Day 11: January 1, 2015
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I was really thinking of something from a griddle when I walked into the restaurant yesterday but I'm not the least bit sorry that I was steered to the eggs benedict. But The Serving Spoon justifiably brags about their pancakes and I ordered one. Just one. As you can see, it's huge. The menu lists something called Parker's Paradise Pancake with coconut, almonds, and chocolate chips. That's what this is minus the chips. I know some folks can't imagine paradise without chocolate but I liked it this way. I liked it a lot.

The third picture has nothing to do with breakfast but I just felt like showing the Infiniti QX60 perch I was parked in front of for my pancake.

This is the second oldest continuously operating antique car museum in the United States. The Henry Ford is first. The Sarasota Classic Car Museum opened in 1954 which I found a little surprising since I would have guessed that "second oldest" meant at least the 1940s if not the '30s. The museum shows its age a bit with fairly lackluster displays but it certainly contains some interesting cars. The first car pictured is a Cincinnati built 1905 Schacht. When it was pulled from its barn, the restorer was instructed to leave one half untouched while making the other half like new. The difference is probably pretty dramatic from the front but that end is covered by a Christmas wreath so I'm showing the rear. I have no idea why anyone would want to restore half a car or why they would chose to do it with a Schacht. And why someone would want to spoil my picture with a wreath is completely beyond me.

Lots of Model T Ford were made but not many like this 1912 Torpedo Roadster. The 1957 Pontiac Bonneville is also a rather rare model. Limited to a total of 630, they were too expensive to sell well but that wasn't their purpose. There were just enough for each Pontiac dealer to have one and people who came in just to get a look at the fancy car often ended up buying a lesser model or at least a used car. The black car is too new to be an antique but it is pretty rare. It's a 2010 Spyker C8 Laviolette. The Dutch company makes only about 1000 cars a year.

This is, like those sculptures in Key West, another Seward Johnson creation. It's titled "Unconditional Surrender" and modeled after the famous end of World War II photo. There is another copy in San Diego. I'll admit to doing a sloppy drive-by today but I've photographed this one before and I'm sure I'll never top this picture of the one in San Diego.

I had picked up the Tamiami Trail at the museum and would, except for one side trip, stay with it until it is joined by the Dixie Highway in Punta Gorda.

These pictures are specifically for my friend Laurel. Seeing from yesterday's journal that I might be going through Venice, Florida, she sent a note telling me about the condo she and her then husband once owned there and about the "great little restaurant bar" just down the street. I stopped at the Crow's Nest intending to have a beer and snap a picture but I ended up also having some incredibly good clam chowder. Laurel left all the dolphins in Florida for a single blue whale and now hangs out beside Historic Route 66 instead of near the Tamiami Trail. Hope you enjoy this wee glimpse of the old 'hood, Laurel.
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