Sawgrass Mills, Lincoln Road Mall -- It's All About Shopping

Allan wrote...

It's been raining here for a solid week with very few breaks for the sun to peek out. Nevertheless, Becky made plans to visit the Sawgrass Mills outlet mall in Sunrise, FL on Saturday with the excellent logic "Hey, if it rains I'll be inside, so it won't matter."  We made the 70 mile drive down to Sunrise and found what is actually the sixth largest shopping mall in the USA. The mall was built by the Simon company, the biggest real estate company in the world. It's got 20 anchor tenants (!) and is twice the size of Town Center in Cobb County with over 2.3 million square feet of shopping. 'Nuf said. The place is huge.

I dropped Becky off at noon with a promise to return by 6PM for dinner with old friends who were to meet us at the Grand Lux Restaurant. I headed over to Miami Beach and the South Beach area to investigate Lincoln Road, the famous art-deco area of the city and what some have called the "social hub" of Miami. Lincoln Road runs from the Atlantic Ocean to Biscayne Bay and is almost entirely closed to vehicular traffic.  It's been renamed the Lincoln Road Mall, and what a mall it is!

The entire area was awash with people speaking English, Spanish, French, German and a couple languages I couldn't identify. Besides those walking the streets I saw people go by on segues, on roller blades, bikes and skateboards. A true international gathering place just lined with restaurants to satisfy every conceivable taste from pizza to sushi to shepherd's pie.

Restaurants line each side of the Lincoln Road Mall, as it's called.
Most people choose to eat outside under the umbrellas.

Lincoln Road Mall. One of the many outdoor seating areas.

After walking the area for a while I drove over to the beach, jumped in the 85-degree surf, soaked up some sun and drove back to Sawgrass Mills to meet Becky for dinner. That's when I knew something strange had happened. With those two million square feet of shopping and over 300 different stores Becky had only managed to pick up a couple small items! She said she finally got tired of looking at merchandise and just "burned out" on shopping. I didn't know that could happen to a woman! LOL

Sawgrass Mills Outlet Mall. Just the place to get your 10,000 steps for the day. And then some!

Later that evening we learned that people fly to Sawgrass Mills from all over the Caribbean, from Puerto Rico and even Central America to shop. And shop they do! We saw people pushing luggage carts like you see in airports, except here at Sawgrass they were filling their empty suitcases and roller bags with the merchandise they were buying. There was some serious shopping underway. 

We had a great dinner with an old friend of Becky's -- a man she knew as one of her son's playmates almost 40 years ago -- the headed back to Jupiter and to bed. A great day after the week of rain that had kept us close to home.

The Kindness of Strangers...

Allan wrote...

Today was "free fishing day" throughout Florida. That means anyone can fish without a license.  I do have a saltwater license but did not buy the freshwater license, so today was an opportunity to go to Lake Okeechobee to catch some freshwater fish: crappies and bass.  The write-ups I've been reading on the web tell of fishermen who catch 30 to 50 bass in a day! The bag limit for black (large mouth) bass is five per day and they have to be at least 18-inches long, otherwise you've got to release them immediately. In fact, Okeechobee is such a phenomenal bass lake that many professional contests are held there every year. Needless to say, I had been looking forward to this 40 mile ride and a day of fishing and sunshine all week.

The people at the bait store were very helpful, explaining that the 20 or so "shoreline fishing spots" on the Corps of Engineers map of the lake "aren't quite right. There are only really two places you can do any worthwhile fishing from the shore.  And neither of them are actually in the lake. They're in the rivers, canals and wetlands surrounding the lake. Why don't you try the Kissimmee River?"

A highway  runs all the way around Lake Okeechobee. While the

maps show several places to fish from the shoreline, most of the lake isn't 

really accessible. This picture shows a berm just beyond the line of palm trees.

That's the berm the Corp of Engineers built to hold the lake in place. 

If you could park and get to the other side of the berm I suppose you 

could fish from the shoreline. But I wasn't able to find a single place 

to cross. Either there was no parking available or the berm was on private

property. 

