January 30, 2019

#153 The Breakers



Henry Morrison Flagler built the 140 acre Breakers in ultra-super-mega rich Palm Beach, FL in 1896 and rebuilt after a fire in 1926 this beach front hotel is way out of my price range.  I did a super splurge and went to their Sunday Brunch in the The Circle dining room.  
20181028_110255

It’s a beautiful building, no doubt. But surrounded by the 1% of the 1% I couldn’t help but be a little sick to my stomach at how out of touch with reality many of their patrons are.  There were several multi-generational families there that were chatting and saying they come every week (doing the math this is several thousand dollars a week for BRUNCH!), and blah, blah, my private yacht.  And wow, the food wasn’t even all that impressive. But the building was really beautiful, and I can firmly put this is the same category as things like the Kentucky Derby, Mardi Gras, and the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.  Which is to say, “yeah, I’m glad I did that, but I don’t ever need to do it again.”
20181028_111225
20181028_132343
20181028_133200
20181028_111251
20181028_120925

January 28, 2019

#152 Joe’s Stone Crab


Here’s the thing, I am allergic to shellfish.  Was I going to spend an outrageous amount of money at a fancy restaurant where almost everything could kill me?  Or would I spend a pretty regular amount at its casual back door nook and eat something that would not kill me?  Yeah, I chose option 2.  
20181027_143205
20181027_152136
Joe’s Stone Crab originally opened in 1913 and has become famous for its extremely long wait time.  They don’t take reservations (it’s first come, first served), you can’t bribe the MaĆ®tre’s D’, and it’s only open between mid-October and mid-May because that’s when stone crab is in season.
I chose to eat at Joe’s Take Away which was originally literally the back door of the restaurant where people would order tasty claws and sides without the wait to its current 80-seat market.  You can find all Joe’s signature items on its menu, in a casual environment.  I had the day’s special pulled pork with a slice of key lime pie.
20181027_152106
20181027_152109
20181027_150744
20181027_144826
IMG_20181027_144551_487
20181027_144320
20181027_143852
20181027_143848

January 26, 2019

#151 Villa Vizcaya

Sometimes referred to the “Hearst Castle of the East” the Italian Renaissance-style Villa Vizcaya was completed in 1916 as the wintertime retreat of Chicago industrialist (and total weirdo) James Deering.


Forty-two rooms (out of seventy) are open to the public and his fascination with 15th -18th century architecture is clear in every detail.

Flower Room
This room was used for cutting and arranging fresh flowers daily.  The flowers were grown at Vizcaya's Farm Village across the street.

20181027_112228
20181027_112234

Serving Pantry and Enclosed Loggia
20181027_112336
20181027_112414
20181027_112439
20181027_112446
20181027_112459
20181027_112532

Dining Room
This room contains several items that once belonged to famous historical people or places: tapestries owned by Elizabeth Barrett Browning, figures from Pompeii or Hurculaneum, etc.  A seahorse (the symbol of Vizcaya) is hidden in the elaborate ceiling panels.
P1050751
P1050752
P1050753

Music Room
The only instruments regularly used were the organ and player piano.  Deering bought not only for decoration, but often objects associated with famous people or places.
P1050759
20181027_113425

East Loggia

This loggia looks directly out to the Biscayne Bay and "The Barge", an elaborate breakwater with half-human half-fish sculptures.20181027_122828

P1050766

P1050763

North Passage
20181027_113912


Living Room
The informal living room (hahahaha, informal, hahaha) is the largest room at Vizcaya and houses many objects from the European Renaissance.  Several objects were altered to fit the estate's design including adding an upper element to the fireplace, and a 1600s painting that was cut in half and turned into doors to cover the organ pipes.
20181027_114124


20181027_114101

20181027_113939

20181027_114129

Reception Room
This room was designed to fit the ceiling, which is one of three that Deering purchased abroad.
20181027_114353

20181027_114425

20181027_114450

Library
Emulating Europeans aristocratic tradition most American mansions built in the early 1900s included a library.  The back of the door is painted to appear like part of the bookcase when it's closed.
20181027_114557

20181027_114706

20181027_114616

Entrance Hall
When arriving at Vizacaya guests would pass through this space on their way to "freshen up" in either the powder room or cloak room.  I wish I'd taken a picture of the floor because the design in the ceiling mirrors the floor design.  The wall paper is a hand-painted antique from Paris.  There was a tour in this space at the same time I was, and so it was jammed packed and I didn't get a lot of pictures.
20181027_114747

Power and Cloak Rooms
20181027_115003

20181027_115008

20181027_115033

20181027_115042

Entrance Loggia:
20181027_115223

20181027_115243

20181027_115309

Second Floor:
Stairs and North Gallery:
20181027_115426

20181027_115544

20181027_115440

20181027_115516

Pantaloon
This room was named after pants.  Just kidding it was named after a buffoonish character in Italian theater, the Venetian merchant, Pantaloon.  Apparently, Deering was not super happy with some of the obscure names his designer picked and left it changing them open for discussion.
20181027_122038

20181027_122044

Manin Bedroom
This room honors the last Doge of Venice Ludovico Manin and furnished in the Beidermeier style.  The door on the right lead to the bathroom and closet.  The bathroom door is at the top of the hall steps, and with two ornate doors on either side.  One leads to a closet, the other a brick wall.  It's only there to create symmetry in the design.

