We Celebrated Our 50th Anniversary Dinner at the Home of Gianni Versace in South Beach on Ocean Drive

Lummis Park - Miami Beach

Nothing says South Beach Miami more than the home of Gianni Versace. He loved living on Ocean Drive and enjoying ambiance of this magical city. Sadly - he was shot on the steps of this beautiful mansion. In 2018 - the holdings of his company were sold for $2.2 billion. For the mere cost of a meal - we were able to enjoy his home and the wonderful Latin flavor and history. 

Lulu was stunning for this special night. She had lobster and I had steak along with a bottle of champagne. The evening was culminated with a proposal and presentation of a pair of garnet and gold earrings. 

Gianni Versace chose Medusa as the logo because she made people fall in love with her and they had no way back. That is exactly how I felt the day I met Nancy at the Bungalow Pool in Tamaqua PA. 

Bluenile.com

Versace Mansion

We Are Celebrating Our 50th Anniversary Today in Miami Beach

They said it would never last - The Golden Couple 
50 years strong. 

50 years ago today - Nancy and I were married in Finksburg MD. We then drove down to Miami Beach to spend our honeymoon on the beach. We were young and in love - and the first adjective changed but the second one didn't. We have had so many great adventures together - 2 great sons - and now 4 wonderful grandkids. When we married we were 6 years apart - and it was a scandal. 

Since then we have built 2 new homes - and Nancy is a world class professor and Fulbright Scholar. We have been all over the world recently including 6 months in China - where Nancy was a visiting professor. 

Miami Beach is a lovely lovely place. Start out with tropical weather - cosmopolitan culture - our minds always return to those early years on the beach. We have returned here many times - and love it more each time. We came here in the summer of 1972 - to take summer jobs. In 1992 - Hurricane Andrew hit the area an die came down to help our friend Doris clean up. In 2000 to 2004 our son went to college here to earn his doctorate. It has been a big positive influence on our lives. 

As I get older - I just don't like swimming in cold water. That is not a problem here - the surf is 90 - and our hotel pool is 90. I feel like our days of life guarding - surfing - and beach party lounging. Yes - it is hot and humid - you are always looking for shade - and ways of cooling down. It is easier to air-condition a place down 10 degrees - than to heat it up 60 degrees. the sea breeze is always rustling the palm trees. The air smells of tropical plants and sun tan lotion. 

We flew down Tuesday on American Airlines. They have a straight flight from our home in Tallahassee - 500 miles away. Tomorrow - Friday - we fly back. It is only 80 minutes away. After this lovely 4 days - we plan to visit more often - preferably in the winter. 

Our big day is just beginning - wish us good luck - the best is yet to come. 

Lulu at Nike on Lincoln Drive

Supper last night at Yardbird

The Lincoln Theater

Church on Lincoln Drive

Our hotel beach

Cabanas at our Surfcomber Hotel

Feels like 90 degrees

Lulu loves the water - sand - sun

She is just a wonderful friend

When we went to the church to marry - she did not know -
she remarried in that beach dress

Breakfast at The Front Porch - our bikes out front

We ordered a Tesla just like this one - 
posted out front of our hotel for gawkers

Our old Surfcomber Hotel - we are here now

No cars on Ocean Drive - South Beach

This is an electric mini moke. The original moke was 
a British jeep on a Mini frame

This School is 10 Miles from our old Tamaqua Home

On The Road Home In Richmond

 RICHMOND VA - it’s a beautiful morning! We just spent a lovely quiet night with the windows open and a wonderful breeze. There is a Cabella’s a couple miles from my son’s home here. We like it because it is level - quiet - and has water and drop facilities. They gave a separate lot for campers. There were 2 here last night. It also has great internet and TV signals. This is the 15th straight night sleeping in the camper. We have seldom had to use the AC in the camper to sleep this trip. In Florida in the summer - you must have AC on at night. It was 90 degrees and 90% humidity there yesterday. As I type - Lulu is in the Wegman’s Grocery here. She loves shopping there. I am busy calculating $32000 divided by 74 nights equals $432 a night. It is slowly coming down. 74 nights in 4 years is not a lot. It will eventually read $1 a night. 🙂 We will stay here a couple nights for the birthday boy. I am so happy to have a teenage grandson. He is a joy. Also we have a 10 year old tweenie granddaughter that lights us up. She loves to shop with mum mum. Sadly - we must hurry on to Tallahassee to catch our honeymoon plane to Miami Beach June 22. It will officially be 50 years on June 24th. We honeymooned in Miami Beach in 1971. It is a magic city.

