Well that's Venice Florida!
We had to leave the Keys and that was OK since it was time to go. Drove back up to Miami to get to "Alligator Ally" highway and I decided of all the places that I have driven in a car that Miami is the WORST. That includes NYC, London, Toronto, LA, Boston, Dallas, Montreal and even Ottawa (you know who I'm talking about, crazy Canucks). Everything is optional while driving, right of way, speed limit, turn signals you name it. If I was a cop I would have blisters at the end of the day from writing so many tickets. Guess they just gave up and decided to let Darwin keep score. Glad to say that we got out with all our fenders intact.
Then we got to drive through the everglades and the Cyprus forests, that are left from all the clear cutting done at the beginning of the century. The Cyprus are now quite young but coming back!
So Mary booked a place in downtown Venice that is a throw back Motor Court called "Island Breeze Inn". The place was built in 1950 and the new owners have done a fantastic job of keeping the 50's Motor Court look and the rooms are spiffed up. Its just right.
We have always wanted to stay in one of these places on our way to the big chain units and boy I'm glad Mary found this one.
The railroad made is possible to travel here and also move all the building supplies down and the Citrus Fruit products back up north. Then get this the city was then purchased by a Union called the "Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers". Go figure that the railroad had both ends of the stick in a manner of speaking. More follows from the history of Venice web site.
In 1925, Dr. Fred H. Albee, a nationally renowned orthopedic surgeon, purchased 2,916 acres of land from the Venice-Sarasota Company. Earlier, he planned to developed Nokomis. He built its first luxury hotel, the Pollyanna Inn. Albee retained John Nolen, a world-renowned city planner, to design a city on his land. This city would be called Venice.
Before Albee could implement his plan, he was approached by the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers to purchase his land, which the organization did on Oct. 6, 1925. BLE wanted to develop the new city to increase the union's retirement assets and holdings.
BLE rolls in. The BLE Realty Corporation was organized to develop the area and the Venice Company created to market the property. A city was to be built on land along the Gulf of Mexico. Five-acre plots farther inland were planned for agriculture. The company retained Nolen to complete a plan for a city on the gulf in 1926. This plan differed somewhat from the plan he had completed for Albee. The BLE Realty Company selected George A. Fuller as the contractor; the New York architectural firm of Walker and Gillette, as supervising architects; and Prentiss French as landscape architect.
A city is born. The first street in Venice opened June 10, 1926. Nassau Street ran from the terminus of Tamiami Trail, past the Hotel Venice, through Venezia Park, and again into the Trail. By mid-June, the first phase was complete with 6 miles of graded streets and a mile of 7-foot-wide sidewalks and gutters.
Venice Avenue was paved. Crews worked around the clock to build a road east of town to the area where small acreage farms were for sale.
Hotel Venice (located on the current site of 200 N. Nassau St.) opened June 21, 1926. It was described as a structure with "large windows, ventilating doors and ceiling fans."
The hotel reportedly had its own ice machines, laundry, bake shop and barber. There were 100 rooms with private baths and a fire sprinkler system. The large dining room had a beamed cypress ceiling, terrazzo floors, and a diagonally checked wall in antique verde and white. The lobby had a cypress beamed and plaster ceiling.
The key feature of the Venice plan designated Venice Avenue as a 200-foot boulevard with a 100-foot parkway in the center terminating in a plaza on the beach. It was the gateway to Venice Beach.
Three large and expensive residences in the Gulf View section were built on Venice Avenue in July 1926. At the same time, it was announced five moderately priced homes would be built in the Edgewood section. They were designed by M.M. Gleichman of Tampa. A few days later, the BLE announced 30 homes would be constructed in Edgewood with a combined value of $135,000.
In October 1926, plans to build the Hotel San Marco (200 West Tampa Avenue) were announced. The three-story, 92-room hotel, designed by noted Tampa architect Franklin O. Adams, had concrete block walls and steel columns with a stucco exterior.
Venice is unique. The New York architectural firm of Walker and Gillette supervised and approved all design work prior to construction. Design review requirements set forth in all deeds were creating a community with character. Buildings were constructed in the Northern Italian Renaissance architectural style. The Venice standards included the use of sloping roofs with colored tile and smooth stucco. Awning colors were regulated. In many cases, they were the only color on the houses, which were generally painted white or light earth tones. Window and door placements were also regulated. The setting of the building was reviewed including setback, orientation and relationship to neighboring buildings.
