Lake Worth Beach - Good Value For The Money Or Total Ripoff?

I drove down to Lake Worth Beach, Florida, both the city and the beach itself, a few days ago. I have never been to downtown Lake Worth Beach - formerly just Lake Worth - but recently read on the internet about its wonderful Bohemian atmosphere. And so naturally, I headed right down there to check it out. And found that downtown Lake Worth Beach is very attractive, but in my opinion, not Bohemian in any sense of the word. Of course, this is South Florida, and so South Florida Bohemian is perhaps much different from what people back on earth believe it to be. In any case, to not make the drive a total loss, I drove to Lake Worth Beach Park, right on the ocean and home to the Lake Worth Pier, as seen in the photograph on the left. I parked in the lot closest to the pier and tried to pay for 15 or 20 minutes of parking in order to take a few photographs. And when I put my card in the meter and tried to lower the time to 15 minutes, I couldn't do it. The rate was $3.50 an hour, and as much as I tried, the only rate I could get was for 2 hours, at a cost of $7.00.

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What is the deal with that? Do they assume that everyone wants to spend a minimum of 2 hours at the beach, or 2 hours dining at Benny's on the Beach, one of the biggest attractions on the pier and seen in the photograph on the right? I then remembered I came here last year and wound up actually paying that $7.00, remaining very bitter about it the entire drive back home to Stuart. And is it worth it to pay that price, when parking at virtually every other city along the ocean is free, with the exception of Palm Beach, which has turned ripoff into an art, just like its most famous resident? In point of fact, the beaches in every other city in South Florida are just as good, if not far better, since every weirdo in the State of Florida seems to hang out around that pier. And weirdos do not enjoy having their photographs taken. I know that from bitter experience.

To Cruise Or Not To Cruise - That is The Question

For many years, the Island Princess would take sightseers on cruises on the Indian and St. Lucie Rivers around the Stuart, Florida area, as well the Intercoastal Waterway as far as Jupiter (the city, not the planet). After the Island Princess was purchased by new owners, it went up north to Annapolis for the summer, intending to return to Florida during the fall and winter months. That was well over a year ago, and it hasn't been back, since. Their website says it is looking for a marina to sail out of before they can return to the Stuart area, but that message hasn't changed since the previous summer. And so, you do have to wonder what the deal is. I did take several cruises on this boat years ago. It is 72 feet long, with a lower, enclosed, air-conditioned deck and an upper weather deck (one that is open to the elements). Good for most weather conditions. In the meantime, a company called Treasure Coast River Cruises has started running cruises on a 12-person pontoon boat, as seen in the photograph above docked at Hutchinson Island Marriot Marina. Which is all well and good, but that pontoon boat is open on the sides, and during the summer months here in Florida that can be problematic. It often rains every day during the summer down here, but you never really know when or where. And if you buy your tickets in advance, that means you might have great weather or be caught in a tropical downpour in the middle of the river. The boat does have a canvas roof, but with those open sides the wind and rain from one of those downpours would definitely get you soaked. They will cancel the cruise if bad weather is forecast, but you just never know down here. Probably best to just wait until the dry season, November thru April, when the chances of leaving the boat not looking like a drowned rat are much higher. Although that can be a popular look down here. Just sayin'.

The Devil's Bible

I just finished reading The Devil's Bible, Steve Berry's latest Cotton Malone adventure. Malone is a retired former Justice Department intelligence agent and currently a bookseller in Copenhagen, but his old boss, Stephanie Nell, keeps calling him back for special assignments. This time, he and his girlfriend Cassiopeia Vitt are called in when the king of Sweden's sister is kidnapped. The ransom - an 800-year-old illustrated medieval manuscript, the largest in the world, called the Codex Gigas and also known as The Devil's Bible due to a particularly vivid illustration. The book was taken by Sweden from Bohemia as war loot back in 1648, and Sweden has finally agreed to give it back to the Czech Republic in exchange for their vote to accept Sweden as a member of NATO. Suspicion for the kidnapping falls upon Russia, who opposes Sweden joining that organization, but it turns out to be much more complicated than that. This is the 20th book in the Cotton Malone series, and I enjoyed reading it very much, but it does have a bit of a shocking ending, which I won't give away in case people out there want to read it. I personally think it would be a perfect beach read, and to emphasize that, I took the photograph above at Stuart Beach here in Stuart, Florida. But I do recommend reading this adventure novel wherever you might be. 

The Boston House Restaurant Is Open For Business! But No Ghost Sightings. Yet.