OK.  I headed toward the Kissimmee River spot, took a wrong turn and stopped at a gas station to ask for directions. A local man said, "Just follow me. I'll show you where to go."  So I did and he did. He was so kind to go out of his way! I drove a few miles down a sand road that had little trails leading to the river every quarter mile or so. I found the one in the video below and settled down to "go fishing."  

The river is on the right, through the

trees and bush. This sand road ran

on for miles and miles along the river.

With no action underway I closed up shop and drove to another bait store. The man there told me of a pier and  a place that's "filled with bluegill and bass." He even took time out to draw a map that showed me where to turn, where to park and where to fish!  So I headed that way. So helpful!

View from the pier. These are the wetlands and canals that

surround Lake Okeechobee.

Just as I was settling in to make my first cast a pontoon boat floated by. Richard (from Kentucky), one of the fishermen on board, asked "Would you like to have some bluegill?  I've got four of them and we won't be able to eat them tonight."

"Sure! And thanks so much."  The kindness of strangers once again. I fished until late afternoon, caught nothing, got no bites but did enjoy watching the alligator approach my bobber, then veer away when I tweaked it.

Arriving home I cleaned the bluegill, breaded and fried them and chowed down. Not bad.

That was "free fishing day" and, again, I enjoyed "going fishing" -- would have preferred to catch fish -- but had a wonderful day in the sun regardless. Thank you for dinner, Richard!

Bluegill with avocado and tomato.  Good!

Gorgeous Day :) It was probably close to 90-degrees, but the breeze made for a comfortable day!

Two gators off in the distance

As this couple and I approached one another I said, "It looks like a special occasion with all the balloons!" The man

replied, "Yes, it's our son's birthday today. He died last July and would have been 25 today. We thought this was a fitting way to remember him."  We talked, I expressed condolences and they made their way to the end of the pier where the man video'd his wife speaking before she released the balloons.  Very touching. 

As I drove back into Jupiter I saw this car, apparently driven by a 72 year old man. I can't imagine what the police did

to earn his "advertisement" but there's got to be a story behind it!

A Perfect Day???

Allan wrote...

After all, what is a PERFECT day?  Is it one where everything goes right? Where everyone you meet loves you? Where you love everyone else?  I don't know. I suppose a "perfect day" is different for every person.  Yet for me, today was indeed perfect.

These guys have everything. From tackle to bait to advice.

Up at 6:30 AM and off to the bait store where I bought a bunch of live shrimp.  A quick stop at BK for breakfast -- eating fast food is something I rarely do, but it just seemed like a good idea today. I wore my old sneakers, a shirt and a bathing suit. With my son's remarkable, collapsible heavy duty spinning rod and reel outfitted with 30-pound test mono-filament line, plus a dozen live shrimp from the Fishing Headquarters (along with some advice on where to fish, how to rig the line and what's been running lately), I headed off to Jupiter beach.

There was NO ONE on the beach at 7:30AM today. I waded out to waist deep water with a 1.5 ounce sinker at the end of the line, a two-hook rig about two feet upline from the sinker and casted -- oh, maybe 20 to 30 yards out into the surf. I noticed the waves break at a couple different places, each due to various sand bars beneath the water. According to what I'd read it's best to cast between the sand bars because that's where the fish hang out, waiting for the "rip" current to carry food to them.  And there was food a-plenty.  Minnows were darting around me in gigantic schools. "Hey," I said to myself, "this is the place and the day I'm gonna catch some fish."

Nothing like getting out into the water about waist deep
and waiting for that big one to bite!

The guy at fishing HQ said I should cut up the live shrimp and put about one-third of a shrimp on each hook, just enough to cover the bottom of the "J." OK.  He said, "Don't worry, just toss your line out there and you'll definitely catch some fish this morning. The tide is right and the time is right.  If you wanted to catch snook you're about an hour late, but you'll get all kinds of pan fish.  No problemo."

I did cut up the shrimp. I put them in the leftover Burger King coffee cup, which I stuffed into my shirt pocket so I wouldn't have to go back to shore each time I needed to re-bait the hooks. I casted. Re-casted.  Jigged the line. Tossed it out to deep water. Tossed it parallel to the shore. The fishing prognostication at weather.com had said the best time to catch fish in Jupiter waters was between 7AM and noon, peaking at around 9AM.  With no fish biting I finally waded back to shore to check my iPod: It was 11AM.  Not a bite. No fish. And now the bathers were everywhere, laughing, playing, surfing and having fun.

