Travelsmartplanet

Exit 215:  At the Valiant Air Command Warbird Museum in Florida, don’t be put off by the first rooms of old-style displays of uniforms, photos and personal artifacts from aerial vets, just go through the magic doors to see the collection of vintage Warbird aircraft. The best part of being here is listening to the war stories re-told by veteran tour guides. We learned from ours that our pilots are treated more importantly than in other countries as the cockpits are built with steel plating to protect them.

In the front section there are amazing stories. Learn about the brave B-25 Mitchell bomber pilots who flew secret missions over Tokyo. The aircraft had fuel for only one way so the trip was a death mission as the pilots had to crash land in China. Read about the WWI pilots who came back and became The Flying Tigers, mercenary pilots for Chiang Kai Shek, and received a $500 bounty for each Japanese plane shot. They got to know Japanese air strategy and helped the US air command in WWII.

During WWII, a couple of paddle wheelers with their tops cut off were floated out into Lake Michigan and were cleverly used as air craft carriers to train pilots to land. An FM-1 Grumman Wildcat fell into lake. Fifty-one years later it was recovered and  totally reconstructed. Dixie Howell, the pilot, was19 years old then and at age 82, when saw it again here (out of the drink) he was tearful. He was a fighting ace and had shot down 7 Japanese Zeros.

In the rear are the stars: a B-52 is here, it was the heaviest bomber built with 8 engines. There’s a subsonic plane with a fueling probe, a Mig-15, Navy Skyhawk, F-14ATomcat and even a 1941 Dodge Army staff car which was used in “Cidar House Rules” and “Spidernan”. Notice that the UH-1 Huey Medivac has a patch in its window (with surgical stitches) which was sewn during bombing raids.

As if all that wasn’t exciting enough, go further back from the main hangar to the restoration hangar to see volunteers at work on vintage planes.

Once a month you can take a ride on the 1942 Tico Belle, with its extensive war history, as it was used in the Normandy invasion and the Berlin airlift.

There’s an air show every March where they take these old geezers up. The gift shop has the largest collection of model airplanes and things like aircraft clocks.

Location: 6600 Tico Rd., Titusville, FL
Hours: Daily 9-5
Tel: 321-268-1941
www.vacwarbirds.org

When it’s time for ultimate luxury for the night in Florida, you have the schizophrenic options at the Boca Raton Resort & Club of the dazzly new beach property or the authentic Florida golf resort (2 courses) with a water taxi or bus to take you to and fro.

You’ll never go hungry with 14 restaurants to choose from – Lucca Italian and Morimoto Sushi bar to Serendipity with those famous frozen hot chocolates.

The ocean is in your face when you walk in beachside and the uber-friendly bellhops make you comfy with a tour and room info. There is white shirted help on the beach for chairs, umbrellas towels or blue shirts for food or drink brought right to your blanket.

Spa Palazzo is modeled after Alhambra and is indeed palatial (44 treatment rooms) with arches, carved stone, marble and mosaics and yet very modern with the the pool’s underwater music and waterfall whirlpools. There’s Sam Snead’s tennis program, a marina for boating and fishing, butler service, camp Boca and baby sitting for the kiddies and if you’ve ever had the yen you can learn how to play croquet.

Location: 501 E. Camino Real
Tel: 888-543-1277
www.bocaresort.com

The Morikami Museum and Japanese Gardens will clear your head from the buzz of I-95.  You have to walk slowly, deliberately, in order to appreciate the sculpture of leaves, bushes, flowers and branches which are painstakingly maintained. In 200 acres, you will walk Roji-en, through the centuries: Shinden Garden (9th-12th), Paradise Garden (13th &14th), Early Rock garden (14th), Lake Rock Garden (15th), Flat Garden (16 th &17th) and the  Modern Romantic Garden (19th-20th) as well as thru towering bamboo, waterfalls and bonsai, of course.

There are exhibition rooms on art, history, and Japanese culture and you might be able to enjoy a tea ceremony if you arrive at the right time.

The gardens were donated by George Sukeji Morikami of the the Yamato colony, an early 20th century Japanese farming settlement in Florida. In the original building, you can learn about the colony and see Japan Through the Eyes of a Child: school supplies, kitchen, bullet train and a bathroom toilet which washes your butt.

The gift shop sells tea sets, origami, abacus, calligraphy brushes, chopstick rests, kimonos and cool Piperoid Robography. You can dine gloriously in the Cornell Cafe and Tea House with its pan-Asian food overlooking gardens.

4000 Morikami Park Rd, Delray Beach
Hours:  T-Sun 10-5
IconT 561-495-0233
www.morikami.org

Tags: abacus, bamboo, bathroom toilet, bonsai, branches, bullet train, bushes, calligraphy brushes, chopstick rests, eaves, flowers, George Sukeji Morikami, kimono, kitchen, Morikami Museum and Japanese Gardens, origami, Piperoid Robography, school supplies, tea ceremony, tea sets, waterfall, Yamato colony

If you just couldn’t decide what to do tonight, should I go out to a restaurant, grab a pizza, go bowling, watch a movie, take the kids to an arcade, catch a sporting event, or enjoy a comedy show, you don’t have to choose – head for Latitude 30.

You can dine deliciously in the restaurant, for food comes first here, or in any of the above while you enjoy your entertainment. Noise level is high so babies can cry and the kids don’t have to be quiet or sit still while you finish eating – this is the future of family dining.