20181027_121942

20181027_121948

20181027_122000

20181027_122010

Cathay
20181027_115856

20181027_115901

20181027_115904

20181027_115920

20181027_115926

Deering Sitting Room
Deering was a lifelong bachelor, which stupidly, inspire lots of questions about his sexuality.  Listen, it's nobody's business and you don't have to be gay to be single, assholes.

Anyway, the sitting room is decorated in a neoclassical style and the seahorse is back in the ceiling of this room.
20181027_120048

20181027_120041

20181027_120044

Elevator
20181027_120122

20181027_120127


Deering Bedroom
20181027_120252

20181027_120301

20181027_120326


Deering Bathroom
20181027_120446

20181027_120452

Espagnolette Bedroom
This is one of mansion's most opulent bedrooms. The name was chosen to invoke the memory of a Spanish-style dress popularized in France.  This bedroom has access to Deering's personal balcony through a hidden doorway.

One doorway leads to the guest bathroom that is shared with Galleon and Carvel bedrooms.  Deering had access through interior doors (hidden from the public galleries) to all three bedrooms, which raised some eyebrows. 
20181027_120556

20181027_120605

20181027_120618

20181027_120645

20181027_120655

Galleon Bedroom
Deering followed the seasonal cycle of the Gilded Age's richy-rich social circle.  Which meant he only spent a few months a year (December - April) at Vizcaya. Since I visited in October, Vizcaya would traditionally have been "closed" since Deering wasn't in residence.  The Galleon Bedroom was arranged to show that, and is "reopened" during when the staff would start preparing for Deering's return.
20181027_120752

20181027_120801

Caravel
20181027_120816

20181027_120824

Breakfast Room
Deering enjoyed casual dining in this elegant room filled with Asian artifacts. The windows recess completely into the walls giving this a loggia-feeling.  Player piano music could be piped in from a closet below.
20181027_121116

20181027_121153

20181027_121201

20181027_121401

20181027_121416

Pantry and Kitchen
20181027_121240

20181027_121243

20181027_121313

20181027_121325

20181027_121342

South Gallery and Stairs
20181027_121442

20181027_121450

20181027_120951

20181027_121005

Interior Courtyard
The courtyard was originally designed to bring the outdoors in and was enclosed in the 80s to preserve the artifacts from the humid Miami climate. The courtyard offers views of Biscayne Bay to the east and the Vizcaya gardens to the south.  The first floor contains public rooms, and the second floor the private space. 
20181027_121521

20181027_121528

20181027_115523

Of the original 180 acres, 28 remain, with 10 dedicated to formal gardens. 
The estate suffered some damage during Hurricane Irma, and once you see it in person it really is RIGHT ON THE WATER. 

East Terrace/Barge/Boat Landing/Tea House
There was also a wedding happening the day I was there, so there was a weird tent set up in the back.  The ceremony was early in the morning and then they were doing pictures (it also looked like a quinceaƱera photo shoot was also happening) as I was walking around.
20181027_122717

20181027_122801

20181027_122810

20181027_122824

P1050768

P1050770

P1050771

P1050772

P1050774

P1050778

P1050777
P1050780

Secret Garden/Semicircular Pools/East & West Statuary Walks
P1050788

P1050795

P1050797

P1050803

P1050808

P1050899

P1050908

P1050909

P1050912


Parterres/Center Island
P1050792

P1050794

P1050814

P1050816

P1050818

P1050819

P1050821

Mound Cascade and Grottos/Garden Mound/Casino
P1050809

P1050826

The Garden Mound originally separated the formal gardens from the lagoon gardens, but the lagoon gardens no longer exist.

P1050844

P1050834

P1050850

The Casino (little house in Italian) and Garden Mound were designed to shield the formal gardens from the glare of the lagoon behind the mound.

P1050847

Fountain Garden
This was originally intended as a Rose Garden, but the roses weren't very fond of the bright sun and salty air.

The fountain was designed in the 1700s for the village of Sutri, Italy to provide fresh drinking water.  Sutri modernized and sold the fountain to Deering.
P1050829

P1050861

Maze Garden
Mazes were traditionally used to encourage contemplation and meditation. Later they were used for entertainment. Vizcaya's hedges were once tall enough to get lost in, but storm surges from hurricanes have flooded and destroyed the Maze Garden.  It was replanted in 2006 with plants that can grow next to salt water.

The mangrove forest is literally right there beyond the garden boundary and Vizcaya's mangrove forest is one of the last undisturbed forests in South Florida.
P1050868

P1050869

P1050870

Theater Garden
Spaces for small theatrical productions were common in European gardens and this evokes this tradition albeit with a very strange background of mangroves.

The garden is decorated with statues of characters popular in Venetian theater.  Again, this garden has been flooded and destroyed by storm surge several times and was last replanted in 2015.
P1050879

P1050880

P1050881

P1050883

P1050886

P1050885

South Terrace
P1050891

P1050928

P1050930

P1050925

Entrance/Exit
P1050935

20181027_132808

20181027_132744

20181027_135304

20181027_135403

20181027_135439