As I said at the end of my previous blog post, the purpose of going to the USA was to visit six friends. We originally met them in 2013 when we all spent hurricane season at Tijax Marina up the Rio Dulce, Guatemala.
After leaving Tijax, we spent time with JD and Linda [“Kokopeli”]in the Bay Islands and Vivarillos, Honduras and in Providencia, Columbia, unexpectedly came across them in Quatro Altos shopping mall in Panama and last saw them after we lost “Siga Siga” and had gone to stay with other friends in Texas in October 2016 when they were in their 5th wheel tourer visiting JDs mum.
Allen and Patricia [“Nauti Nauti”], we spent time with in Panama and then caught them up in El Salvador before sailing with them to Mexico during 2015/16. We said goodbye to them in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico as we headed north and they were preparing to cross the Pacific.
We didn’t sail much with John and Jerie [“Peking”] but saw them briefly in Panama and for a fabulous Christmas and New Year when they visited in Mexico. You might remember that they met us in Athens for “The Great Greek Adventure” in Jan/February 2019 and John helped Mike sail “Owl and Pussycat” from Guadalupe to Grenada when I had to return to the UK in April last year.
They have all now left the liveaboard life and live in St Joe, Arkansas [JD and Linda], Cape Coral, Florida [Allen and Patricia] and Seattle, Washington State [John and Jerie].
On Wednesday 16th October we flew from La Guardia, NYC to Fayetteville Airport in NW Arkansas for our three-day flying visit to JD and Linda’s lovely rural home.
On the way they took us via “Passion Play”, “Eureka Springs” and the Ozark Brewery. I was so excited to see JD and Linda that I totally forgot to take any photographs that day. Just so much reminiscing and catch up to do, a lot of which was done sitting on their wonderful deck in the evenings.
Where they live seemed, to us, miles from anywhere. Well, it is miles from anywhere – as is everything in Arkansas. It is vast, with a hilly north and a flat south. Apparently, in his youth, JD was a “flatlander” as he was brought up in the south of the state. Now he jokes that where he lives, the hills aren’t that high, but the valleys are very deep!
They took us for a wonderful ride through the “Arkansas Grand Canyon”. As part of this journey, we stopped off at Sam’s Throne…..
…. for a short, but scenic walk.
There is a notice board with a map of trails and also this ode to Sam….
Whilst it doesn’t mention it, JD regaled us with another tale. Apparently, Sam got his gold from Rumrunners as they evaded the Excise men. The story goes that he would sit on top of the hill, from where he had 360-degree views, and was able to warn the distillers of the approach of the customs posse and they duly rewarded him with some of their ill-gotten gains.
On our other day we went in the opposite direction to the Norfork National Fish Hatchery [yes, it is spelt Norfork – but pronounced like the UK Norfolk]. The cold-water hatchery has been in operation since 1871 primarily to produce trout to restock areas impacted by the construction of dams and also in reservoirs in Arkansas and the surrounding States.
They raise three types of trout….
….. and we were lucky enough to see eggs in the hatchery.
The baby trout are first kept in indoor tanks….
…. and taken outside to the “raceways” – of which there are 96 – once they reach a certain size.
You can buy pellets to feed them but this system seems rather more effective……
…. so we took most of our pellets to feed the fish in adjacent “Dry Creek”…
We then went to “Jasper” for lunch at the Ozark Café….
…. which is very popular with Bikers – the means of transport JD and Linda often use to visit.
Whilst staying with them we got a real taste of country life.
On our first morning JD announced that something – he feared a skunk – had got in one of the pens and killed a hen. So, bait had to be laid because the animal would just continue to come back for more.
The following morning there was something in the trap and, as JD feared it was a skunk. He advised that I didn’t get any nearer to take a picture because there would be dire consequences if I frightened it!!!
He certainly didn’t enjoy the task but he had to shoot it – from a similar distance – and remove the body far from the house.
It was a very short, but incredibly sweet, stay with them – and it would be nice to think that it isn’t the last time we see them.
They dropped us at Little Rock airport on the morning of 19th October for our afternoon flight to Fort Myers, via Dallas. We were collected by Allen and John, John and Jerie had flown down from Seattle earlier that day. Another excellent reunion.
Again, much of our time was spent catching up but we had plenty of time also to get out and about. Patricia was recovering from a recent hip operation so stayed behind on the day we went to the Edison and Ford Winter Estates in Fort Myers.
Whilst there are two different homes, there are what used to be five separate houses and a couple of what were garages/stables, but all on the same “estate” because Thomas Edison and Henry Ford and their respective families were very close friends. Despite their sixteen year age difference the two men were a constant support to each other and, as well as vacationing at the estates in Fort Myers during the winter months, they also went on camping trips together. These are well chronicled in the on-site museum.
Also in the museum are several of Edisons inventions. In total, he was awarded 2,332 patents of which 1,093 were in the US. The obvious ones that everyone knows about centre around electric light and power, recorded sound, telegraphy/telephony and batteries. His perhaps lesser-known work was in the fields of mining and iron ore milling, cement and movies.
His main workshops and laboratories were in New Jersey – but his winter retreat had one too.
I don’t know if there are different demonstrations on different days, but on the day we were there, a volunteer was demonstrating the development of sound recording.
Also in the museum were some of Fords cars….
…. though my favourites were found in the garage on his part of the property.
The Edison family had two main houses, one for the family and one for guests….
…. but the Fords had just the one house.
Entrance to the houses is not permitted but large windows are opened every day for the paying public to peer inside.
The Caretaker’s house was open and that contained an extensive history of Florida Hurricanes – though after this year, it will need some updating!
In the grounds is a 100-year-old Banyan tree.
It is claimed that its canopy covers the equivalent of an acre of space, and it was given to Edison, as a 2” sampling, by another friend of his, Harvey Firestone. They hoped that the sap produced from it would help in making natural rubber – though it did not prove to be the answer. After testing more than 17,000 plant samples Edison eventually discovered Goldenrod as his US source of rubber.
On another day we went to a local rum distillery and outlet…
…. and of course, took a leaf from Edisons book and did some thorough research prior to purchase!
Whilst they may now be landlubbers, a taste for the water lingers, and we were treated to a day out down the Caloosahatchee River….
…. and up Pine Island Sound….
…. to a waterside bar for lunch. I’m afraid the meal isn’t really worth a mention but the pool was fun….
… and its always good to be on a boat.
We also visited a local small craft market and took a walk around the grounds of the gated community in which they live to see what we could discover.
Our most unusual find was this,,,
The lake can be viewed from the balcony of Melissa’s property [Melissa being Patricia’s daughter and where we stayed] and it was lovely to sit there both for early morning coffee and sundowners.
Evenings were spent chatting, playing Mexican Train – as you know we often do –
…. and, on one evening reliving our time together in Mexico by drinking Allen’s famous and wonderful Margaritas.
A fun time was had by all….
….until Sunday 27th October, when it was time to say goodbye again to Allen and Patricia before Jerie drove the four of us to Miami for our respective planes to Seatle and Port of Spain the following day.
And so ends this year’s main land adventures. Having been back in Trinidad for 5 weeks we really hope the work – which should have been completed prior to our return – is finished by Friday as we are due to splash on Monday [9 Dec] for a bit more life on the ocean wave.
1 comments
You’ll have to get your sea legs back and learn to live without air-conditioning after all these months of being static!