Day 1: West Palm Beach, Florida
My first reaction upon arriving in Florida was, Oh, my god. Can it be any hotter than this?
When Lauren mentioned several months ago that she was visiting her newly-retired parents in West Palm Beach, she extended the invitation to me since I’ve never been to Florida before. For a $145 round-trip weekend fare, I had no reason to refuse.
Palm tree galore: while driving from the airport
We arrived on Friday just before sunset. It was so hot I thought of Central America. The only difference was that it was spotless and all nicely set up–like the private communities in Las Vegas. It felt wrong to be there. Water sprinkles were spraying all over the manicured lawns. The air conditioning was blasting in every car, every room of the house, every restaurant and shopping store. It made me wonder how much energy a place like West Palm Beach uses each day.
Sonny all tired from the flight
After settling in, Mr. and Mrs. S gave me a tour of their lovely home. The ceilings were high, the kitchen fully-equipped, the garden…well, there was an actual garden! We also took a walk around their neighborhood and visited the club house with the pool. I’m not a big pool fan but I made a mental note to stop by before flying back to New York City.
Welcome to the neighborhood!
Sonny was nervous during the flight but as soon as we were on steady ground, he was the usual spoiled sweetheart. Freddy is Mr. and Mrs. S’s dog and he seemed bothered that there was another poodle in the house. He was less snotty throughout my stay but he made it known he was still king. (He would shake his fur after I would try to touch him.)
Freddy and Sonny minding their own businesses
For dinner, we drove to the Reef Grill and ordered several seafood appetizers. Everything had the Florida essence in it, from the tuna to the shrimps, the scallops to the swordfish. It was an absolutely beautiful night even though it was muggy. There’s nothing better than stepping out of a restaurant with a full stomach in a place I’ve never been before.