The June pier is 990 feet long. Four bucks and you can fish
from it all day long. Locals say the snook hang out beneath
the pier but I've yet to see anyone catch snook in spite of
all the talk about them.

"Hey, it's still early. I'll go to the Juno pier."  So I did. It's about five miles down the road and costs $4 to enter and fish from the pier. Done. There were about 8 or 10 other people fishing at that hour. A couple guys at the end of the pier were all excited about snook, but never did catch any. A woman from Massachusetts (my best guess based on her accent) pulled a tiny fish out of the water. After a couple hours of trying this side of the pier, the other side of the pier, the end of the pier, the part of the pier where there were big shadows cast upon the water, casting my line under the pier as best I could -- I finally met my objective when a 10-inch fish grabbed onto a shrimp and allowed me to haul it 20 feet from the water up to my tackle box. "What's that you pulled out?" asked a bystander.  "I don't know, but I hope he'll send his big brother along soon" I replied as I tossed him back into the water.

The "fisherman's eye view" from the Juno pier. Nothing
but blue. Water and sky. Beautiful!

Hey. I caught a fish. I'd been on or in the water now for about six hours. The sun was blazing down on me and I kept adjusting my hat to keep that burning feeling off my forehead.  Ain't life grand?  I don't care if I catch fish or not. It's just about being outside in the sun feeling the breeze against my body. The water washing me in/out/in/out with each wave that comes to shore.

Finally around 2PM I headed back to the car and drove over to Rosetta's Produce where I picked up an amazing amount of food for $10 and change. Then to the ABC store for a bottle of Menage a Trois for Becky and a spiced rum for me.

Back to the house and it's time to build a rollup with all the wondrous veggies Rosetta sold me. For me there are few things that taste better than avocados and tomatoes. Toss in some jalapenos and onions and it's Heaven on a tortilla.

Rosetta's Produce store, just down the road, has got the
BEST veggies around. Tomatoes are sweet and soft and
ready to eat. Brussel sprouts are gigantic. Jalapenos are
available in green or red, along with many other peppers.
This whole load of veggies was just $10 and change. 

Now, fully fed and ready for another adventure, it's off to the pool.  No one is there. Wonderful! Jump in to deliciously warm water, swim around for a while then migrate to the shallow end a meditate for a long time. The sound of my breathing is all I can hear as my ears are under water, my eyes are closed and only my prayers and thoughts exist.

Now...mellowed out...communing with All That Is...I return to the house to find Becky has returned from a phenomenally successful shopping trip where she bought me a new shirt and SEVEN items of apparel for herself for just over $20.  What a shopper!  Designer labels and not even a dent in the budget.

Tomato, avocado and jalapeno. Nothing better, especially
where everything is fresh, locally grown and just ready to eat.
Nothing left to do but roll it up and chow down!

I guess this day teaches me that for guys it's all about getting out in the wild, catching wild things -- while for the ladies, bless their hearts, it's about finding beauty, finding bargains and sharing them with their loved ones.  Ain't life grand?

My sweet Becky bought me a new shirt today!
I love it :)

Memorial Day Weekend

Allan wrote...

We began this long weekend on Thursday by reconnecting with Jim and Jill D, old friends from Atlanta back in the 1980's when Jim and I both worked at that amazing computer company, AST Research.  It was really great to talk with them again. Jim suggested we eat at Guanabanas and I'm so glad we did. It's exactly the kind of restaurant we had been looking for in vain since we arrived in Jupiter. It has no windows; it's open to the air; it serves seafood; it's got live music in the evenings (Julian Marley, son of Bob Marley, played with no cover charge on Friday night!)  Just an amazing place.

Jim and Jill - we reconnected after almost 20 years.

This restaurant looks like it's in the rain forest somewhere,
and that's exactly the feel we'd been looking for. 

No windows. no doors either! It's all outside just as it "should be" in a
tropical setting like Florida.

