A Prince of a Park

We spent this past week at John Prince Park, a Palm Beach County park,  and think it’s a good value for RV’ers. It has full hook ups, paved sites, and WiFi – but no laundry.  It’s location near Palm Beach and its bicycle trail are the park’s outstanding features. 
The paved bike trail loops around  Lake Osborne which is home to several species of water birds. The loop is about 10 miles in length and takes about an hour.  And what a ride!  We rode in the mornings and birds were feeding along the lake providing us with great scenery.  We saw ibis, egrets, anhingas, pelicans, and two green birds that we think were parakeets.  The county airport is next to the park and small planes and helicopters took off frequently.  There was the occasional jet ski or fishing boat on the lake.
Our site, on the lake, had palm trees and bamboo growing near the edge of the water.  We watched an egret wading near the shore and a pelican diving for dinner.  We plan to return here next year for the third time.

Upscale Biking in Palm Beach

 

Thursday we left our campground at John Prince County Park,  drove east, and crossed the bridge to Palm Beach and another world.  We went north on Highway A1A along the Atlantic and through one luxurious neighborhood after another, past Donald Trump’s exclusive spa and multitudes of mansions partially concealed by tall ficus hedges. 

Our plan for the day was to bicycle the Lake Trail, have lunch at City Place shopping area in West Palm, and visit the famous Breakers hotel.  We parked near Publix (which offers valet parking, and incidentally, had a Rolls Royce in the parking lot).  George had  mapped out our route which took us south on the trail  past Henry Flagler’s mansion which is now a museum.  (Flagler built the Breakers Hotel to accommodate his RR passengers). After heading over to West Palm Beach across the Palm bridge, we enjoyed lunch at Wild Ginger Asian Bistro and stopped for ice cream in the plaza at City Place. 

After heading east over the Flagler Memorial bridge back into Palm Beach, we headed north on the Lake Trail past 5 miles of luxurious beautifully landscaped homes and lush vegetation on one side and their yachts on Lake Worth lagoon on the other.  Despite occasional glimpses, most of the homes were obscured by tall ficus hedges and vine covered walls.  A web site about the Lake Trail described it as the Trail of Conspicuous Consumption – quite apt!  But it was a delightful bicycle ride with cool breezes and mid- 70’s temp.

  Our next destination was The Breakers, the most luxurious hotel we’ve ever seen.   The long drive approaching the hotel, called a coconut walk because of the columns of coconut palms, is also lined with  gardens and leads to an Italian fountain near the entrance.  The lobby is breathtaking with its barrel vaulted ceiling and elegant furnishings. 

Having spent a delightful day bicycling about 15 miles and enjoying the pleasant weather and sights of Palm Beach, we loaded our bikes on the truck and returned to John Prince County Park.

 

                                                                                                       To see a map of our Palm Beach bike ride including the Lake Trail, click here.

Click here to see photos of our Palm Beach bike ride, the Breakers Hotel, and City Place.

Country Coach Rally at The Great Outdoors

 

The Southeast Country Coachers winter rally was scheduled at Titusville, FL at The Great Outdoors during our Florida RV trip and we elected to drive 200 miles north to attend it.  This group is comprised of people who own Country Coach motor homes and the club has 3 or 4 rallies per year.  We enjoyed seeing old friends and meeting new members including a tribologist and a trans-Atlantic airline pilot.

On Saturday Irene went with the ladies to historic Cocoa while George hung out with some guys who were helping George Sanders work on his Hydro-Hot heating system.

On Sunday morning we visited with some old friends from our Overland club who live in The Great Outdoors, and then we headed south to John Prince Park in Lake Worth.

Moving on up the State

 

We left Key West on George’s birthday, Thursday, January 21, and drove to Miami Everglades RV Park, southwest of Miami.  We bicycled at  South Point Park and South Beach  and ate lunch there on Friday.  The real estate was definitely uptown!

