our little one-bedroom apartment is too small for overnight guests. Susan's flight was delayed, but we still managed to pick her up at the airport and get her to the hotel for the start of the season finale of Downton Abbey.

On Monday, while I was back at work, Nan took the train downtown to meet Jane and Susan for the Big Bus Tour of Miami Beach, a fun thing to do that she and I enjoyed a few months ago. They got off the bus at one of the stops near the beach to walk in the sand and eat lunch at a sidewalk cafe. Instead of continuing the same tour, they switched to the Coconut Grove/Coral Gables loop and ended up at Cocowalk, just a few blocks from our apartment.

The next day, Jane and Susan rented a car and drove down to Key West to spend time with our cousin Hilary, who has lived there for many years. She met them for dinner at Louie's Backyard restaurant, the same place we met her when we were there in 2002. I only saw the photos but it looks like my sisters did all the touristy things people do in Key West, like visiting the Hemingway House and Sloppy Joe's, and walking around Duval Street and Mallory Square.

Mom and Dad drove down from Savannah on Thursday and checked in to the Hampton Inn next door. Jane and Susan returned shortly after, and the four of them came over for Nan's Thai chicken in peanut sauce. We needed to move the furniture around and add in our outdoor cafe table, but we were all able to sit around the table together for dinner.

Our visitors waited for the drizzle to clear the next day before heading over to Vizcaya, the hundred-year-old bayside estate of James Deering, an heir to the International Harvester fortune, who split his time between Chicago and Miami. Nan and I toured the estate ourselves recently and were suitably impressed. Mr. Deering had traveled the world in the early 1900s to find the best of everything, and he brought it all together in his beautifully designed mansion. We had done the very worthwhile audio tour, but our visitors opted for the guided tour and then followed it with lunch at the estate's cafe. For dinner that night, we treated at the Coconut Grove Sailing Club, accompanied by soulful tunes from the Jazz Monkeys.

Saturday morning, the whole group repeated much of the tour we had given Jane the previous Sunday and ended it at a Nicaraguan restaurant on Calle Ocho in Little Havana, The Guayacan. Lunch was good and filling, and we returned home to regroup before the arrival of cousin Hilary from Key West, and Uncle Pat and Aunt Marilyn from Bonita Springs, whom we had not seen in a dozen years. We all met up at the Hampton Inn's pool to get reacquainted and then trooped over to our apartment for cocktails and a trip up to the rooftop pool for views of downtown Miami and Biscayne Bay. By then, it was dinnertime and we walked around the corner to Berries, our favorite restaurant and watering hole. The accommodating staff there set up a table for all nine of us and informed us that it was lobster night. There were several takers, including me.

Back at our apartment, Nan unveiled the banana cake she had baked for a late celebration of my mother's eightieth birthday. We lit the candles, sang Happy Birthday to You, and cheered when Mom blew them all out. Wine glasses were refilled, toasts were made, and everyone agreed that we needed to get together like this more often. With more than a few of us having ties to the Southeast now, that should be easy to do.

Greetings from San Diego

A few days after Nan returned from her visit home to Manitowoc, Wisconsin to see her mother, I left Isla Mujeres, Mexico (after two more trips to Immigration for the necessary paperwork) to travel to San Diego for a family get-together celebrating my father's eightieth birthday. Nan graciously stayed behind to look after the boat, and it's good that she did because she has reported daily rain and high winds.

My sisters Susan and Jane coordinated the rental of a large home in the hills of La Jolla, with great views to the north toward the San Bernardino Mountains. We have been mostly hanging out at the house because it has been difficult to coordinate twelve people going anywhere in three small rental cars, especially when nobody can agree on where to go. We did all agree to go to the La Jolla Cove beach area on Monday to see the surfers and the sea lions. Brother Stuart was the only one to take a swim and he reported that the water was a brisk 72 degrees or so.

On Wednesday, a group of us went to the San Diego Zoo. Growing up in Milwaukee, I always thought Milwaukee's zoo was the best, but it doesn't compare to San Diego's, partly because of the difference in climates. Milwaukee's harsh winters prevent the growth of the lush tropical vegetation that is so abundant at the San Diego Zoo. We were there in the late afternoon, at feeding time, and the animals were active. We watched the big cats and the rhinoceros pace around in anticipation of dinner. The koalas woke from their naps and munched on the eucalyptus shoots that were waiting for them. We would have seen the pandas and their new cub but the line was a half-hour long. Some in our group were able to spot them later from the aerial tram we took at the end of the day.

On Thursday, Independence Day, another group of us went to Old Town San Diego. I had not realized that it even existed, but the people of San Diego have done a remarkable job in preserving the original site of the city's settlement. We toured the buildings that housed the first settlers but are now excellent museums. We watched the Fourth of July parade around the Old Town square featuring descendants in period clothing. And we jumped at the boom of an historic cannon firing.

Friday, our last full day, was another beach day. We all drove up to Encinitas and spent the afternoon at Sea Cliff County Park. The nephews tried to body surf in the small waves, and Stuart again went for a long swim. The rest of us were content to sit in the sand and watch the surfers.