8 Nights in the Camper - and Still Counting. Florida to Pennsylvania and Back

On Center St in Pottsville - the museum.
I am parked here now - Lulu is inside. 

I am sitting in front of the Schuylkill County Historical Society building in downtown Pottsville. We left Tallahassee FL on June 2nd - spending nights in South Carolina - North Carolina - Delaware - and now an extended stay in Tamaqua PA. We have slept 8 nights in the camper - and are still talking - so we must be doing okay. 

Besides getting to see lots of friends and family - we managed to stop by to see the church in Finksburg MD where we married 50 years ago. It was the first time we visited it since then. 

Lulu is doing research here on another project. She seldom shares details with me because I have a big mouth. She spent 5 hours in there yesterday - and is working on another 5 hours today - and then tomorrow. After struggling to get quarters for the meter - a local bank would not give me any because of a shortage - I downloaded the parking meter app - and paid online. 

I run into another snafu with Facebook. Normally I write a web page on here - www.harry.everhart.com - then put a link to Facebook. But now Facebook flags me every time I try to post my web site address. I think "cracker" has been put on some obscenity list. After 16 year of the Florida Coal Cracker Chronicles - I am considering a name change. 

In the Schuylkill County Historical Society - I looked around. They are not as organized as the Tamaqua Historical Society. They do have some nice pictures. I will post a few here and comment. 

I drove by the Schuylkill County Prison.
The place still scares me.

Tamaqua was a coal mining town -
railroad town - and dynamite town

A Tamaqua guy was killed at Gettysburg -
he went to college there.

The area was a hotbed of labor organization.
The Molly Maguires was a secret labor society.

Black Jack Kehoe was a Mollie -
not many know that his home in Girardville
was formerly the St Jerome Church in Tamaqua.

Kehoe was hung in the prison for murder. 

We have a busy rest of the year. Next week - we go to the Jersey Shore in Ocean City - where the cousins used to beach together in the 1960s. Then we stop in Richmond VA to see Drew and family. The week of June 22 to 25 - we will recreate our honeymoon from 50 years ago in Miami Beach. After that - we will fly to Europe from June 28 to August 30 - to vagabond around and get out of hot and humid Tallahassee this months. Finally - we plan to spend October and November in Australia. Lulu has a funded project there - and she must use it or lose it. Much of the time will be spent in Canberra (the capital) - Sidney - and Melbourne. 

The camper has been excellent. We have a king size bed and spent every night in it. Most of the time we slept with windows open - but the last 2 nights we turned on the AC. We are plugged into Lulu's old home to do that. The toilet has been fine - but here in town - we have been using the shower in Nancy's old home avoid having to fill our water tank much. The propane refrigerator keeps our food and drinks cold. On the way up Lulu cooked in the camper - even on the move. To get to the church on time - we both showered standing up in the camper while moving - one at a time - because the other was driving. The stove and water heater are propane powered. We have both a gas stove and an electric microwave. 

I am typing on our kitchen table - waiting for Lulu to come out for lunch. 

We Ordered A Tesla Electric Car

Tesla Model 3 LR

After years of wishing and hoping - yesterday we ordered a 2021 Tesla Electric Car. The specific model is a  Model 3 LR. The LR stands for long range- which means it has the maximum range battery - 360 miles between charges. 

Other features included in the price of the LR package are - full time all wheel drive - two motors - and a whopping 480 horsepower. For the last 50 years my dream car has been a Shelby Cobra sports car with 450 horsepower - but that does not even have air conditioning. 

Since we are going to be away all summer - we have scheduled delivery at the Jacksonville FL dealership in September. We paid a deposit of $100 - then you pay the balance on delivery. The base price of the Model 3 is $35,000. With the options we selected - the list price out the door is $56,000. There is no haggling and after owning 75 cars - this is the first one that I paid the sticker price. That includes $3500 in sales tax. 

We have owned a Nissan Leaf electric car for 7 years - it was like training wheels for this car. The Nissan Leaf when new had a range of 75 miles. It was a quiet and quick little car - I personally drove it to 90 miles per hour. Near the end of our time with it - the range had dropped to 40 miles. We would plug it in - in our garage - and never were stranded for power. The only time it visited a gas station was to buy gasoline for our mower. It was perfect for Lulu to drive to work at FSU. It had an excellent air conditioner that would work with the motor turned off - when Lulu shopped I enjoyed that wonderful AC in hot humid sunshiny Florida. 