Then we continued north to C. B. Smith County Park in Pembroke Pines near Ft. Lauderdale.  We planned to be there during the 4th weekend of January because of the chili cook-off and the entertainment for it.  (Last year Alan Jackson performed.) As it turned out, we weren’t interested in seeing this year’s performers, and 25,000 people descended on C. B. Smith park for the chili cook-off.  Never again!  Jim and Hope were awakened at 3:00 a.m. by music from Confederate flaggers attending the event.

We enjoyed the Water Taxi Tour in Ft. Lauderdale, bicycling on the boardwalk at Hollywood Beach and also at Ft. Lauderdale Beach and Hugh Taylor Birch State Park, an oasis of tropical hammocks adjacent to the beach.  Jim and Hope headed home from here and stopped at Shark Valley on the Tamiami Trail to bicycle the 15 mile loop trail thru the Everglades

George and Irene had another day in the  Ft. Lauderdale area and dined at Chef’s Palette Cafe and Grill of the International Culinary School, a delicious and enjoyable experience.  After lunch we toured the Bonnet House next to the state park.  It was the winter home of 2 artists and was decorated in a very whimsical way and included some of their work.

Scenes of Key West

 

We left Key West on Thursday morning, January 21, after a stay of two weeks.  The first week was pretty chilly, but then it was warm enough to enjoy being outdoors.  We bicycled 140 miles and saw lots of sights including lush vegetation, a variety of birds, buildings distinctly Key West, many types of transportation, multiple cruise ships in port, and beautiful sunsets – all enjoyed with our friends Jim and Hope.  (After you click on View Full Album, then select Slideshow).

Key West’s Lush Vegetation

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Feathered Friends . . .

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Buildings Distinctly “Key West”

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Getting around in Key West . . .

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Cruise Ships in Port

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Sunset at Mallory Square

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  Good Times with Friends . . .

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Sunny Day Ride and Sunset at Mallory Square

 

Today was another enjoyable bicycle ride into Key West where we ate lunch at Louie’s Back Porch, a very attractive restaurant overlooking the Atlantic. We sat on the porch and enjoyed both our lunches and the views. We rated Louie’s our best restaurant in Key West so  far.  After lunch we continued our bike ride along Higg’s Beach to the cruise ship dock and stopped for ice cream, of course!  Another Holland America ship, the Ryndam, was in port today. 

We had a real scare on the way back to our RV park when a car almost ran a red light and had to veer off the road with the tires squealing to keep from hitting Hope and Jim. They were crossing on the Walk signal, and the light had been red long enough for George and Irene to cross when the car approached the intersection.

We celebrated the sunset (and our friends’ survival) at the Mallory Square Sunset Festival where we watched performers until it was

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close to time for sunset.  Then we squeezed thru crowds to get a good view of the sunset and take photographs.  We enjoyed a one-man reggae band and also saw the Ryndam sail off into the sunset.

Enjoying Seafood in the Florida Keys

 

Sunshine and warm weather have returned to Key West, and we’ve explored the area almost daily on our  bicycles.  On the first warmer sunny day, we headed to Hogfish Bar and Grill for lunch on the dock.

The highlight of last week was the Florida Keys  Seafood   Festival on Saturday  featuring LOTS of seafood, music, and vendors.  The festival features fish, steamed shrimp, Florida lobster, conch chowder, and conch fritters.  The seafood plates come with black beans and rice and cole slaw.  We all ordered the Florida lobster plate which was delicious.  In addition to  food,  the festival is full of sights – people and pets of all descriptions,

We’ve seen some more movies; Hope and Jim saw Avatar and George and Irene saw It’s Complicated.  George and Irene also visited the Key West Art and History Museum which portrayed early Key West – once the richest city in Florida.  There is also a Hemingway room with displays about one of Key West’s most famous writers.  Many large sculptures are on the grounds of the museum and get lots of attention from visitors.