March 19 — Shore Leave

We got an early start in order to beat the heat and the crowds. Our first stop was Delray Beach, where we did a 5 km volkswalk. Our entire walk was on a barrier island which is separated from the mainland by the Intracoastal Waterway.

This was one of the most enjoyable volkswalks I have taken. We walked mostly on quiet residential streets or along the oceanfront. A lot of people were out for a morning walk, and most of them said “Good morning.”

It appears that the local zoning code is very strict, which has resulted in a very pleasant neighborhood, but has probably driven the prices up quite a bit. The homes are mostly single-family houses or duplexes. Most are no more than two stories tall. Virtually all of the properties are well-maintained, with nicely-landscaped yards. There are many mid-century bungalows and many Spanish Colonial houses. Most of the rest are “Old Florida” style, with a small number of modern houses thrown in.

It was fun to walk up and down the lanes and take in all of the charming homes. I wanted to take pictures of all of them. Here’s a Howard-Johnson themed house, followed by a house with a perfect “beachy” vibe.

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And did I mention the beautiful landscaping?

This guy was feeling very pleased with himself.

After a while we came to a park with a public parking lot. Cars were circling around like vultures, trying to find parking spaces so the people could go to the beach. The park was across the street from the beach. 

We couldn’t see that much of the beach because of the sand dunes, covered with sea grapes, protecting the island. What we saw looked so inviting.

After the walk, we drove back to Boca Raton to have lunch with my cousins at the Boca West country club. We had a delightful time with my first cousin, Judy a/k/a Sheila, and my second cousin, Harris and his wife, Elaine. Harris is actually closer than a second cousin because he is related to me through both my grandfather and my grandmother. I don’t get to see my East Coast cousins very often, so it really was a treat.

After lunch we went to the Town Center Mall. It was quite a nice mall. I was surprised to see so many people walking their dogs inside the mall and bringing their pets into the stores.

After we got back to our motel we had some crazy scrambling to get our e-mail ballots for the municipal election properly printed out, filled out, witnessed and mailed in. Then we were done for the day, except for re-packing all of our belongings for our next cruise. The heat and humidity here must have caused our stuff to expand. It was hard to fit it all into the same suitcases it was in before. :)

I know I have skipped a few days. I’ll try to get caught up.

Have a peaceful night!