I took advantage of being in the United States and had a bunch of boat stuff drop-shipped to the La Jolla house for personal transport back to Isla Mujeres, Mexico. In addition to getting the delaminated skeg fixed, I now have what I need to complete a long list of additional boat projects. More on that later...

Family Reunion

My family held a weeklong reunion back in August to celebrate my parents' 50th wedding anniversary. Except for Nan, who couldn't leave work, we all agreed to meet at my sister Jane's family's weekend house on Whidbey Island, north of Seattle. I figured my family would want to see Charlie, too, since he is part of the family, so he and I made a roadtrip of it, staying overnight in Sun Valley, Idaho on the way out and back.

The usually depressing weather in the Pacific Northwest cooperated for the most part, so we were able to get outside for a few days to see the island's sights. Toward the end of the week, we spent a few more days in Seattle at Jane's family's house just south of Green Lake, taking in the culture and celebrating Jane and Josh's twin sons Max and Ben's birthdays. On one of the Seattle days, Charlie and I bombed around downtown Seattle with a friend from high school, Paul Snyder, who lives in nearby Bellevue.

Before Charlie and I headed home, I promised to get pictures to everybody but I haven't yet. In the last few weeks, since we discovered Charlie's illness, I have been reviewing digital pictures of him on my computer. Many of them are from the family reunion, which reminded me of my promise, so family, I hope you're OK with this blog version of the pictures (click to see full-size views):

The Lichty Kriesberg residence on Whidbey Island. Note the foggy weather and the moss growing on the roof. Puget Sound is visible from the house (on a clear day), across the street and down the hill. Brother Stuart, Charlie and I bunked in the little cabin out back.

The back of the house, showing the nautical flair of the previous owner, a talented carpenter. Morning fog still hangs in the air. Weather permitting, cocktail hours were spent on the patio.

Flying kites at Fort Casey State Park. Fort Casey is an abandoned World War II post intended to protect Puget Sound from naval invasion. Left to right are Dad, Jane (in the distance), sister Susan and John's son Peter, and Max.

Visitors are allowed to climb around on the old fort, which still has some of its massive guns in place. This one looks capable of hitting Port Townsend, about three miles away across the Sound.

Susan, Charlie and me on top of the Fort Casey ramparts, with Puget Sound in the background.


The ladies, plus Charlie, on top of the Fort Casey ramparts: Mom, Susan's daughter Kirsten, Susan and Jane. The land across the Sound is Port Townsend. That's Ben in mid-stride.

Walking toward the stairs to the beach: Dad, Mom, Ben, Kirsten with Charlie, and Josh.


Kirsten trying to keep Charlie from dragging her into the water. Note the hazy view of the Cascade Mountains in the distance.


Charlie experiences sea water for the first time. Of course, he thinks all water is drinkable so he drank enough that he puked it all up later in the back of Jane's van.

Josh sitting on a driftwood log on the beach, which is covered in so much driftwood that Peter sees if he can walk without touching the ground.


The next day, most of us, including John and Susan, went to the Coupeville Wharf to see the classic square-rigger ships, The Lady Washington and The Hawaiian Chieftain, which were on display there for a short while. The Lady Washington was used in all three Pirates of the Caribbean movies.

Max walking the rail down the center of the wharf toward the ships just visible over the building at the end. To the right is a good view of the public dock and Penn Cove.

View of The Hawaiian Chieftain and The Lady Washington from the end of the public dock.


Susan and Kirsten aboard The Lady Washington.


As seen from The Lady Washington, a MacGregor 26X approaches the public dock. (They're everywhere! They're everywhere!)


Kirsten and me on the poop deck of The Lady Washington.


John on the wharf in front of the Hawaiian Chieftain.


The next day, at the Smugglers Cove beach at the north end of South Whidbey Island State Park. Dad tries to talk Charlie out of his tennis ball while Mom, Stuart and John enjoy the view.

Mom, Kirsten and Jane at the north end of the Smugglers Cove beach.


The Lichty men: me, Dad, Stuart and Charlie.





Mom and Dad on the beach.













A very relaxed John has a conversation in German with a German couple he met at the Smugglers Cove beach while the rest of the group, in the background, examines a driftwood fort built by Peter, Max and Ben.

The 50th anniversary celebration at the Edgecliff Bar & Grill in Langley, down the road from the Lichty-Kriesberg home on Whidbey Island.


The whole group, roughly left to right: me, Susan, Peter, John, Max, Dad, Mom, Ben, Stuart, Kirsten, Jane and Josh.


At the entrance to the Seattle Art Museum, before part of the group opted for the Seattle Aquarium instead.


My high school buddy Paul Snyder at the Hiram M. Chittenden Locks that connect Lake Union with Puget Sound on the west side of Seattle. Nice Catalina 320 behind him.

Charlie and me at the Sculpture Park near Myrtle Edwards Park.


Charlie wanting to cool off in the fountain at the Sculpture Park. He had to settle for a drink.