Gadding About in West Palm Beach with Cousins

Beautiful palm trees in Robin's back yard.  

Last week I drove down to West Palm Beach with cousins Joan, Rick and Gary to visit cousins Robin and Elizabeth (Joan's daughter and granddaughter). Robin and her husband Ken have bought a lovely retirement house there where they plan to spend the winters. Elizabeth who teaches at a University there is a permanent resident.  I always enjoy spending time with first cousin Joan and her lovely family, but this visit was particularly nice.  The weather was perfect and the company delightful.

Robin and Ken's house is beautiful inside and out with Robin's unique decorator's touch inside and tropical landscaping outside.

A collection of daughter Rebecca's drawings grabs one's attention on a living room wall. 

A closeup of one of Rebecca's drawings. 

The front of the house. 

Back patio. 

Joan enjoying the back patio in the afternoon. 

Robin and Gary playing Cornhole on the back patio at night. 

In addition to the cousins I enjoyed their dogs, Gus, Tom, and Banjo.

Elizabeth's dog Banjo resting after a run at the nearby dog park. 

Robin's King Charles Spaniels, Tom and Gus, enjoying their favorite chair.  

We had lots of good food, and then did a lot of walking to get rid of some of those calories.

Elizabeth's delicious cake with Blood Orange icing.  

Scallops and wild rice at Sailfish Marina and Resort Restaurant. 

We shared a slice of Key Lime Pie.  You can't go to West Palm Beach without  having at least one bite.. 

Beautiful neighborhood for walking.

On our walk we passed this beautiful lake in their neighborhood, and Rick is checking it out.  

I walked over two miles one day while there. 

After three days I left the glorious weather of West Palm Beach and flew to Brooklyn where I was greeted with snow.  More about that later.

More Fun Things in West Palm Beach

City Place, West Palm Beach.

To have had only two full days (not counting travel days) in West Palm Beach, my cousins and I managed to pack in a lot of fun things.  We spent part of one afternoon at John MacArthur Park along the beautiful sandy beach.

Beautiful beach in Macarthur State Park.

The beach was not crowded, and the sand seemed to stretch for miles along the ocean where the color of the water was reminiscent of that of the Mediterranean Sea.

Spoto's Oyster Bar.

Later that evening we enjoyed a scrumptious seafood dinner at Spoto's Oyster Bar.  It was difficult for me to choose from the extensive menu: maybe steamed mussels? but I love oysters too-- I finally decided on yellowtail snapper, and it was a fine choice.

Green's Pharmacy Luncheonette.

After we had spent one morning touring The Breakers, we lunched at Green's Pharmacy Luncheonette in Palm Beach. This place has been in business since 1938, and it seems like something right out of the 50s of my high school days.  I could not resist having a chocolate ice cream soda---soooo good.  And the grilled cheese and tomato sandwich hit the spot too.

Ice cream soda.  Yum!

After lunch we headed over to City Place to meet Elizabeth where we enjoyed an afternoon  movie, Sapphires. 

City Place.

The Parisian 20 Theater with a theme of Paris in the 20s. 

Three story lobby of theater.

Beautiful stairway in theater.

Sapphires was a good movie.

Indeed we packed in a lot of fun during our visit to West Palm Beach. 

Breakfasts with Evergreeners in West Palm Beach

On my recent trip to West Palm Beach with cousins I visited West Palm Beach Evergreeners, Robert and Phoebe.

Early morning sunrise view from Robert and Phoebe's 18th floor balcony.

About ten years ago Dan and I joined the Evergreen Club and we have enjoyed hosting and visiting members over the years.  Elizabeth's mother Robin had flown down from Virginia and with the three of us it would have been a bit crowded at Elizabeth's townhouse so I spent the days with them and the nights with the Evergreeners in their condo that looks out over the Intracoastal Waterway and the Atlantic Ocean beyond.  It is always nice to make new friends through the Evergreen Club.

New friends Robert and Phoebe, my Evergreen hosts.

These Evergreeners are an active couple that split their time between West Palm Beach and Virginia.  Robert is up at 6:30 each morning for his 5-mile walk.  And then at 8:30 breakfast is served.  And what a breakfast! The first morning we had eggs scrambled to perfection, sausages, coffee cake, fruit and OJ. (I'm not a coffee drinker.)  The second morning the sausage and gravy over biscuits was delicious with mixed fruit on the side. 

Sausage and gravy over biscuits.

Fresh strawberries and bananas.

I had to depart early the last morning, and these gracious hosts had smoked salmon and cream cheese on bagels ready for me at 6:00 a.m.

Smoked salmon and cream cheese.

Another fine experience with Evergreen hosts.  Thank you Robert and Phoebe for a wonderful visit and for those delicious breakfasts.

Visiting Banjo in West Palm Beach

Elizabeth's dog, Banjo.

Two of my cousins from Maryland, Joan and her son Rick, came down south to visit us in Raleigh, and the three of us made a quick trip down to visit Joan's granddaughter, Elizabeth, in West Palm Beach.  I never know quite how to indicate the relationship of cousins.  I know that Joan is my first cousin, so I think that makes Rick my first cousin once removed and Elizabeth my first cousin twice removed.  At any rate I call them all my cousins.

Elizabeth and Banjo.

We drove down in one very long day.  The trip was uneventful until just after Jacksonville where we ran into a terrible rain storm that continued all the way to West Palm.  Rick and I alternated driving, but I happened to be driving that last leg and it was quite stressful in the rain.  But we arrived safely.

View from Elizabeth's townhouse.

Elizabeth's office door.

Elizabeth is finishing her first year teaching at  Palm Beach Atlantic University.  We visited the campus which is quite beautiful.

Photo from Wikipedia.

Photo from the Palm Beach Atlantic University website.

Stay tuned for other blogs about our fun visit to West Palm Beach.