Boston House, an upscale restaurant in Fort Pierce, Florida, opened for business this past May 31st in a mansion built by the Jones family in 1909. It was formerly a law office, with a reputation of being haunted. Some people have reported hearing a female voice singing in there, accompanied by a harp. Cold spots have been reported in the building, as well as a searing hot blast assaulting the body. Some say the house is haunted by a group of Native Americans, while others say it is the ghost of an African American girl with red hair. The most repeated ghost story is that the place is haunted by Aleaceon Perkins, who wanders the hallways looking for her husband and son, who were lost at sea. Some have seen her peering out the upstairs windows of a space that is now a bar. But so far, no reports of any ghost sightings after three months in business. I read a glowing review of the restaurant, written the week it opened, extolling the decor, the food, and the service. Boston House's website describes the restaurant as featuring "refined plates, crafted drinks, and white glove service," which are three things I always try to avoid in a restaurant. I took a look at the menu, and it is indeed on the pricey side. Perhaps that is what finally drove all those ghosts away. Can't say I blame 'em.

Revisiting Harry And The Natives. Still There, But...

Quite a few years ago, I remember stopping at Harry and the Natives, a kitschy restaurant located in Hobe Sound, Florida that prides itself on an eclectic Old Florida atmosphere and has been around, in one form or another, since 1941. I recall being really impressed with all the old Florida memorabilia on the outside patio. There were a lot of items from old Florida tourist attractions on display and funny signs plastered all over the walls. And yesterday, just for fun, since I was driving past it on the way back to Stuart, I decided to stop and check it out. And was very surprised to find it was nothing like I remember. The funny signs were still there, but not a single tacky item from Florida's past. I am sure I took photographs of this place all those years ago, and so, as soon as I return to Denver, I intend to go through my 50,000 boxes of photographs and see if the place really is so different now or if I am just losing my mind. Both are definite possibilities. In any case, I checked their website in hopes of learning something about the missing relics, with no success, but did find out that Harry and the Natives was about to go out of business back in October of 2024, having never recovered from the COVID pandemic. Just a few days after owner Harry MacArthur made the announcement about closing on a Facebook video, it received 400,000 views and massive support from the community, convincing Harry to keep the business going. It still seems like a very pleasant place, just not the one I remembered. Or possibly imagined.

AFAR And Away The Best Travel Magazine Around

I received the summer issue of AFAR Magazine here in Stuart, Florida the other day, which was a big surprise, since magazines are not supposed to be eligible for forwarding, and even much of my first-class mail doesn't get to me down here. But no looking a gift horse in the mouth, right? I really like this travel magazine. The articles in it are very interesting and informative, and even the ads are pretty enlightening, too. How else would I know that The Cooper, a new hotel overlooking Charleston Harbor, has just opened, and rooms are available at rates starting at $850. I have to assume that rate is for the month, since no hotel on earth could possibly charge $850 per day for a room. My sister Susan and I have been considering a road trip to Charleston and Savannah toward the end of this year, and perhaps we will stay at The Cooper instead of the Motel 6 Resort Hotel and Spa, our usual go-to haunt. I know the magazine is geared toward the upper income set, but the articles are still worth reading. It was AFAR magazine that led me to visit San Francisco's Outer Sunset neighborhood, which was a very enjoyable experience indeed. I especially enjoyed the walk from The Cliff House down to the beach and through the fog shrouded Outer Sunset neighborhood to the Riptide, a cozy bar a stone's throw from the ocean, with fog horns sounding the entire way. The magazine is a quarterly, and this issue is all about the water, including articles about the aforementioned Cooper, various cities, including Omaha (which I really like), Minneapolis, and Detroit revitalizing their riverfronts, the Florida Everglades, and things to do on the coast of Maine, including riding the mail boat between five Casco Bay islands. And will I ever visit any of those places? Maybe yes, maybe no, but whether I do or not, it is sure fun to read about it. 

Dodging A Bullet In Vero Beach

I drove up to Vero Beach, Florida this past Wednesday to look around town, and as I arrived in the Beachside District along Ocean Drive - a mile or so of restaurants, gift shops, art galleries, and other assorted businesses - it began to rain. And when it rains in Florida, that rain often turns into tropical downpours, which it did on Wednesday. I pulled over and parked in a lot across from Mulligan's Beach House as the rain made driving impossible. Mulligan's is right on the ocean, with tables and chairs overlooking the beach, a wonderful spot to have lunch or a drink, but not during a storm like this. After a while, the rain let up a bit, and I decided to head back home to Stuart. I took the photo above of Mulligan's as I was leaving. Usually, I drive down Ocean Drive on the way back, the same way I came into town that day. But the rain was still pretty heavy, and so I drove a few blocks to the west to A1A, the main highway, and went home that way. It wasn't until I saw on the news later that night that the storm had flooded Ocean Drive pretty badly. Lee Olsen, the general manager of Waldo's Restaurant and Bar, which is located just two blocks south of where I had parked, said the flooding was among the worst he had seen, and that when he walked out into the middle of the street, the water was up to his knees. If I had taken my usual route home and driven into that kind of water, not only would my car have been seriously damaged, but very well might have floated out to sea. There was also flooding in the same area on Monday. Olsen worries about what a major storm could bring. Vero Beach Public Works staff say that fixing the problem would cost millions of dollars and take years to complete, and that there are no plans to fix the problem at this time. And so, if any of you out there might be planning to visit Vero Beach's Beachside District in the foreseeable future, I recommend checking the weather forecast first. Very carefully.