Florida Winter 2023

 

February 8 Wednesday, day 1 - I am headed out for my winter trip to warm weather.  For the next 5 weeks, I will soak up the sun, hang out by the water and take in the local sites.   Home base is Hobe Sound Florida.  Thank you to my sister Kathy and her husband Christopher for letting me use their home. It was incredibly generous of them.   My flights went well.  I find that I like flying through Newark NJ.  Even though it is a busy airport, it is clean and modern and you can see New York City from it! 

New York City skyline from the Newark Airport 

The only hitch in my step was the rental car. I was at Budget rental car for over 90 minutes.  Everyone was so frustrated and some were taking it out on the people behind the counter.  I decided to go for the super nice and was rewarded for it.  Instead of a tiny Kia Rio, the lady behind the counter gave me a Dodge Charger.  Pretty cool, it pays to be nice sometimes. 

February 9, Thursday day 2.

I have settled into Kathy’s house and the neighborhood is beautiful and quiet.  Rather than relaxing my first day, I jumped right in and took a 2.5 hour guided kayak tour.   These were clear kayaks and we were looking for wildlife around the Jupiter inlet.  We saw very little - a lone small shark, an egret and a heron, some jelly fish and turtles.  But, I had a great time anyway.  There was a friendly group from Denmark and a group of women that had grown up in Pittsburgh the same time I did.  They have scattered around the country since then, but get together every year.  Best part was that they gave me a ton of tips on where to go to eat. In the afternoon after relaxing by the house pool, I headed to a fun bar -  Tiki54.  I sat up at the bar and had a great conversation with a couple who use to be in the Air Force and had traveled the world working on radar systems.  

This is a Gopher Tortoise.  It was hidden way down in its hole and we couldn’t see it, but the kayak guide told us to hold up a camera.  I did, and it came running out.  I think it wanted food rather than have its picture taken but it was cute anyway.  It’s tunnel can go several yards in, and apparently, if there are wild fires, up to 100 different species of animals go down in the hole and get along until the danger is past. 

On kayak tour   

We had clear kayaks so we could see under and around the boats easily.  I have never seen this before, but it really is a cool concept.   

This is a Cassiopea jelly fish in a secluded mangrove swamp.  The guide said that this was the only place he knew of in the immediate area that they had them.  There were thousands and they did sting him! They usually live upside-down on the water bottom. These jellyfish partake in a symbiotic relationship with photosynthetic properties that help feed the mangroves.  They lie upside-down in areas with sufficient light penetration to fuel their energy source.  They come in shades of white, blue, green and brown.  

Another picture of me on the water.  This is the face of a woman realizing that she took a walk 2 days ago and was slipping on the ice in patches, and now she is in 80 degree weather!  

I took this picture outside of a local homegoods store.  I thought it was a really nice yard decoration- until it moved!