March 23rd-30th Donna and Billy are in town

After visiting Shark Valley, we had planned to take an air boat ride but changed our minds in favor of seeing the Coral Castle in Homestead, FL.  The castle is a structure created by an eccentric Latvian named Edward Leedskalnin (1887-1951).  He spent a lifetime carving in the limestone (formed from coral) in honor of a lost love from his youth. Edward had proposed but was jilted the day before his wedding so he left for America hope that one day, she would follow.  She never did.  He made his own tools from old car parts and created turn styles weighing several tons that could be moved by small children. Stone carvings included a table in the shape of Florida, a bathtub, rocking chairs, beds, a crescent moon, planets, fountains, a fire pit, well and the largest stone heart in the US.

Coral Castle stone: Saturn, Crescent Moons along the perimeter 

Beautiful flowers in the castle

Billy, Sonny and Merrill on the railing around the hand dug well.
 Donna here in orange shirt.

Pretty blossom

Sonny and Donna leaving Edward's 2nd story living quarters

Single tree blossom

Merrill and Billy at the entrance turn style weighing about 3 tons.  It could
be turned easily by children though it was so heavy.

Fan palm, one of many palm varieties in the park.

On Tuesday, I visited at Merrill's place.  Donna and I made crock pot lasagna for dinner. Sonny and Mike puttered around Mike's house planning the future trip to Sebastian. My sister in law was expected on a 6:15 PM flight from Philadelphia so Merrill and Pippy left to pick her up.  We enjoyed a family dinner together but missed Sonny.  I drove back to Deerfield only to realize I hadn't closed the tailgate of the truck.  Oops! I was very lucky that our tubs with winter clothing, swim wear and trinkets didn't fall out on the freeway.

Happy Hour on my brother's porch.  Warm evening with
light breeze.

Dottie arriving after spending 2 weeks providing care for her
 New Jersey brother's family.

Wednesday, Donna and I did some shopping though we were a bit helpless without a GPS which was in our truck at the golf course where Sonny and Billy were playing a round. We managed to find a couple of places to spend our money.

Thursday, Sonny and Mike loaded up a U-Haul trailer to move several big items to Mike's house in Sebastian.  While they were gone, Merrill drove the five of us drove to Fort Lauderdale to explore the beach, eat lunch and take a boat tour on the Jungle Queen up the New River to see how the rich and famous live.

Loading the Harley, mattress, tools, dresser, etc for 120 mile drive
to Sebastian, FL 

Fort Lauderdale beach.  A little over cast but the breeze was warm.  Still
early for the beach crowd.  Here, Merrill and Billy are checking the scenery.

Spring Break has just about wrapped up.

Merrill and Dottie enjoying Vitamin D and people watching.

Donna and Billy prefer the shade.

So very tropical.  Container ships and freighters in the distance.

These "Trikes" of a sort can be rented by the hour.
Side by side seating, enclosed with 2 wheels in front,
single in the back.

The Jungle Queen had a capacity for 550 passengers.  Our trip probably had
a quarter that many, thankfully for the bathroom's sake.  We had a tour guide
who shared names and places along the way.  Most of the homes she
pointed out were of local important folks but a few were nationally known.
 "Wendy's" founder, Taco Bell founder, Lee Majors, Waste Management owners to name a few.

Billy, Donna, Merrill and Dottie ready to cast off!

This 3 engine speed boat pulled into the marina
while we were waiting to launch.  I'm sure this boat
would have pulled more than one skier.

This home took up just about a city block.  The man who owns it is a
notable from Fort Lauderdale who owns many downtown buildings.
He happened to be out reading his paper as we sailed by.  The girl
waving will be in several of my pictures.

We sailed past the dry dock shelter.  Tiger Woods' mega yacht  is coming
into view and looks similar to these which begin around $13M.  To fuel up,
the price tag is $40K and then crew expenses can run over $50K.  I will
stick to my kayak.

Tropical bird at our destination stop.

The "highlight" of the mid point stop was alligator wrestling with this guy.

Apparently, if you bend the neck back, the alligator can't bite you so quickly.

Chin to chin

The guy survived putting his head in the alligator's mouth
but there must have been one episode that didn't end well judging
by the looks of reconstructive surgery on his arm.

  

Donna was willing to hold the gator though her
expression says she might not be sure....

Ta-Da!!  I'm holding an alligator!

Mega boats along the inland canals.

There was an RV park next to this canal.

Repo marina.  You might get one cheap here.

Our route took us under 7 draw bridges and this big
bridge on I-95.

This home was vacant and graffti covered
 but is an example of the early small homes probably
built in the 60s.

A man and his wife were celebrating their anniversary with dinner.  Afterwards,
the guy drove to this house and stopped in.  His wife asked why and he said:
"Happy 15th Anniversary!  This is our new home!".  He had the home built f
or her unbeknownst to anyone in the family.

