Sunday, February 28, 2016

Week two John Prince

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!
Crossing the tracks to the southbound station

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
chalk rendition of a whale leaping up out of the water?  These 10 ft     wide creations are that same awesome style!  If you stand at the center at the foot of the picture, the scene does look 3D and in amazing proportion but if you walk around the side or even stand at the top - - the drawing looks grossly elongated and out of shape.  



 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!

Sunday has come and is just about gone.  We spent the day preparing for our upcoming move and then took time to ride our bikes around the park again and chat more with C & D.   Now it’s almost time to go.