The sports theater sports19 screens, the pizza chef is stretching and tossing dough by the brick oven, the cocktail area is buzzing, the arcade is dinging (prizes right up to an iPad), bowling balls are crashing in the 20 lanes (comfy couches) while their 9 screens are showing sporting events so you don’t miss anything (football AND bowling) or you can escape into one of the two movie theaters.

If that wasn’t enough action, there’s live music Thurs-Sat nights. You can just sit and watch it all while you have a tiramisu martini (or 40 brands of beer) and then chow into: a prime rib kabob with creamy horse radish sauce, quesadilla, lettuce wrapped Asian chicken in peanut ginger sauce, sesame crusted teriyaki calamari with citrus wasabi aioli, steak and blue cheese in flat bread, shrimp po’ boy, chicken salad with cherries and pecans, blackened mahi mahi or build your own burger.

Dinner entree salads can be made with flat iron steak or blackened ahi, there’s a chopped cobb salad, lobster mac n cheese, veal pot roast, Guinness fish and chips, bacon wrapped scallops and we loved the homemade potato chips. Southern red velvet cake and bread pudding can finish it off for you. You will need to take advantage of the free valet parking, the lot is packed.

Location: 10370 Phillips Highway
Tel: 904-365-5555
www.latitude-30.com

Tags: aioli, arcade, Asian, bacon, beer, blackened ahi, blackened mahi mahi, blue cheese, bowling, bowling ball, bread pudding, brick oven, burger, calamari, cherries, chicken, chicken salad, cobb salad, cocktail, comedy show, couch, family dining, fish and chips, flat bread, flat iron steak, football, ginger, Guinness, horse radish sauce, kabob, lane, Latitude 30, lettuce, lobster, mac n cheese, martini, movie, music, noise, peanut, pecan, pecans, pizza, po' boy, pot roast, potato chip, prime rib, quesadilla, red velvet cake, Restaurant, salad, scallop, screen, sesame crusted, shrimp, sporting event, sports theater, steak, teriyaki, tiramisu, veal, wasabi

Who would think you can stop on an exit of I-95 and have bragging rights that you have eaten in a Daniel Boulud restaurant?  At Cafe Boulud at The Brazilian Court in Palm Beach,  you can expect the prices will match the excellence of the presentation, service and the quality of the food. Everythiing is made, cured, cooked or smoked on the premises.

If you want to eat and not drop a bundle, do breakfast. There are typical omelets and porridge and the Boulud Benedict was divine. The restaurant is located in a 1926 hidden gem historical (condo) hotel with 2 courtyards and an iconic fountain in a great location – you can walk to Worth Ave and it’s 1 1/2 blocks to the ocean.

Location: 301 Australian Ave.
Tel: 561-655-7740 or 800-552-0335
www.thebraziliancourt.com

Tags: Cafe Boulud, Daniel Boulud, The Brazilian Court

This year, the bay scallop recreational harvest season will begin a week early on June 25 and end on Sept. 25, two weeks later than normal. The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) is predicting large numbers of scallops in the Steinhatchee area and good numbers around Crystal River, based on their annual scallop survey. The most popular destinations for recreational scallopers are Steinhatchee, Crystal River and Homosassa. This is because the Florida bay scallop, a bivalve mollusk, grows and lives in the shallow (4 to 10 feet deep) sea grass beds that are common to these areas.

FWC regulates harvesting of scallops, like it does other fish, in order to maintain healthy populations. At one time scallops ranged abundantly across the state, from Palm Beach on the east coast to Pensacola on the west coast. Today, however, healthy populations can only be found in selected locations along the Gulf coast.

In Florida, commercial harvesting of bay scallops is banned. In general, recreational scallopers between the ages of 16 and 65 must have a current Florida saltwater fishing license to collect scallops. This  is available in bait shops, FWC offices, or at the FWC website (http://myfwc.com/). All non-residents over the age of 16 are required to buy a license, unless they are fishing (scalloping) from a for-hire vessel (guide, charter, party boat) that has a valid vessel license.

Equipment needed: A group of snorkelers with mesh bags and a divers-down flag (required by law)

In shallow water, it is possible to wade for scallops in the seagrass, or to collect them from a shallow-draft boat using a dip net or landing net, but these methods are not very productive. Scallops may be spotted on or near the bottom of sea grass beds, usually lying on their ventral shells. Often, they are easiest to find in borderline areas where the sand/mud bottom meets the edge of the grasses. Scallops have many neon-blue eyes and may try to swim away when they see you, but they do not swim fast or far. Keep collected scallops in a mesh bag, rather than in a pocket or in your swimsuit. They can pinch!

Most scallopers go by boat into water 4 to 10 feet deep where they anchor, put up their dive flag, and snorkel over the beds, collecting the scallops by hand. When brought to the boat, scallops should be immediately placed on ice in a cooler for the trip to shore, unless you decide to clean the scallops while on the water. Scallops are quite sensitive to temperature, and will quickly die if they are not kept cold. Even if kept cold, scallops will usually die shortly after being placed on ice, especially if fresh water gets into their shells. Placing them on ice, however, makes them easier to open, because the muscle holding the shells together relaxes. A scallop, clam or oyster knife, or even a teaspoon, can be used to open the shells and cut the white muscle free, discarding the shells and unwanted soft parts.  Although most Floridians only eat the scallop muscle, in many other parts of the world the entire animal is eaten, much like we eat clams and oysters.

For the first time, FWC is asking scallopers to help them with their ongoing research. You can help by recording the following details of your catch and report them at www.surveymonkey.com/s/bayscallops: date collected, County collected in, number of scallopers, total number of scallops collected, total volume of scallops collected and total time collecting.