John Prince Park West Palm - The Lake Trail

John Prince Park is the best camping value in South Florida, but getting  a site here in season is like winning the lottery. So we won twice. The max stay for sites on the lake is two weeks; then you have to move on for two weeks. That is what we're doing as we'll be back here after the Country Coach International rally in Tampa.

John Prince has a great bike trail around its two lakes. Making the complete loop is 9.6 miles. We did that recently and made a stop at the Lantana airport - for a rest break as well as to watch the planes come and go.

One of our favorite bike trails, and without a doubt the most beautiful bike trail in America, is the Lake Trail on Palm Beach. The Lake Trail is an oddity in that it passes through the back yards of wealthy Palm Beach homeowners. We can thank Henry Flagler for that as he established the trail for his Palm Beach hotel guests to stroll on.

The Lake Trail

Irene sees floral design in this palm along the trail

The trail is on the intracoastal waterway side of the island. While riding the trail you see people's homes on one side and their yachts on the other.

Irene stops to observe this century plant

The landscaping is beautiful and immaculate with continual maintenance.  In many places, large manicured ficus hedges screen homes from the trail.

This hedge needs a little more work on top

Royal palms line one side of the trail with hedges on the other side.

Stately Royal Palms

West Palm Beach's skyline is visible across the lake.

The skyline of West Palm Beach is in the background

Before starting out on the trail we had a nice al fresco lunch at Cucina Del Arte restaurant in Palm Beach.

Port St. Lucie

We had a grand campsite at the Outdoor Resort, probably the nicest one we have ever had.  It was very attractively landscaped and upgraded with pavers (rather than all concrete).

Our site had two tiki huts which are built by Indians from nearby areas.  They make a nice place to sit if it's rainy and provide shade when it's sunny.  Some of the lot owners have enclosed their tiki huts with clear vinyl curtains that can be lowered when it's chilly and many have outdoor kitchens. We parked our bikes beneath the tiki hut to keep them dry.

Our site was on one of the lakes which has two fountains - a pleasant view when sitting outside.  And it was a nice setting for lunch - at least when it wasn't raining or too windy!

Our chihuahua puppy Tinka also enjoyed this site.  She had plenty of room to work on leash training! George is doing a good job of training her. She really loves her toys, too.  She has been enjoying playing with the "monkey" which Jaye gave her for Christmas.

One of the palm trees had a pod of orange fruit which we noticed when a few pieces dropped on the pavement.

El Nino brought us frequent rain, but in between showers we enjoyed some bike rides both inside and outside the park. One day we went to Nelson Family Farms and got navel oranges and fresh orange juice.

Since we stayed here in January 2015, the name has changed from Outdoor Resort St. Lucie West to Outdoor Living Motor Coach Resort St. Lucie West.  We weren't aware of the change until we saw it on the entrance sign.

Brunswick/Jekyll

After visiting Mary Jessica and her family we headed for the Georgia coast. After we arrived at Coastal Georgia RV Park in Brunswick, we headed straight for Bubba Jax Seafood restaurant nearby. The Georgia white shrimp were especially good.

 The next day we went to another noted Brunswick restaurant for lunch, Indigo Coastal Shanty, where we ate with Mary Lou and Jack a couple of years ago.  It's still good!

After our visit in Brunswick it was time to head over to Jekyll Island for the annual Bluegrass Festival. This year RV's were not allowed to park in the convention center parking lot and were required to park on the bay side in the old water park. So, George arranged for us to park at the Days Inn which was very close to the convention center.

Our "RV site" was adjacent to the bicycle trail making a short and pleasant ride to the convention center and other points to the north and offering fine views of the dunes and ocean.

And if you get really tired, right off the trail (near the convention center) is a chair large enough for the tiredest of bicyclers!

We arrived soon enough to bicycle before the festival began.  Jekyll is a delightful place for bicycling with trails along the beach, through the marsh and woods, and through the historical district.  And the weather was pleasant with no rain the first 1 1/2 days so we had a couple of good rides.

Carriage rides are available in the historical district, and the carriages were decorated for Christmas. This one had just returned its passengers.

The Westin Hotel and a new shopping area adjacent to it opened this year just south of the Convention Center.  

We enjoyed more Georgia white shrimp from the Love Shack in the Marketplace.  Exiting the parking area to the traffic circle, this lovely lighted oak greeted us.

The 40th Annual Bluegrass Festival at Jekyll Island was held Thursday - Saturday and featured several groups each day.  Most of them we've heard and enjoyed before.  Some of our favorites are pictured below. 

Little Roy of the Little Roy and Lizzie Show

Rhonda Vincent and the Rage  

Doyle Lawson and Quicksilver

We were also pleased to see B.J. Cherryhomes who has been full-time fiddler with Dailey & Vincent since 2011.  B. J. was part of his family's group, the Cherryhomes, whom we first saw in Galax, VA, several years ago and later enjoyed seeing at the Jekyll Island Bluegrass Festival.

Jeff  Parker, Jamie Dailey, and B. J. Cherryhomes on the fiddle

Having enjoyed the bluegrass festival, bicycling, and good seafood, we left Jekyll Island Sunday morning heading south.  We stopped at The Great Outdoors to visit with Myron and Dorcas.  We had a nice lunch with them at the restaurant there and introduced Myron and Dorcas to our puppy Tinka who was pretty excited over meeting Myron and Dorcas.

Then it was on the road for Port St. Lucie, a slow trip because of rain and heavy traffic.