Sunday, December 11, 2016

Visiting Frank Lloyd Wright




'Living' at Frank Lloyd Wrights Usonian house in Lakeland.

Cousin Stuart and husband Gerard wanted to see the Florida Southern College campus in Lakeland.  Seems they are fans of the architect Frank Lloyd Wright. And, cousins Stuart and mom could catch up in the afternoon.
The FSC campus is the largest installation of his work in the work (10 buildings, 2 structures). The campus is on the National Register of Historic Places. Ground broke for the first building, the Annie Pfeiffer Chapel, in 1938.
Because dad retired as a professor at the college, they let us do the long tour for free - what a treat!


Annie Pfeiffer chapel



great view of the colored glass within the concrete bricks
















 
inside ceiling the chapel - looking toward alter


just looking up the center of the chapel

typical detail work for Frank





Next to the Annie Pfeffer Chapel is the smaller William Danforth Chapel, completed in 1955. Frank completed the Guggenheim the next year.    
William Danforth Chapel

the original pulpit flanked by front window
a 'not needed' fireplace in the chapel



The Science building and planetarium were next on our tour. They were completed in 1958 and recently were repaired.
Science building with metal column covers

Ah! the element of surprise

non-working planetarium equipment
















detail of the formed concrete blocks
Admin Building completed 1948

courtyard to admin

detail of glass blocks


Usonian house completed 2015





All furniture is per Franks plan


Sunday, November 27, 2016

Tesla'ing Around Silicon Valley




Our self driving chariot

multiple screens - including map of where you can recharge
 We visited Farkle Jackie and husband Arthur in Half Moon Bay. Seems they were expecting us for three days. Weren't they surprised when we stayed seven! For us the time flew. We had so much to catch up with - visit friends, check up on our previous homes, explore small coastal towns, replace my cell phone that spent the night under the car in the rain.

The tunnels at Devils Slide, north of Half Moon Bay, are now open. No more highway sliding into the sea and closing the coastal access to San Francisco!  The old highway, what's left of it, is now a park for walking, bike riding. The WWII bunker just south of the tunnels is just plain curious. But there are so many bunkers along the coast that I guess it is just normal. And then there are the Nike Missile launch sites in Marin. So really.  A few more bunkers are nothing new around here.
Turk guards the tunnels at Devils Slide
Erosion anyone?













View from the coast
always beautiful coastline near San Fransico

 We jumped in Jackie's Tesla and quietly zoomed our self-navigated way to Pescadero where we met the goats and their cheese. Our major find was the garlic artichoke bread, fresh from the oven, at Arcangeli Grocery. The bread barely made it out of the store before it was gone. It never ever cooled off! Outside, with our mouths full of warm, delicious garlic-artichoke bits, we met some people who told us that this was the reason they came to Pescadero - for this bread. Apparently we were the only ones not 'in the know' about the bread. We know now!
The goats at Pescadero.
THE bread - in the middle


Fueled with carbs, we Tesla'd to Carmel. To ensure we got home that night, we recharged at the local Tesla dealership. There were 8 chargers and they were full. We had to wait a bit and were shown the hospitality suite complete with TV, toys for kids, drinks, snacks, restrooms and couches. It felt like we were part of a private club.

But we had places to go! Carmel beckoned.  We drove around the neighborhood and peered relentlessly into windows and yards.  Checked out in-progress remodeling projects. But our real goal was to watch sunset. We parked - Tesla could tell us where it was if we didnt remember - and we wandered to the beach.



Because three sunset pictures are just not enough
While walking on the beach we saw a couple and their adult child taking pictures of one another. We asked if we could take a picture of all of them with their phone. Yes and we did. Come to find out, the wife went to high school in Orlando - probably when I did. Small world. Then they took photos of us!

because one picture is not enough

We Missed You San Francisco


Union Square  - Xmas 2016
We've not been in the city for maybe 5 years. Much has changed. The skyline is looking a bit like Manhattan which is hard to fathom when you consider all of these buildings are built upon a very active fault line.  In fact, the 58 story Milennium Tower is tilting due to one side sinking 16 inches since 2009.

61 story Salesforce Tower under construction.
I love the old and new (TransAmerica tower is kind of old by now tho)

intricately tiled entry to vacant store

a knitted tree trunk
 I enjoy San Francisco for many reasons. One of them is the serendipitous things you see just walking around.
count me in!

sitting on the can at Vesuvio Cafe on Columbus

yes, a restaurant that serves toast

Look who was visiting while we were there!
You should notice we are pointing at a bucket of wine bottles. photo taken by a drunk customer.
Classic!


Another thing I enjoy? SF food!!  That includes chocolate. We visited small batch chocolater Dandelion Chocolate on Mission Street. We could watch the team making and packaging their candies.  They also had a bakery with selected offerings. The Turk had to continue his hot chocolate tasting competition. Here he tried the Tasting Chocolate - a European style hot chocolate that is pretty much a melted chocolate bar that you drink. He deemed this his favorite. Duh!

YES

Makin' chocolate!







the sampler option








happy Turk



I discovered an impressive chocolate shop - sells, doesnt make, chocolates from all over the world. Chocolate Covered, located in Noe Valley, claims to have the largest selection in the city. Probably true.

We also discovered an amazing gelato shop on Columbus in Little Italy - of course. The Turk and I have become fascinated with gelato after last year's trip to Italy. And we've become very picky. Gelateria Naia has amazing gelato made from local ingredients!
Another reason San Francisco has my heart? I have so many happy memories of being there.  This is the elementary school that Sara and Tulin attended in the Mission.
Synergy School in the Mission where Sara and Tules went to elementary school