The have live music almost every night, often with no cover charge.

Outdoor seating for everyone

It's right on the intra-coastal (on A1A) in Jupiter.

Cool place !

Friday we rode over to West Palm Beach to meet the homeowner who wants a house sitter for six weeks in late November through early January. We thought it would be nice to come back to South Florida in the winter season and spend Christmas here. We met the owner, a very nice and interesting guy who will be going to the Philippines with his wife for those six weeks. We enjoyed our time visiting him, touring his property  and meeting his dogs, but decided to forego that assignment.

Saturday was not memorable except that we worked on our computers much of the day. Sunday, however, was a gorgeous day that reached 90 degrees, so we decided to go to the beach. The parking lot at Jupiter beach was overflowing so we drove down to the pier in Juno, pitched our umbrella and soaked up the sun.  Beautiful.

The 990-foot pier at Juno Beach, just south of Jupiter. Memorial Day weekend brought everyone to the beach.

The condos in the distance rent for about $1700/month if you live here all year long. Some are rented only during
the winter season and can go for as much as $5000 per month! Apparently the snowbirds from New England, New
York and other places where the snow falls fast and heavy find those rates affordable.

Fishermen on the pier were catching panfish all afternoon.

 As I was jogging the beach I came upon a group of people standing at water's edge screaming, "Shark, get out of the water!"  I looked and, sure enough, I could see a dark shadow just a few feet off shore. It wasn't a big shark -- maybe three feet long -- but within about one foot of the shark a little girl, maybe 5 years old, was splashing and playing, oblivious to the screaming or the shark.  I jumped into the water, grabbed her up and put her on dry land.  Then, looking at the shadow in the water, I realized it wasn't a shark at all; it was a manta ray flapping his "wings" in all his glory, looking like a giant, beautiful bird floating through the waves.  I hollered out, "It's a manta, not a shark" and suddenly everyone wanted to get close to it.  Funny how the fear turned to excitement and big smiles appeared on everyone's face. I followed the manta along for about a hundred feet, watching as his "wing" broke the surface over and over again. Finally he headed out to deeper water.

On Sunday the first tropical storm of the season, Beryl, made landfall near Jacksonville. By Monday morning, as I write this, the storm has traversed about half the width of Florida, heading West, and is weakening. Here's a half-hour video of its path as it ambles toward Tallahassee.

So today is Monday, Memorial Day. We have no plans but will probably go to the pool later. I've been reading "Spirit Junkie" by Gabrielle Bernstein and might finish it up today. It's about her life and how it changed when she began studying A Course in Miracles. Becky is reading a book about a man's life with his Sheltie; she said it brings tears of happiness and remembrance to her eyes because it reminds her of our wonderful Sheltie dogs we loved for 13 years.

Our beloved Sunny Rose and Bonnie Blue

This past week has given us its fair share of rainy days, some even with nickel-sized hail spotted and winds up to 60MPH. We spent a good part of the week quietly working on our computers. Allan's been writing articles and book reviews and Becky's been creating art and working on her novel.

Here's a quick recap of what we've been up to in the last week or two.

Stuart, Florida - Marlin Capitol of the World



Becky learned about an arts and crafts fair in Stuart, Florida so last Saturday we drove about 20 miles up the coast to check it out. As we walked from our parking spot we passed the city hall with two huge marlins mounted on the roof and a sign proclaiming that Stuart is the marlin capital of the world.  Imagine that.

Marlin capitol of the world??

We discovered that Stuart has a very walkable downtown filled with shops and restaurants of every description.

The main street in Stuart is lined with shops and restaurants
that make a great shopping district. For the craft fair they
closed the road to traffic. Vendors of every imaginable craft
line the street under white umbrellas. Nice!  We had fun.

The city of Stuart is right on the water. We found a small amphitheater with a huge multi-colored fabric roof that fronts on the bay. It's a gorgeous view looking out into the Atlantic.

Ahhh, fresh sea breeze and sunshine. What a feeling!

