Paradise in the Florida Keys

There's no place like the Florida Keys. One hundred miles south of Miami and you feel as if you've travelled to the Carribbean. My parents, Grace and Phil, retired to Marathon Florida 10 years ago and we've been down to visit three times a year ever since.

This winter, Delta decided to cancel it's direct flight to Marathon leaving us no choice but to fly in and out of Miami. So, for this year's spring break, we decided to do things a little differently. Our flight arrived late Saturday night into Miami airport, so we stayed overnight and set out the following morning.

For some reason Jack became completely obsessed with a purple glittery purse in the hotel gift shop. No amount of persuasion could budge him from this obsession, and being more concerned with public scenes than gender confusion, I purchased it for him. Con then filled it up with toy soldiers, rocks and other manly things.

The drive to the keys was lovely....we stopped off at for a tropical lunch and then arrived at Phil and Grace's in time for Happy Hour. Over the next several days, Con and I became very well known at the Sombrero Tiki Bar. I replaced my usual Stolio Cosmo with a frozen Mudslide and Con switched to the Rum Runner. We split our time between the Sombrero Resort swim club and beautiful Sombrero Beach, a block from Phil and Grace's . Jack quickly became an expert snorkeler while Chrissy perfected her tan on the pristine white sand. Each night at 5 pm Rosie and Jasper, Grace's Jack Russel Terriers joined us for a sunset swim in the 80 degree water.

The highlight of our trip was an adults only gourmet dinner at the Butterfly Cafe at the Tranquility Bay resort. For the kids it was a swim with the dolphins at the Dolphin Research Center in Grassy Key.

More Fun in South Beach

After a lovely five days in Marathon, we headed back to Miami for our last two days of fun in South Beach.

We spent our days on the beach and nights people watching on Ocean Avenue. Chrissy was ecstatic to be invited into Lenny Kravitz's club at the Delano. Unfortunately, as a minor she had to decline.

Too soon it was time to return home. Jilly was very glad to see us. Her holiday at The Preppy Pup in Summit NJ was fun but she was happy to be home!

Scotch Hills Country Club

Con decided we should find a local course where I could practice without all the stress of a high volume course. We found Scotch Hills Country Club, a lovely nine hole public course with a very interesting history.

The clubhouse, originally the Ephraim Tucker Farmhouse built in the mid-1700’s, became the George Osbourne tavern in 1897. (I knew there was a reason Con was drawn to it). In 1900 the farmland was converted into a nine-hole golf course and the farmhouse into a clubhouse.

In 1921, a group of prominent black investors purchased the property and formed the first African-American owned and operated country club in the United States. The Club became a center of African American society at the time hosting jazz greats Count Basie, Duke Ellington, W.E.B. Du Bois, Joe Louis, Althea Gibson, and Sarah Vaughn. After a tax lien foreclosure in 1938, Scotch Plains Township acquired the property and renamed it Scotch Hills Country Club

Who would have guessed our little "practice" course had so much history?