As I dissolved by the pool late this morning, sinking into blissful serenity beneath the blazing sun in the crystal sky, I heard approaching voices, the strident exclamations and fricative utterances of children.
Author Archives: L. G. William Chapman, B.A., LL.B.
Rainy conditions
Overnight we had what the Weather App on my iPhone 13 mini calls “Rainy conditions”. It poured rain during the night. In fact it poured water through the light fixture in the shower room of the second bathroom upstairs. The amount of water pouring from the light fixture was so great that the small plastic garbage basket in the bathroom proved too small. His Lordship ended retrieving the larger plastic garbage bin from the kitchen as a replacement. We then alternated the two in order to drain the other.
Time to go home
In spite of having drunk two double-espresso after dining last evening at Sol by the Sea, I slept tolerably well throughout the night. Nor had I difficulty throwing off the duvet this morning shortly after 7:00 am to prepare for breakfast at la Marea and for departure from the hotel. The breakfast was distinguished by a perfect made-to-order cheese omelette preceded by an assortment of fresh fruit.
Waking up to a new world
We had a respectably early breakfast this morning. We chose the buffet. The server Sandra explained to us that if we wished to order à la carte, we must use our phone to scan the QR code on the back of our plastic room key to see the menu. I tried it just to educate myself. The code on the room key directed one to the hotel web site. In any event we chose the buffet. Mine was fruit, oatmeal and an omelette made-to-order by the terribly accommodating sideboard chef. Indeed I can say that all the staff here are doing a fine job. For example the woman cleaning our room later this morning, upon entering the room saw an older woman coming down the hallway carrying heavy bags. The cleaner motioned the woman to stop and then called the front desk to have a porter come to assist.
Playa Largo
The only critical disappointment I’ve suffered at this hotel is that I am reminded again and again that I am not 21 years old! Naturally this is no fault of the hotel. For example I have always mistrusted valet parking. I am just too obsessed with my cars. Today after I ignored the attendant at the lobby entrance sufficiently to signify my contempt for valet service, and after the bags had been dislodged from the trunk, I circled around the entrance and headed to the parking areas past those marked “valet parking “. It wasn’t a great distance but I nonetheless soon discovered that, although the parking wasn’t far from where I parked last time we were here, the walk back to the entrance with my stick up the hill was killing!
Short stay
This is not the first time we’ve bolted for a short visit to a nearby resort or hotel. Our list includes the Chãteau Laurier in Ottawa, the Reine Élizabeth and the Four Seasons in Montreal, Château Montebello in Québec, the Westin Nova Scotian in Halifax, St. Andrews-by-the-Sea in New Brunswick, the Jefferson in Richmond, the Parker House in Boston, the Waldorf-Astoria, the Plaza and the Carlyle in New York City, the Royal York in Toronto, Deerhurst Resort and JW Marriott Rosseau in the Township of Muskoka Lakes. Today’s visit to Playa Largo on Key Largo is significant because it was the first place we stayed several years ago when we visited the Florida Keys en route to the Casa Marina in Key West.
Moving on
After a midnight revival of Things Past – and quite honestly getting nowhere but backwards in that fruitless pursuit – I’ve chosen instead to consign my researches more profitably to that which is before my eyes. So much for the retrospective analysis of life! My deep regard will I predict encompass more than the photogenic views of Florida Bay and the nearby North Atlantic Ocean (as undeniably entranced as I am by the sea). From henceforth the only legitimate absorption for me is the engineering of purpose and self-expression exhibited by those whom I know or by those whom I meet. If this were a recipe – which I suppose in a way it is – the sole ingredient to be added to this already flavourful concoction is the very natural feature called serendipity.
Before the kids arrive
It’s the end of the month. The 31st day of January. Tomorrow – the 1st day of February – is the start of the most popular season on the Florida Keys; namely, the months of February, March and April. It’s the time when most so-called “snowbirds” from northern places such as Michigan and Canada traditionally make their way here to escape the rigours of winter. Recently I heard it said by someone who had the air of first-hand knowledge that anything in the Keys beyond the month of April is intolerable, that the ambient temperatures are by then unforgiving.
Buttonwood Bay Club
Located Bayside in Key Largo, the diving capital of the world at mile marker 96. Buttonwood Bay is a 280 unit condominium community on a lush 40-acre tropical hammock that fronts Florida Bay to the West for spectacular sunsets every night. The community was thoughtfully designed to surround a magnificent protected coral rock harbor with boat slips for every unit.
The aromatic vapour of a fine cigar
Being within a 2-hr drive on the Overseas Highway to Key West, the tip of which is 90 miles from Cuba; and given the romantic penchant for the allusion to the nefarious import of ambrosial hand-rolled cigars, it is no shock on a brilliantly sunny morning while reclining under the azure sky by the pool in Key Largo suddenly to discern the pleasing waft of a good cigar in the ether.