Our 2nd week in John Prince has been just as busy
as the first! We’re getting ready to
move on to our next destination in the morning. We’ve also been anticipating the launch of the SpaceX rocket but
once again it has been scrubbed. Now we
are anticipating getting to see it for real since we are moving up the coast
and closer to Cape Canaveral!
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| Crossing the tracks to the southbound station |
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| Lunch at Lincoln mall |
Last Saturday we
parked the blue truck in the shade under the massive pillars that hold up the
12 lanes of I 95 and right next to the sky-high crossover walkway for the
TriRail train system. Its train tracks
run alongside I 95 from West Palm Beach down to the airport in Miami and passes
thru 3(tri) counties to do so. As we’ve
done before, we rode in the top level of the train and kept up with the traffic
on the expressway until we were forced to slow down and stop at each town’s
rail station. Once out on the South
Beach of Miami we had our fire grilled pizza lunch in the middle of Lincoln
Street at tables brightly decorated with cobalt blue bottles with fresh sunflowers
peaking out the top. Sitting there in the shade we took full advantage of the
prime location to people watch! And
there were plenty to watch! Our walk
out to the actual beach was short lived since the wind was hefty and cold!
On Sunday we parked once more in the shadow of the expressway and took a shuttle bus to downtown Lake Worth to walk and enjoy their 22nd annual street chalk art festival - along with the throngs of other festivalgoers. There were 4 blocks each way of art and artists on their knees working on their developing creations. There were kids, high school groups, local companies and civic groups all striving to win an award. Some chose birds or animals to depict. Some chose cartoon characters. Some chose real people or celebrities like a striking black and white version of Leo Decaprio – complete with piercing blue eyes. Then there were the professional artists showing off their colorful talents! Remember seeing on TV the insurance commercial that features a 3D
There’s been another
trip to the Boynton Inlet, which included a stop off at the Gumbo Limbo Turtle
Rescue. On one day’s venture we headed
north up the coast with visits at the sparkling blue waters of Rivera Beach and
Juno Beach. One day we headed out north
to find a mall to walk but instead got side tracked by a sign that said: Gun
Club Road - and the truck turned onto it.
We never did find the gun club but did find Rt 441, which turned us
around and pointed us back south because H remembered that Loxahatchee National
Wildlife Preserve was off of that road.
Years ago I snagged an alligator when we were fishing there! We had returned to the scene of that
crime!
When we were staying at WP Franklin we met a couple that we
had camped next to when we stayed at Savannah’s county park last year. Dale and Connie were also staying here at
John Prince Park and we finally crossed paths and re-started our
friendship. After chatting and peddling
around the campground on our bikes, we were invited to join them for lunch at
one of their favorite places. The Dune
Dog is located in Jupiter Beach, right on A1A.
Eclectic Florida style decorations hung from the walls and ceiling. The small eating area was filled with heavy
picnic tables. We went with the
intention of enjoying a fancy hotdog but fish and crab cakes were the choice of
the day for 3 of us at our table! My
fillets were SO large that one whole one was brought home and was enough for H and
I for another meal.
On our way back from our fun lunch, Dale suggested we go
with them to see a nature preserve that they had found earlier. Wakodahatchee Wetlands is 38 acres of
wetland ponds, berms and islands that are divided by a 3/4-mile long wooden
boardwalk that stretches out, over and around it. The name itself is Seminole
and means Created Waters. It was built
between 1995 and 1996 by the Palm Beach Public Utilities Department as part of
their water filtration system while still reclaiming wetlands. We saw and heard more birds than we’ve ever
seen before! They were everywhere –
roosting in trees, stalking lunch from the thick reeds or flying overhead just
barely 3 feet (it seemed) above our heads!
There were Grebes, Warblers, Blue Teal and other ducks, all sizes,
colors and kinds of herons and egrets!
As always there were Anhinga and Cormorants. Even an alligator was spotted before it slithered into the water! In the top of one small tree on one small
island was a large conglomerate of twigs and branches. In that massive pile of kindling were 2 “bad
hair day” looking baby blue herons being fed by their attentive parent. Such squawking and carrying on by those two
demanding bird children! C and I felt
sorry for that mama!
