The Charles Deering Estate, Fully Furnished with Manatees

Though it's located about a mile from my house, I visited the Charles  Deering Estate just a couple days ago with my mother for the first time. With great landscaping and prominent history, this was a really cool daytime excursion. 

Charles Deering was born in 1852. His father was an entrepreneur, owning a very successful company that manufactured agricultural machines. This gave Charles a deep  appreciation for agriculture; as he grew he also developed an appreciate for the fine arts. He became friendly with many famous artists of the time, amassing a large collection of art (most of which hangs in the Chicago Art Institute today), and  becoming somewhat of an amateur artist himself. He was  so ashamed of his work as a painter, though his artist friends praised the work, that he requested in his will that it all be burned upon his death. Now there's nothing left, save one or two works that hang in his house.

Baring the interesting history, the estate was magnificent! Mr. Deering, having lived  in Chicago around the time of the Chicago Fire, was paranoid about flames. Thus all doors were made of metal - an interesting touch. The  over-head lamps were glittering chandeliers; the gardens and mango groves leading up to this historical, sea-side mansion were more picturesque than my camera allowed me to capture.The house was gorgeous, and inside, we found many things reminiscent of the early 1900s. My mom spontaneously began pulling at a book case; before I had decided whether she had gone crazy or not, lo and behold, a liquor cabinet was produced. Gotta love the Prohibition era!

The house had a very Latin style architecture, and ample amounts of vegetation. The ocean front was gorgeous and well kept.

Though we didn't see crocodiles, we did watch a couple of manatees play right in front of us for half and hour. It was wonderful to sit back and enjoy the wildlife of the area. 

I started work this week, and  absolutely love my job. Commission work has always been my thing- I'm hoping to save as much as possible for my next adventure . Until then, Miami suits me just fine!