Tuesday, May 8, 2012

April 15-16 More of Coconut Grove

It was not the shopping or the restaurants of Coconut Grove that peaked our interests.  It was the Barnacle Historic State Park.   Ralph Middleton Munroe built a house in the late 1800’s, before Miami existed.  The house has a hexagonal interior with a circular ceiling that allows hot air to escape, thus allowing it to be cooler during the hot days in southern Florida.  Munroe was a shipbuilder, an inventive shipbuilder.  He developed the idea of the “egret” a classic style sailing vessel.  He also developed the use of pontoon extensions on racing sailboats.  Finally, he developed the idea of first floor level “breakaways” in order to save a structure from floods during hurricanes.  The first pic shows BlueSkies in the mooring field from the Barnacle and the next pic shows the Barnacle.


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