West Palm and Friends

The Dormers and Livingstons at" The Blue Martini"

Delray Beach

Last Wednesday we jumped in our little Hyundai and headed for West Palm Beach to meet up with Teresa and Ed Dormer who were staying for a week at a Marriott time share there. We have been friends for many years, have traveled together extensively, foreign and domestic and gone on cruises together, and truly are inseparable friends. (I even bought Ed a very expensive original oil painting in St. Tropez for which he has never reimbursed me----an inside joke)

The trip was about 170 miles across the state, along the southern end of Lake Okechobee. Rather long, but we didn't mind as it meant that we would finally get to talk to someone other than each other.

WE got into WPB at around 1:30 in the afternoon and after a get reaquainted bottle of a very good Presceco (the girl's favorite) we set out for a late lunch at a supposedly famous seafood restaurant on the waterway---which turned out to be closed for lunch---so we went next door to the Crab Shack which turned out to be a Landry's restaurant. After enjoying the company and the expected less than mediocre/ overpriced Landry's food we took off on a car trip to explore the area. We fouund ourselves in downtown WPB--a beautiful, art deco architecture, city and decided to go back there for dinner that night. Diane and I still had to check in at the hotel we were staying at---Ed and T only had an efficiency---. WE did so, took a brief rest and freshened up and were picked up by the Dormers for our evening out.

We went back to WPB and had martinis at the "Blue Martini" in a very attractive new restaurant section. The "tini's" were great but then it was on to BB King's Blues Cafe for some live music and a pretty good dinner.

The next day we took another road trip down Ocean Highway past some of the most impressive "old money" mansions I've ever seen. (This area is truly beautiful--and once again it is difficult for me to comprehend the level of wealth represented here.) We ended up having a late lunch at a Cuban restaurant there, accented by a couple pitchers of excellent sangria. By this time, although we had already checked out of our hotel we had decided to check back in for an extra night and get an early start home the next day. (We had provisioning to do along the way and also needed to go to the post office at Boca Grande--just south of Cape Haze marina to pick up ---get this---Diane's microfibre towel--a gift to us from Linda Sitton of "Sea Yawl Later" ---that she had left in the shower room in Ocean Springs---the harbormaster graciously offered to send it to her and she picked Boca Grande out of the air as the place to send it.)

Great choice----Boca Grande is on Gasparillo Island, the last of a string of barrier islands just prior to hitting Charlotte Harbor and the pass back out into the Gulf. You have to cross a toll bridge--$5--to get onto the island and once there you are greeted, once again, with signs of extreme wealth. This is a winter nesting ground for the rich and famous--particularly those who like to tarpon fish in the alleged best fishing waters in America. Amazing!!

The town is quite quaint, highlited by the Gasparillo Inn (see above) and golf course. Once here we vowed to return and spend a bit more time.

Sure enough--the towel was here and Diane is relieved---These towels are perfect for a boating life. They dry you like a chamois and dry easily overnight. Cotton towels never seem to dry out in this always moist environment. They're not soft and cuddly like a good, warm cotton towel, however.

We stopped at the Publix grocery store that turned out to be just a few miles from where our boat was parked and prepared for an early AM departure for Charlotte Harbor and the Burnt Store marina.