What Hat Are You Wearing Today 1?

[mayserwegener]

Another fine day of hats!!!

+1

Hatophile, Josh, Rusty, Thanks!

 

[DNO]

Great hats! I love that Sportaire and that top hat is terrific. Today I wore a Borsalino velour stingy brim to the local Remembrance Day service...cool day, though quite bright. I'm still pretty undecided about this particular hat...think I'll probably take it out of the rotation.

 

[daizawaguy]

My VS powder blue

 

[Aureliano]

Steve, Alan great black hats today!

 

[delectans]

Sangria Chronicles, Day 2


Up at dawn to take some still lifes, while Lydia and Ryan slumbered.



Such lovely names on the dinghies, but the crab pot whet my appetite for seafood. In my head I began to formulate plans for a day trip to the Florida coast for crab and lobster.



Not a cloud in the sky as we sailed for Universal Studios, but the sunshine belied the early morning chill.



Passing by the 'Take Two', waiting to pick up guests at the Hard Rock Hotel.



Back to the fantasy world of J.K. Rowling.



Impressive re-creation of Hogwarts at the Wizarding World Of Harry Potter. We were eager to ride the highly touted Harry Potter And The Forbidden Journey. Park resort guests were allowed to enter the park and hit the rides an hour before it opened every morning. Optimo, Silverbelly.



Maples just developing their Fall colors in Florida.



At the crowded Filch's Emporium following the exhilarating ride, where brisk business was done in wizard wear, including hats.



The best souvenir at Hogwarts, in my opinion, was the lambswool cardigan sweater discreetly decorated with the Gryffindor flash. Made In Scotland, no less.



Perpetual snow on the rooftops of Hogsmeade. The wonders of movie magic.

 

[delectans]

Traditional English meal at the 'Three Broomsticks'.



The Shepherd's Pie was quite excellent.



A thoroughly enjoyable meal, with the make-belief but still charming ambiance of an English inn and pub, complete with antler bedecked prop fireplace. Even the cords of firewood were bolted and cemented in place.



The bird life also enjoyed the atmosphere.



As the park began to fill with visitors, we made our way out.



At every turn, a trip down memory lane for Lydia, me, and Ryan. Seuss Landing.



Remembering the countless hours we spent reading the Dr. Seuss books to Ryan when he was a toddler.



Jeannie?



...and the Oscar goes to...



Late morning now, and I am anxious to head to the coast.

 

[delectans]

Getting ready to drive to Cocoa Beach. This Pinnifarina bodied Fiat 124 Sport Spyder would have been nice to take to the beach, but, in keeping with everything at the park and resort, it was but a non-running prop, as was the great Lancia in the background.



A stop at the old Cocoa Village.



The nostalgic Historic Cocoa Village Playhouse, originally built in 1924 as the Aladdin Theater.



The doors were closed this Friday afternoon. We will have to go back and catch an evening show one day.



Slim pickings at the antiques shops we hit in Cocoa Village, until I stumbled upon this splendid Dobbs.



Three sizes too small but just exquisite.



Custom made, monogrammed leather carrying case original to the hat.



We crossed the Indian River to Merritt Island via the Merritt Island Causeway. My dawn rumination had brought us to Ms. Apple's Crab Shack, a mecca for crab lovers.



A delectable crustacean, the Florida Blue Crab.



Ms. Apple knows her crabs.

 

[delectans]

Birds of a feather.



While our crabs were being prepared, we wandered about the waterfront.



I have a particular fondness for tackle and bait shops.



Fiddler Crabs playing their last song before being used as bait.



The Indian River, a complex, estuarine body of water teeming with wildlife.



Egretta thula, the Snowy Eget. Surprisingly pugnacious, this magnificent bird displaced a small Blue Heron basking on the abandoned dock by landing on its head.



Need I say more?



Really fresh, jumbo sized Blue Crabs are hard to beat.



I sat my hat down a safe distance away while we savored the crab feast.



Terrific folk art by the causeway.

 

[delectans]

Following the most satisfying crab feast we have ever had, we continued along the causeway towards Cocoa Beach and the Atlantic Ocean.



Spinosaurus aegyptiacus decorating the facade of our friends Steve and Donna Cayer's Dinosaur Store in Cocoa Beach. The new and beautiful, multi-million dollar building houses one of the largest private collections of fossils in America, with the no-expense spared museum set to open early next year.