City Place in Downtown West Palm Beach


We've discovered that West Palm Beach, WPB as the locals refer to it, is where it's all happenin'.  It's quite an upscale community that is surrounded by all kinds of cities with very similar names: Palm Beach Gardens, Royal Palm Beach, Royal Palm Estates -- you get the idea.  Lots of BMW's and Mercedes there. If you travel across the A1A Flagler Memorial Bridge heading East, you'll find the island known as Palm Beach. It is a very wealthy place to live. According to Wikipedia...


"The Intracoastal Waterway separates Palm Beach Island from the neighboring cities of West Palm Beach and Lake Worth. As of 2000, Palm Beach had a year-round population of 10,468, with an estimated seasonal population of 30,000.


"Many of Palm Beach's residents are affluent, with a median household income of $124,562 and a median family income of $137,867. The town's affluence and its "abundance of pleasures" and "strong community-oriented sensibility" were cited when it was selected in June 2003 as America's "Best Place to Live" by Robb Report magazine."



We have not been to Palm Beach island, but on Sunday we drove to WPB to visit City Place. It's a 72-acre shopping, entertainment and restaurant area laid out much like an old time European village with a central plaza that spins off into over 100 shops and businesses. It even has some very upscale condos which would allow one to live without ever needing a car. It has a Publix grocery, Macy's, a 20-screen theater with IMAX, in Improv Comedy Club and lots more.

Checking out the goods at Anthropolgie

Yep, they still have happy hour here in FL. At some places happy hour runs all day long!
Atlanta killed happy hour decades ago because people were driving drunk after downing
a few too many after-work cocktails. No such problem here in Florida apparently. BB King's
blues club and many others all do the two-for-one. We stopped for lunch at
Brewzzi for a sample of their microbrew and some great eats.

The plaza at City Place

Vegetation and beautiful landscaping is the order of the day in Florida,
including this avenue running through City Place.

Taking a minute out from shopping to rest on the ceramic stairs.

Jupiter Beach

On Friday (5/18) we hit the beach after spending the last few days indoors while the rain continued to fall. The day dawned sunny and bright so around noon we headed out to the sand.  The water was warm, the waves were small, the sun was bright and it all felt just soooo good to be alive. 

Jupiter Beach at low tide. This could be paradise.

Nothing like a good book to pass the time while cool breezes keep you comfortable.

Taking a break from swimming

This poor fellow landed on the beach with monofilament fishing line tangled around his leg and a fishing hook
caught in his shoulder. He just stood there, a foot or two away from bystanders until someone found a pocket
knife and cut the fishing line free and removed the hook. This magnificent bird spent quite a while grooming himself
before eventually flying off. He didn't seem to mind at all that Becky stood just a step away from him in taking this picture.

We had a great time on the beach, worked on our suntans and -- on the way home -- stopped at Rosetta's Produce store to pick up some bright red tomatoes and veggies for dinner. We're loving Florida so much that we applied for another house sit in WPB for November and December. We'll see what happens...if we are chosen...

Beach Cleanup & Loggerhead Turtles

Today Becky and I helped 160 other people collect 445 pounds of trash from Jupiter Beach. Then we visited the Loggerhead Marine Center.

Beach Cleanup

The first Saturday of each month volunteers meet to pick up trash others have left behind, as well as what has washed ashore. The event has been underway for 20+ years and has many sponsors.

Keep America Beautiful and these companies and organizations sponsor
the monthly Jupiter Beach Cleanup. It is organized by Friends of Jupiter Beach

Our backs thank
this handy pickup
tool.

The organizers supplied gloves, plastic bags to carry the trash and one of those handy pickup tools (see pic) that lets you deftly pick things out of the sand without bending over, and over, and over.


We organized into teams of 8-10 people and each team was assigned a segment of beach to cleanup. Just like "police call" I remember from my Army days, we walked along the beach picking up cigarette butts, every kind of plastic -- hair barrettes, bottle caps, plastic bags, plastic forks and spoons, shower curtain rings, you name it -- as well as broken glass bottles, beer cans, Dunkin Donut and Taco Bell debris and so much more. We learned later that plastic doesn't biodegrade. It photo-degrades and eventually breaks into small pieces that are ingested by marine life.

