Sun, Sand and Beaches is what we were hoping for and we got
it all! And a whole lot more – it was
hot, muggy and windy too! Along with
bike rides, new friends, huge yachts and odd birds! Let’s start at the beginning!
Palm Beach County has some of the prettiest beaches on the
shoreline of the Atlantic Ocean. To
the north, we visited our favorite beaches as far as Juno Beach and even
Jupiter Beach and the peaceful Dubois Park, right on the Jupiter Inlet.
SPFB-for Jan 10, 2019 and Feb 23, 2018!!
Blue is my favorite color and the deep blue water that flowed outwards
from the cement walls and boulder barriers that lined the inlet did not
disappoint as it reflected the blue shades of the blue sky above. A visit to
the beaches in that area also calls for a stop at the Loggerhead Marinelife
Center. The large “swimming pool”
enclosures, each with its own “picture window” still held individual sea
turtles and listed their name and reason for being there.
To the south, the Ocean Reef Park, at Boynton Inlet is
another favorite with its tree-lined parking spaces and wide fishing walls and
jetties that stretch out into the deep blue ocean. When the tide is in a hurry to get out to the ocean, the incoming
white capped foaming waves crash into the outgoing current! Boats must still run the gauntlet to
escape! When the waves are really
rolling, the biggest ones, on the far side of the jetty, get ridden by surfers
trying to see how close to the shore they can ride!
As in the northern end of the county, the Gumbo Limbo Nature
Center down near Boca Raton also has big blue tubs with the large picture
windows to see the injured sea creature inside. Smaller aquariums hold other tinier sea creatures like my
favorite seahorses!
Downtown West Palm Beach held an Antique/Farmers Market one
sunny Saturday and we found a shady parking spot a block away and strolled thru
the booths and vendors for 4 blocks till we reached the grassy park and
Lakeshore drive that lined the waterway that divides the rich West Palm Beach
from the even richer Palm Beach out on the barrier island. In the WPB harbor were more than just a few
mega yachts that rested their 150 lengths at the gated docks! One mammoth white
beauty is up for sale and can be rented for $180,000 PLUS for a week! The landing craft for that dark blue
sailing/motor-yacht was bigger than any of the boats H ever owned!
Back in John Prince Park, we enjoyed the water view out our
back and side windows and the collection of shore birds that visited! While the pythons multiply in the
Everglades, this park’s invasive specie is STILL the Iguana! This big guy came to visit most
everyday! One day there were TWELVE
that lazed around our “backyard”! While
this 4 ft long lizard was one of the biggest, the rest ranged from bright green
foot long ones to the bigger darker green/gray guys. On our bike rides we saw all the usual Herons and Roseate
Spoonbills and Limpkins, scratching and catching small crustaceans for lunch!
There was even this odd pair of large “ducks” which actually turned out to be a
pair of Egyptian Geese!
Our bike rides
ALWAYS involved wind. We did manage to
ride the 5 miles of blacktopped bike trails thru the 378 acre park several
times - past the almost 100 tents of the homeless that are, for now, living in
the park, and over the several wooden bridges and around all the canals and
lagoons. Once, we did follow the
winding pathway around the northern end of Lake Osborne, past the children’s
water park, the boat docks and several more small bridges to the eastern side
of the long, odd shaped busy lake – sometimes WITH the wind and sometimes INTO
the wind. Although the eastern side of
the lake went past a residential neighborhood, there was still the tree lined
walking and biking trail that followed the waters edge with plenty of resting
areas and good views of the sprawling John Prince Park on the opposite
side. In the photo – look just over the
left end of the small island and find the dark green round shrub. That is our “tan train” just to the left of
it. 10 miles from the start of our ride
at our campsite, with the assistance of the long lasting batteries of our
trusty electric bikes, we powered around the lake, up Lantana Road on the wide
sidewalk that took us up and over the lake below; past the
We were in John Prince for 2 weeks and the two sites on
either side always had folks in transit - folks from as far away as Wisconsin
or even Quebec. New friends made and “cards” exchanged! They were mid sized motorhomes, custom vans
or trailers. The first neighbor tho, was
an elderly Winnebago that had been painted with flat white house paint and trimmed
in bright turquoise and green. The
front bumper was cardboard painted black!
Thru out our stay, we saw it had moved to a different site every few
days!
