When Florian turned 39 in November, I promised to take him to Florida to swim with the dolphins, something he'd long dreamed of doing. We met in Fort Lauderdale in late January.
I rented a VW Beetle convertible. It took me back to early childhood in Munich. I'll never forget riding around with my father, each of us wearing beanies with propellors on top that turned furiously in the breeze, even if it is a second-hand memory that can't be verified.
With time to kill before check-in at the Cabanas, a gay guesthouse, we checked out an antique car show in Wilton Manors, where the men are often as old as their antique cars and considerably less streamlined.
The Cabanas provided both kayaks and bikes for its guests, as well as a pool and jacuzzi. We took full advantage of everything, exploring the neighborhood canals in kayaks and the city on bikes and cruising the amenities closer to our room. I had more luck capturing the voluptuousness of the tropical flora.
The oldest structure in Broward County didn't get built until 1901, just 50 years before my birth!
Colorful clock innards decorated the entrance to the Museum of Discovery and Science.
Some of the architecture in Key West was as picturesque as the one-hundred mile drive south from Miami through the coral archipelago on a long highway bridge that often left you with the sensation of hovering above the turquoise water of the Atlantic Ocean on your left.
We stayed at the Island House, a "clothing optional resort" which lived up to its reputation for friskiness. Somehow, Florian managed to wangle a college discount. Bicycles were not included among the amenities.
More tropical flora.
While the weather and views we had at this outdoor restaurant pretty much defined Florida's wintertime appeal, the food wasn't nearly as good as it had been the night before at the tucked-away El Siboney, known for its Cuban cuisine.
The "power adventure" we booked through Sebago Watersports included a sunset cruise. We both got to steer the sailboat for a bit.
But nothing--not the snorkeling, not the jet skiing (been there, done that) and certainly not the banana boat--could compare to the airborne thrill of parasailing. At least until I tried hang gliding a decade later in Rio.
"It's a little like being at the top of a ferris wheel," observed Florian.
His big moment came early the next morning at the Dolphin Research Center, founded by Flipper's first trainer, in Grassy Key. During the required 45-minute training session we bonded with a couple of frauleins from Frankfurt. They had rented an RV in Orlando and complained of chilly rains and heavy traffic at our final destination. Vegetarians, they also were as appalled as I by the inclusion of mahi mahi on the center's lunch menu. "First you get to swim with them, now see how they taste!" I joked.
Photos weren't allowed in the encounter area, fenced off in the Gulf of Mexico, but this money shot of Florian with Kibby added only $10 to the cost of the activity, something I wasn't remotely interested in doing. It seemed more than a little exploitative.
En route back to Fort Lauderdale, where we ended up staying in a cheap roadside motel, we briefly spent some time at Haulover Park, the largest clothing optional beach in America. We kept ours on, just as we had at the Island House.
Like Leon before him, there was a 14-year age difference between me and Florian. But Disney World turned us both into a couple of bickering kids. Our "hopper pass"--which linked directly to my credit card to streamline any purchases--admitted us to Disney MGM Studios; the Magic Kingdom; Animal Safari and the Epcot Center over a two-day period. We even stayed in a Mickey Mouse-branded hotel. When in Orlando, do as Disney does.
Many of the photos I took ended up in my "Abstractions" file. These color jars were part of an animation exhibit.
Irresistible merch and demanding kids keep the Pirates of the Caribbean and all the other attractions afloat. The unrelenting emphasis on consumerism turned me off.
After Florian accused me of being a desperate housewife, I asked him to add me to the cast although none of them would have been caught dead in my downmarket outfit. Would you believe I bought this waterproof jacket for my 1980 trip to Alaska? Or that I STILL wear it in rainy weather?
Children used these brushes on lambs at Animal Safari's petting zoo.
Inclement weather--there had been tornado warnings prior to our arrival but an operator assured us that "Disney World NEVER closes" when I called ahead to inquire--reduced the wait times at the most popular rides, like this Expedition Everest roller coaster which also ran in reverse. We rode it twice. And the covid-19 pandemic DID close the park two decades later.
Epcot, where crowds were sparse, proved to be more enjoyable than I anticipated. Science and geography made fun!
Throughout the trip, Brunhilda never failed to remind me how "in Germany, we do this differently." It wouldn't be long before she returned to her homeland. Roland was relocating to Singapore, and her student visa was about to expire. What's an America-loving Valkyrie to do?
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