Goodbye Destin; Hello Jupiter

Just had to include these additional shots of Destin!

We left Destin on Friday and headed back toward Tallahassee and then on, across the state to Jupiter on the Atlantic coast. It's a long uninteresting drive, but we were looking forward to seeing Sandra and Tom so we knew it would be well worth driving all that distance. We drove east along I-10 for quite a while before we hit I-75 and then the Florida Turnpike. Now, a title like "Florida Turnpike" or "Ronald Regan Turnpike" sounds like a fancy road to me. Well, the truth is, the turnpike isn't as good as the Interstate and it COSTS MONEY. Tourists are certainly not well informed about the tolls before the booths appear. We stopped at the first toll booth where a very friendly clerk took a dollar from us. No problem. We drove on and then stopped at another booth where another friendly clerk took $1.50. That's okay. At the next booth, they gave us a ticket. When I asked what it was for, the third friendly clerk (and they WERE very friendly) explained that when we turned it in, they would know how much money to collect. We read the back and discovered that if we got off at Jupiter, we would pay another $10.70. Seems like a lot for a very basic four lane highway, much of which was rough and some was under repair. About every 40 or 50 miles there were service centers between the two roads -- gas station (reasonably priced), food fair with KFC, a salad place, and hamburgers as well as a number of vending machines and some souvenirs and brochures. We had to eat, so we had a KFC sandwich -- not great, but it filled in some gaps.

When we got off the turnpike and on to the next Interstate, we drove only a couple of miles before we took the exit for Donald Ross Road, past a lovely golf course and University Entrance sign, past a big baseball park (Cardinals and Marlins do Spring Training here) to Tom and Sandra's place. They were standing outside to meet us and directed us to a parking place right by their apartment.

We've had such a good time here. We got a ton of laundry done today and have begun junking out the car. I can't believe how much laundry we can accumulate and how much STUFF gets chucked here and there in the car. It will be good to start out again all tidy when we leave here.

Tom and Sandra drove us around later today. We drove down to West Palm Beach and through a number of beach towns. This place is FLAT, but, oh my goodness, there is beauty! First of all, I was particularly struck with the wide variety of palm trees -- tall with cement-like trunks, hedges made of wide, frondy palms, newly planted ones with little brush bottle tops, ridged trunks, bark-like trunks and on and on. They are various sizes and colours as well and they make the place look so lovely. The buildings all seem to be painted very light colours with red tile roofs. The stores and the shopping malls are beautifully landscaped and the buildings look much less utilitarian and much prettier than what we see in our part of the country -- both US and Canada. We noticed an attractive building somewhat off the road, nicely landscaped and it turned out to be Toys R Us! Some homes are like palaces and I guess you just about have to be royalty to live in some of the homes and apartment buildings we saw. It was such fun to have the chance to just look at the surroundings.

Tom took us to the Grand Lux for lunch. The food was grand and luxurious for sure. The portions were so huge that even though we shared two meals among the four of us, we were hard pressed to finish. Mind you, the restaurant is known for its great desserts, so among the four of us we managed to choke down three large servings: Erupting Chocolate Cake, Vanilla and Chocolate Creme Brule, and some exotic Bread Pudding. Creme Brule is my absolute favourite dessert, but today, I would select the bread pudding as about the best dessert I have ever tasted. We washed it all down with coffee and struggled out of the restaurant for the drive home in the Halls' new car. It's a Murano by Nissan. It is comfortable and quiet with all the bells and whistles you would want. The back up camera that shows what is behind the vehicle and also where it will go as you turn the steering wheel is particularly interesing and useful.

Tom watched TV while Sandra, Mary Ann and I tried out the Facial Masks that one of my students had given me. You can imagine the fun we had as we decided to choose the anti-aging ones. Can't resist showing you the silliness.

We're planning to see the Everglades tomorrow. Tom found a place that gives a guided tour, so we think that's the best way to see the most in the limited time we'll have. I want to see those alligators! Mary Ann tells us that you don't have to worry about alligators because all you have to do to control them is to hold their mouths shut! Apparently they aren't as strong in opening as they are in snapping them shut. Right. We'll keep you posted on the alligator caper!