We had to leave the Keys and that was OK since it was time to go. Drove back up to Miami to get to "Alligator Ally" highway and I decided of all the places that I have driven in a car that Miami is the WORST. That includes NYC, London, Toronto, LA, Boston, Dallas, Montreal and even Ottawa (you know who I'm talking about, crazy Canucks). Everything is optional while driving, right of way, speed limit, turn signals you name it. If I was a cop I would have blisters at the end of the day from writing so many tickets. Guess they just gave up and decided to let Darwin keep score. Glad to say that we got out with all our fenders intact.
Then we got to drive through the everglades and the Cyprus forests, that are left from all the clear cutting done at the beginning of the century. The Cyprus are now quite young but coming back!
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| Swamp as far as you can see |
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| Boo liked the ride. He rides like the Prince that he is! |
We have always wanted to stay in one of these places on our way to the big chain units and boy I'm glad Mary found this one.
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| Mary and Boo in front of the office |
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| Our Room |
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| More of the room |
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| Mary in the pool. Perfect chemical mix. |
Down town Venice is really nice and laid back. Really quiet and calm. Hot though!
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| Old Venice with lots of shops and things to do. |
Lots of houses here for sale that are going up for short sales. Here is one that stood out.
So its a nice island, yes an island that started to boom back when the railroad was built out to Venice area in 1911.
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| Hotel Venice |
In 1925, Dr. Fred H. Albee, a nationally renowned orthopedic surgeon, purchased 2,916 acres of land from the Venice-Sarasota Company. Earlier, he planned to developed Nokomis. He built its first luxury hotel, the Pollyanna Inn. Albee retained John Nolen, a world-renowned city planner, to design a city on his land. This city would be called Venice.
Before Albee could implement his plan, he was approached by the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers to purchase his land, which the organization did on Oct. 6, 1925. BLE wanted to develop the new city to increase the union's retirement assets and holdings.
BLE rolls in. The BLE Realty Corporation was organized to develop the area and the Venice Company created to market the property. A city was to be built on land along the Gulf of Mexico. Five-acre plots farther inland were planned for agriculture. The company retained Nolen to complete a plan for a city on the gulf in 1926. This plan differed somewhat from the plan he had completed for Albee. The BLE Realty Company selected George A. Fuller as the contractor; the New York architectural firm of Walker and Gillette, as supervising architects; and Prentiss French as landscape architect.
A city is born. The first street in Venice opened June 10, 1926. Nassau Street ran from the terminus of Tamiami Trail, past the Hotel Venice, through Venezia Park, and again into the Trail. By mid-June, the first phase was complete with 6 miles of graded streets and a mile of 7-foot-wide sidewalks and gutters.
Venice Avenue was paved. Crews worked around the clock to build a road east of town to the area where small acreage farms were for sale.
Hotel Venice (located on the current site of 200 N. Nassau St.) opened June 21, 1926. It was described as a structure with "large windows, ventilating doors and ceiling fans."
The hotel reportedly had its own ice machines, laundry, bake shop and barber. There were 100 rooms with private baths and a fire sprinkler system. The large dining room had a beamed cypress ceiling, terrazzo floors, and a diagonally checked wall in antique verde and white. The lobby had a cypress beamed and plaster ceiling.
The key feature of the Venice plan designated Venice Avenue as a 200-foot boulevard with a 100-foot parkway in the center terminating in a plaza on the beach. It was the gateway to Venice Beach.
Three large and expensive residences in the Gulf View section were built on Venice Avenue in July 1926. At the same time, it was announced five moderately priced homes would be built in the Edgewood section. They were designed by M.M. Gleichman of Tampa. A few days later, the BLE announced 30 homes would be constructed in Edgewood with a combined value of $135,000.
In October 1926, plans to build the Hotel San Marco (200 West Tampa Avenue) were announced. The three-story, 92-room hotel, designed by noted Tampa architect Franklin O. Adams, had concrete block walls and steel columns with a stucco exterior.
Venice is unique. The New York architectural firm of Walker and Gillette supervised and approved all design work prior to construction. Design review requirements set forth in all deeds were creating a community with character. Buildings were constructed in the Northern Italian Renaissance architectural style. The Venice standards included the use of sloping roofs with colored tile and smooth stucco. Awning colors were regulated. In many cases, they were the only color on the houses, which were generally painted white or light earth tones. Window and door placements were also regulated. The setting of the building was reviewed including setback, orientation and relationship to neighboring buildings.
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