Steve is extraordinarily passionate about dinosaurs, and has been chasing after them for decades, from the Badlands of Montana, Wyoming and the Dakotas, to the deserts of Morocco and Mongolia. Aptly described as a combination of Willy Wonka and Indiana Jones, he lives the fantasy of every schoolboy. Here we are in his usually off-limits private sanctum...his prep lab.



Steve holding the humerus of a Triceratops horridus.



Examining the incredible, deep puncture marks left by the crushing teeth of an adult Tyrannosaurus rex, silent witness to an epic life and death struggle between two titans of the Late Cretaceous.



One of myriad projects that preoccupy Steve's time. Prep work on part of the mandible of a Spinosaur.



Part of a Mosasaur skull, still embedded in matrix and encased in its plaster jacket from the field.



Unprepped Spinosaur teeth from the Kem Kem Formation of Morocco. To the left, a wonderful and very rare, unprepped Oviraptor humerus.



Close-up of the fabulous Oviraptor upper arm.



Fantastic right ischium from the same Triceratops whose humerus bore the deep bite marks of a Tyrannosaur. Wyoming, Late Cretaceous. The long, flat ischium of the Triceratops is rarely encountered in the fossil record, and the desirable rich, brown color of the fossil indicates that it was preserved underground and did not undergo extensive weathering.

 

[delectans]

A welcome sight at the end of the day. Jazzy's Mainely Lobster, an honest-to-goodness crab shack on the main drag, just steps from the beach.



Owner Doug Labnon, a transplanted New Englander from New Hampshire, is as passionate and knowledgeable about lobsters and seafood as Steve is about dinosaurs. Doug was for some time the largest wholesaler of the tasty crustaceans in Florida, selling upwards of 3000 of them daily! Pretty good artist, too, as the beautiful mosaics on the wall show.



Chef Chris' unbelievable New England style clam chowder, better by consensus than any we have ever had in New England. A couple visiting from Massachusetts readily agreed. Chris is also a transplanted New Englander, from Massachusetts, and, like his father before him, Chef at 5-Star restaurants and resorts including The Breakers in Palm Beach.



Melt-in-your-mouth jumbo scallops. So fresh and so good you can't stop eating them.



Hard to believe I still had room for the over-stuffed lobster rolls...after the gigantic clam strips and Mahi sandwich. The Mahi Mahi was off-the-boat fresh, and prepared to perfection, among the best we have had to date anywhere.



Final photo with our buddies Chris(left) and Doug before heading back to Orlando. We lost track of time as we spent a lovely October evening hanging out at the cozy restaurant exchanging stories with Doug and Chris. As we finally got in our Jeep for the drive back we looked at each other, and went back inside for a few more orders of scallops and fresh squeezed lemonade...for the road.

 

[Aureliano]

Al, I feel like I was just there with you. Thanks for sharing these lovely and well achieved shots. Let me ask you a hat question: did you crease your silverbelly or did Graham block it that way? I love the perfect teardrop!

 

[delectans]

Thanks, Ale, you are too kind, and so quick to respond. I am still working on completing the captions!

My Silverbelly has Graham's handiwork. I did not alter the block or crease one bit, and just love it as well.

 

[Aureliano]

Thanks, Ale, you are too kind, and so quick to respond. I am still working on completing the captions!

My Silverbelly has Graham's handiwork. I did not alter the block or crease one bit, and just love it as well.

How could I not respond quick, Al! the reaction during and after seeing your photos is immediate! Beautiful crease by Graham!

 

[delectans]

Thanks again, Ale!

 

[randooch]

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Al, do I detect a blush in your cheeks?

Fantastic travelogue. Thanks so much for sharing!

 

[Cicero]

Great hats Gents.

 

[Aureliano]

Worth & Worth.

 

[DJH]

Cool W&W Ale!

Portis Super-Lux for me this morning. Those hat companies certainly liked to use the word Lux (or versions of it) at every opportunity.

 

[delectans]

That is a great look, Ale. I like this W&W.


David, fine looking Portis. Those Super-Luxes are great lids.

 

[delectans]

Yeah, perhaps just a bit, Randall. lol

Thanks for your kind words!