We will sell our 2016 Honda Odyssey Van with 27,000 miles upon delivery of this car. Lulu wants to keep the camper for trips. She's the boss - no arguments from me. She likes it for trips to the beach with its toilet and shower. 

There are many other Tesla models that are more expensive. They are the S - 3 - X - Y.  Some folks say that the builder wanted to spell SEXY. That may be true when Lulu drives it - but when I am at the wheel - most onlookers will say - "What a waste of a fine car on that old grayhead!"

 

I Sold 2 Cars In One Day

 

Lulu and I are buying a new Tesla. She said if I sold two cars - I could order the Tesla. So Thursday - I woke up to two cars that needed a bath. 

First - I cleaned up the Nissan Leaf electric car. I took plenty of pictures and listed on Facebook Marketplace and Craigslist Marketplace. I was surprised that Craigslist is now charging $5 to list a car. I have had success there so I gladly paid the price. I listed it at noon and I immediately started getting messages about the sale. 

Second - the Ford Truck was ready for clean up. As I was scrubbing the Ford - I kept responding to people asking about the Nissan Leaf. At 4 PM - the pictures of the Ford truck were ready for the ad. 

By 6 PM - the Nissan Leaf was sold to a neighbor about 2 blocks away. The buyer was a retired professor from Columbia University who was born in New Zealand. When people were texting me about the car and the truck - I started getting people mixed up - telling cars buyers about the truck and vice versa. 

There were many more truck buyers. One young man texted and said he was driving from Apalachicola - about 75 miles away. I promised to hold the truck for him for an hour - he promised he would bring cash. The truck buyer arrived at 7 PM - we took the truck for a long ride - on the highway and off road. The 4WD performed excellently. He was smitten because it was his first truck. 

The car sold for $4700. The truck sold for $3100. In one day - I cleaned out two spaces in the garage. I better calm down - pretty soon the city may require me to buy a dealer's license :-)

I enjoy cleaning up cars and selling them - but I would not want to do it for living. It can be hard and dirty work. It is fun meeting the buyers though - and comparing stories. 

And now on to another adventure. - owning a Tesla. The most powerful car I have ever owned is my present Honda van. It is 240 HP. Our Dodge camper is just 230 HP. The Tesla is rated at 480 HP - as much as the Honda and Dodge - and then some. What a wonderful world we live in. 

Henry David Thoreau - That man is the richest whose pleasures are the cheapest. 

I Am Selling My 2012 Nissan Leaf and Buying a Tesla

2012 Nissan Leaf - battery powered car

$4900. 

I have always been an advocate of electric cars.  After all these years of driving this Nissan Leaf - we have decided to buy a Tesla. 

This 2012 Nissan Leaf SL has served us well. It was used mainly by my wife to travel to her office at Florida State University. It has been garage kept and we will include the 120 volt / 240 volt charger. It has 44,000 miles on it. The only thing we have done to it is to put a new set of tires on it due to age - not miles. 

Here are some of the features - air conditioning - heated seats - alloy wheels - disk brakes - sound system that hooks up to your cell phone - rear view camera - power windows - power door locks - keyless entry - heated steering wheel - heated seats - hands free phone system - satellite radio - automatic headlights - remote mirrors - LED headlights and taillights - 6 speaker audio system. Everything on this vehicle works and acts like new. All the glass is intact. The tires are good. There are no tears in the upholstery. There are no dents in the body. The paint is excellent. 

This car has the original traction battery. I have replaced the 12 volt accessory battery. When new it has a range of 73 miles. Now it has a range of about 40 miles. 

The NADA book value is $6300. I am asking $5500. I just reduced the price to $4900. 

Alloy wheels - LED lights

Hatch has power latch - seats fold down 
for extra room

This car cost $38,000 brand new

It seats 5 people

Factory floor mats were never removed

It has always been kept this clean

Gray fabric seats and doors

6 way driver seat

Alloy wheels hold Douglas tires made by Michelin

All controls for doors and windows work

No tailpipe emissions but they must make 
electricity somehow

Electrical plug is under that front flap

Digital gauges

Digital speedometer

Navigation system 

Leave key in your pocket - press button and go

It cost $38,000 new - 99 MPG!

Clean seats - no rips - no stains

This is from the NADA web site on
May 16th 2021