This home was purchased by a lucky lottery winner who had been
a barber.  There is barber chair and stripped pole on the bulkhead.

Somebody was actually using this boat that passed us on the waterway.

Downtown Fort Lauderdale hotel.

Homes generally had at least one pool though we only saw one with
anyone using it.

Boats were moored on the canal like we park in the driveway.

Large home with very small boat

Probably more than $13 M

We weren't sure just what you do with one these boats if you owned it?
 Too expensive to take out for just a party. Even going out to fish would be costly.
Some do live on board in this marina.  Filthy rich folks must just have a
need?  Again, I like my kayak.

At the end of the cruise, these pelicans had gathered along the dock.

A fishing charter group was cleaning their catch which included a
barracuda whose head is laying on the shelf.  

The fisherman showed us the barracuda's teeth.

At the end of the day, Pippy is saying goodbye at the window
as we leave Boynton Beach for Deerfield Beach.

Donna and Billy decided Friday morning that they would head back to Maine so they bought a GPS, programmed it for home and hit the road. We were sad to see them go but understood their desire to see the results of a week of storms that had hit Maine while they were in the warm Florida.  They made record time driving, getting into their driveway by 2 PM Sunday afternoon. Sonny and I will see them again in April when we go to Maine. To appease my depression of them leaving, I went to the Festival Flea Market and wandered around for a few hours. It helped a little.

Saturday, it was cloudy, hot and muggy.  Sonny and I walked to McDonald's, about 2 miles round trip, for coffee.  In the afternoon, Mike joined us for a visit to Gumbo Limbo Nature Center in Boca Raton.

The last of Mike's home improvements involved fixing
the garage door opener.

Works perfect now!

For dessert, Mike had this 3/4 pound Reeses buttercup
to split between the 3 of us!

Looks like the "Breaking Bad" meth lab.  One of the homes in the neighborhood
is being debugged for termites.  It will be in this bag for at least 3 days.

"A coastal and marine environmental experience"
The grounds offered a butterfly garden, a turtle rehabilitation
station, classrooms, viewing tanks, board walk trails, observation tower
 and, of course, the museum gift shop.

It was hopeful that his crab could be revived but he was too far gone.

Pretty cactus blooms but very spiny thorns.

One of several stingrays in the "shipwreck" tank.

My touring partners

Barracuda in person

Not Maine lobsters but their relatives

These two always swam together

Hammer head shark

Better view of hammer head

The smaller fish looked like it had painted on lips.
Couldn't get a good shot of its face.

One year old Loggerhead turtle. Generally, only 1 egg in 1000 survives.

Turtles can get a variety of illnesses and injuries.  This guy is going to
get antibiotics through intravenous feeding.  Since the Florida Atlantic
University uses the Nature Center for its research, we were fortunate to
see what was being done to the turtle.

Here, it looked like the vet was stuffing the arm and leg pits
with small squares of wet wipes.  Unfortunately, we could
watch but there wasn't any audio explaining what they were
doing exactly.  The turtle didn't like being on his back!

The vet is inserting the needle for the IV and then medicines.
The turtle calmed after that.

The board walk took us to a 40' observation tower.  Boca Raton
is in the distance behind Mike and Sonny.  I didn't spend too much
time on the tower as it was noticeably swaying in the breeze.

We didn't learn the name of this crab but he was a small, black creature
that liked spending time on the trees in the hammock.  Can you see him?

Mangrove trees love living in the salt water.

We drove into Delray to walk Atlantic Avenue and people watch,  The car above was using the roof as a display of their dogs.  The company is a trainer of dog companions.  I checked out the services of Petermark Salon whose mission was "to provide the highest level of creativity and service in a fun, energetic environment." VIP women's hair cuts started at $100; plain old cut was $80; men's haircut was $45; perms were by consultation and a shu uemura scalp massage was $20. "Shu Uemura has a unique balance between the intelligence of nature and the integrity of science. The selection of rare and precious ingredients enhanced by science delivers ultimate purity balanced with high performance results."   Hmmmmm.

Interesting chairs at a sidewalk cafe.

It was a row of butt comfortable chairs

After a stunning thunderstorm and drenching Saturday evening, Sunday morning was sunny and warm.  We walked to Burger King for coffee (4 miles round trip) before going to spend the afternoon poolside at Chance's house.  His parents were in Key Largo so his grandparents (Merrill and Dottie) were sitting for the weekend.

Bryce and Vicky's house in Palm Gardens

We tested the fruit on the backyard tree.  Undecided if it was
an orange or a grapefruit.  Looks like an orange but
very tangy tasting like grapefruit.

Grandparents loving their on duty shift.

Vicky's dog, Figo, stands by.  He's always looking for an
opportunity to grab a baby toy or chew up a pacifier.

Chance gets a hug from Mom when she
returns.

Chance is happy to see his mom and dad again.