Highway A1A is a Florida State Road that runs along the Atlantic Ocean. The Southern-most end terminates at  Key West, while the Northern terminus is at Fernandina Beach, just south of Georgia on Amelia Island. It is designated the A1A Scenic and Historic Coastal Highway. (Last week Becky drove us about 65 miles South on A1A so we could have dinner in Ft. Lauderdale). Jupiter Beach runs along A1A with a dense strip of mangrove separating the road from the beach.

Mangrove trees act as buffers between the land and the sea. They prevent soil
erosion and because they grow aggressively, they can actually "reclaim"
land area as they grow toward the sea. 

Headin' toward the beach...

In about an hour of picking and grabbing junk and trash from the sand we reconvened for coffee, bagels, all kinds of baked goodies, lemonade and conversation with people we'd met. It was a nice way to spend the 8-10AM segment of the day. Hey, we even got some great T-shirts!

Loggerhead Marine Center

The LMC is a hospital for turtles that have been injured and need rehabilitation before being released back to the sea. It has a fully equipped veterinary hospital authorized to treat endangered loggerhead, green, hawksbill, leatherback and Kemp's ridley turtles. We saw turtles that had been injured by boat propellers, bitten by ocean predators and tangled in fishing line. A few had flippers amputated due to their injuries. Others were being treated for problems ranging from diverticulosus to anemia.

Here is a typical case, Anna Belle, who was brought to the Marine Center with propeller wounds. And below is Anna Belle's "turtle cam" that updates every ten seconds.

Anna Belle's "turtle cam."

Along Jupiter Beach you'll find pink wooden stakes randomly driven into the sand. Each one marks a turtle nest filled with about 120 eggs. The turtles hatch between May and October. We're told there are night-time vigils where people gather under the moonlight to watch the baby turtles head across the sand to reach the sea. Male turtles never return to land for the remainder of their 80 to 100 year lifetime. Females return only to lay eggs.  It's quite an amazing story.

Jupiter, Florida

This might be paradise.

Every day is in the 70's or 80's with blue skies and a few fluffy clouds that block the sun from time to time as if to give those of us on the ground, shirtless, in shorts and without SPF 50 smeared from head to toe, a break.

What might one like about Jupiter, Florida?

• The heavenly weather (at least until the dog days of summer arrive).
• Wonderful clean, uncrowded beaches.
• A sparkling, warm swimming pool just around the corner.
• Bike riding is easy; there are no hills to speak of in Florida. You can ride for miles without having to conquer a big uphill grade.
• Every store one might want to shop at is within a few miles.
• Florida is manicured to the max. Vegetation rules! Shopping centers (and even Wal-Mart stores) are hidden behind palm trees. Everything about South Florida screams "look at me, I'm beautiful."
• As you drive down the road, most of which have 2-3 lanes in each direction, you notice how light the traffic is and how courteous the drivers are. Riding around at night the traffic is even lighter. With the windows open the cool evening air fills the car and you feel peaceful and happy.
• Getting up as early or late as you like with nothing that has to be done, save the simple duties involved with caring for two sweet and affectionate cats.
• Lots of attractions, events and things to do. 
• There's no feeling that "oh, we only have until the weekend then vacation is over and we go home." No. This Jupiter trip is for several months -- plenty of time to experience South Florida living as a resident rather than a tourist. 

Yep, this just might be paradise. We're grateful to have been chosen for this house sit. Lovin' it.

Jupiter, FL and the inlet area. The inlet and intracoastal waterway divide the city into different communities. The island
just North of the inlet is Jupiter Island. It's home to celebrities incuding Celine Dion, Tiger Woods and others. The beaches are clean and, so far, we've not found them crowded.

Becky's doing some creative new kind of art using special papers and Allan's writing articles and book reviews for a psychologist/client at GoStrengths.com and others. A Course in Miracles fills our hearts and minds in very personal ways, and we both give thanks for the good life we are enjoying together.

Here's a snapshot from the Jupiter Beach cam looking from the South toward the inlet. People at Fishing Headquarters say the best fishing is in the curved area just before the jetty seen here. Lots of bonito, redfish, snook and some occasional big game fish.

Jupiter Beach cam looking toward the inlet from the
South. This pic updates every 15-20 minutes.